Maid – Cow Family Feature

In the late 1950’s, two idealistic and ambitious young men were building up a herd of Milking Shorthorns to fill their newly constructed milking set-up for 100 cows, a sizable operation for their day. These men were my late husband, Kenneth Hoffman, and his brother Gerald.

One of their major purchases of foundation breeding stock was a semi load of cows from the renowned Sunnyside herd of Emmett Arnold of Janesville, Wisconsin, who was selling out as a highway was being built through his farm.

Most of his cows were named Sunnyside Maid with a number at the end of their names. We have folders full of old pedigrees, so we were able to trace back the lineage of one of our little Maid calves here today.

Each female is listed with her sire in parentheses. It is interesting to see the depth of linebreeding all along, interspersed with sensible outcrosses, which gives us the uniformly solid, durable cows we’re breeding for.

Beautiful, balanced udders that are glued in for life is a trademark of this cow family, along with excellent feet and very nice dispositions.

1. Sunnyside Maid 45th 179050 bred by Emmett R. Arnold, Janesville, WI
   Born Sept 22, 1953
   (Sunnyside Robin Bates 5th by Kingsdale Robin Bates 2d)

2. Meriville Maid 88th 277821
(Iford Cavalier 71st )

3. Meriville Wild Maid 111th 311297
(Gerner Farms Wild Jupiter)

4. Meriville Saga Maid 333d 356486
(Meriville Hot Digity, son of Sunnyside Maid 56th who was a paternal sister to Sunnyside Maid 45th)

5. Meriville Saga Maid 401 382321
(Meriville Hot Digity, same as her dam’s sire—that’s linebreeding at its most intense!)

6. Meriville Cache Maid 402596
(Lago’s Cache Winner)

7. Meriville Sasha Maid 411290
(Meriville Sumthun Else, whose dam was linebred Robin’s Red Signet)

8. Meriville Elegant Maid 411514
(Elwood S.V. Promise)

9. Meriville More Salsa Maid 436050
(Meriville Peerless, product of a ¾ brother-sister mating)

10. Meriville Salsa Be Good Maid 443535
(Meriville Johnny Be Good, also linebred Sumthun Else)

11. Meriville Redlight Maid 467721
(Meriville Flashback, out of a Peerless daughter)

12. Meriville A Sparkler Maid 68311961
(Kulp-Gen OK Acdmy Adam-P-ET)

13. Meriville Liberty Maid 68318769, now representing the traditional Milking Shorthorn breed at Kline Creek Farms of West Chicago, Illinois
(Rojahns Iris NKT Lancer N ET P, whose dam was heavily linebred Meadowbrook Cheiftain 9th)

14. Meriville Eva Maid 68322727
(Meriville Outstanding-P, linebred Peerless)

15. Meriville Merry Maid P 68327668
Born March 9, 2020
(Meriville Matchmaker P)