King Charles items heifers to Jersey dairy farm after herd loss

King Charles III has gifted seven heifers, initially given to Queen Elizabeth II to have a good time the Platinum Jubilee, to a Jersey dairy farmer who misplaced over 100 cattle in December 2022.

The in calf heifers got to Charlie Le Boutillier of Woodlands Farm to help with the re-stocking programme and in help of the Jersey dairy farming group.

Over 100 of Le Boutillier’s cows fell in poor health and died over a interval of some days in December final yr. After laboratory testing, Jersey’s chief veterinary officer concluded that the probably explanation for demise was botulism.

After the deaths, the carcasses have been incinerated and milk from the affected herd didn’t enter the meals chain.

On the time, Jersey Island’s Setting Minister, Jonathan Renouf, referred to as it a “devastating loss”.

Eamon Fenlon, managing director of Jersey Dairy, dairy producers for the island, stated he was “completely devastated” by what occurred to the cows.

“Shedding part of a herd like that is heartbreaking. We will’t think about how tough that is for Charlie (farmer), his household and all at Woodlands,” he stated on the time.

“Phrases can’t categorical the heartache we really feel for them.”

King’s heifers

The Royal Jersey Agricultural & Horticultural Society (RJA&HS) and the Jersey Milk Advertising and marketing Board (JMMB) organized to current the seven heifers to Queen Elizabeth II final yr.

The group of maiden heifers characterize a cross part of breeding from the main herds in Jersey and remained in Jersey to be bred with the view to creating an enduring legacy inside the Windsor herd of a breeding line that traces again into the heritage of the Jersey Herd E book and the origins of the Jersey breed. 

Following the accession to the throne of King Charles III, preparations have been in hand for the delivery of the animals to Windsor, however the King determined to reward the cows to the island after the lack of cattle at Woodlands Farm.

The heifers have been offered to the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, Jerry Kyd, who, on behalf of the King, gifted them to the Le Boutillier household.

Jersey Dairy stated the progeny of those animals will likely be recorded inside the Jersey Herd E book with the affix ‘Platinum’ to their pedigree title to mark the deep hyperlinks between the Sovereign and the Jersey breed within the Island.