I did not get to see Fearn Wyvis in Scotland, but I heard several people talk about him. I did visit the Fearn Farm, on one of the northern islands of Scotland, and it was a highlight of my trip. The dam of Wyvis and 3 sisters to him were in the Fearn herd. They were also using a full brother Fearn Zeus.
The sire of Wyvis and Zues was a bull named Dunsyre North Star who was highly regarded in Scotland as a real breed improver. Like most Shorthorns in Britain, there is a little touch of Maine breeding throughout the pedigree of many of the cattle in the pedigree of Wyvis. Most of his ancestors are 85- 95 % Shorthorn and the balance being Maine breeding. I even see the Maine bull Echard back in his pedigree and there is a recent thread here on SP regarding this bull.
The sire of Wyvis, also has 3 crosses of Canadian Shorthorn sires in his pedigree as well. These are Diamond Xerses who was sold by okotoks to Scotland a few years ago. Banner Instant Royal 31Y and Banner Royal Oak 45E are also in the pedigree of Dunsyre North Star.
The dam of Wyvis, is Fearn Passion, who was one of the most incredible females I have ever set eyes on. She was way too big for most everyone in North America, including me,but she was absolutely one of the most impressive females I have ever seen. She is proof to me, that there are some bigger more massive made females that are important to keep in the breed gene pool. She may not be what we want the norm of the breed to look like, however, there are some incredible components in her make-up. The only place I would have changed her, was that her udder was starting to lose its suspension, but she was an older cow when I saw her, and they said they had never had any problems with her calves nursing. Her 3 daughters in production all have excellent udders. I would estimate Fearn Passion would have weighed at minimum 2200 lbs on a poor day. She quite well may have weighed more! She was one of the longest bodied, deepest sided cows I have ever seen.. of any breed. John Scott, who owns Fearn, said that their cow herd only received hay during the winter, and grass in the summer, and that Passion always remained in beautiful condition. Their farm is located on the northern tip of Scotland only a couple miles from the North Sea, so I imagine they get some pretty cold winds. Passion was massive bodied, as were her daughter. She had extra length, and I doubt if I have ever seen a female as smooth in her make-up as this cow was. She was truly a female that I had to continually walk back to take another look at when I was there.
Fearn Zeus, was not 2 years old yet when I saw him, and he was out breeding cows. They said they had weighed him shortly before turning him out and he was over 2200 lbs. He also had excellent thickness and he looked like he had the deep fleshing ability of his dam. I investigated bringing semen from Zeus to Canada, but the health regulations at the time were almost impossible.
Here are some pictures I took of Fearn Passion and Zeus. I don't think these pictures show these cattle in their best light and I wish I had taken some more pics.
I will say that I saw some very interesting cattle in Scotland. While they are producing cattle for a totally different market than we are, I do feel there are some cattle there that could be excellent breeding pieces in our breeding programs. I have a few other pics that I will include in another thread, when I have a few extra moments, that I thought were good beef animals.
The Wyvis bull certainly has some excellent traits. I love his masculinity and power.
