The Davis Ranch |
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| Reed Davis RR 1 Box 63B Buckholts, TX 76518  |
The Davis Ranch was started by Daniel Grosvenor Davis, in 1875 and continues today as a working cattle operation. The ranch has been in the Davis family for over 125 years and for the past 30 years has been breeding Brahma cattle. | |
| Cattle |
Mother Brahmas with F1 calves |
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| The operation switches bulls periodically, replenishing the heard with Brahma heard bulls and then switching to European bulls, Herefords at this time, to produce F1 cattle sold primarily as breeding cows or slaughter steers. |
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| Guinea Fowl |
Keets at 10 days |
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| In the summer of 2001, a mini-project to provide biological
grasshopper control was begun. The year marks a record high grasshopper
population in living memory and drastic action was in order.
Starting with 103 keets, This photograph shows the baby grasshopper eaters at about 10 days. |
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| The Pen |
Cattle check out the new arrivals |
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| Owls, dogs, cats and coyotes are a few of the predators
that will eat the keets. Once they are grown, only the coyotes will
continue to be a problem. The pen was build sturdy to keep the keets in
and the predators out.
The first morning, the cattle were very curious and gave the pen a good test. |
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| Looking for grasshoppers |
Keets at 17 days |
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| After a week in the pen, they are all beginning to flap,
hover and sort of fly. Running long jumps are the regular morning exercise
and a few are beginning to roost on the cane poles that have been strung
through the poultry netting.
It is a rare shot that finds gets anything except a blur. These small creatures are very fast and very active. They are always on the look out for the odd grasshopper that might get too close. |
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| Numida meleagris |
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| The picture at right is what they should look like when
grown.
Guinea - an African bird (Numida meleagris) related to the pheasants, raised for food in many parts of the world, and marked by a bare neck and head and slaty plumage speckled with white. |
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