SHEMSHI
Cast your mind back to the 70’s and the BBC series ‘The Good Life’. This ignited my interest in self-sufficiency and small scale livestock farming.
RED DEVON BEEF
All stock are weighed frequently, at every treatment and at least six-weekly using a Tru-Test weigh system. Looking for liveweights of 500+kg LW for steers and 460+kg for heifers.
Pregnancy testing is done at the beginning of May and calves are born from October 20 onwards.
RIDGEBACKS
The hallmark of this breed is the ridge on the back.
This is formed by the hair growing in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat. It starts just behind the shoulders and continues down to just before the hips. At the beginning of this ridge are two identical crowns (whorls) directly opposite each other.
The Rhodesian ridgeback is a strong, muscular, balanced and athletic dog. He is capable of great endurance with a fair amount of speed. Males range in height from 25 to 27″ (85 pounds, 38 kilograms) and females from 24 to 26 inches (70 pounds, 32 kilograms).
Known for an even, dignified temperament, the ridgeback is devoted and affectionate to his master and reserved with strangers.
The color of a Rhodesian ridgeback ranges from light wheaten to red wheaten. A little white on the chest and toes is permissible, but excessive white there, on the belly, or above the toes is undesirable.
Parents are health tested, hip and elbow scored for dysplasia, DNA tested for Degenerative Myelopathy, Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy.
VILLA SHEMSHI
NEWS & ARTICLES
ASKEW LIVING THE GOOD LIFE
April 9, 2020
Most people hanker for the good life one way or another. Lee Askew’s interest in self-sufficiency and small-scale livestock farming was inspired by the 1970s television series of the same name. Her dream has turned into reality on the far side of the world from where she grew up, as Colin Williscroft found.
RED DEVON
BEEF
May, 2022
A thriving boutique business on 66-hectares of difficult land, with a herd of Red Devon cattle.
A RED DEVON AFFAIR
September 5, 2023
Former police detective Lee Askew now runs a successful breeding and finishing farm in Gisborne’s Waimata Valley, and it all started with a sentimental attachment to Red Devon cows. Words and photos by Louise Savage.