Halls Family Dairy welcome purebred Normande calf to their dairy farm

A family-run dairy farm in the South West has welcomed a new Normande calf to their herd and is asking the public for name suggestions.

Halls Family Dairy, who specialise in producing artisan cheese, claim to be the only dairy farmers in Australia to have a pure bred herd of Normande cows — a unique breed of cattle from the north-west of France.

Farm operators Phillip and Suzanne Hall welcomed their newest calf to the family earlier this month.

“She’s a pure bred Normande heifer, which is a French breed,”Ms Hall said.

“They’re used to make cheese — camembert and a couple of other different varieties.”

The family dairy farm hosts seven breeds of cows — with the 10 Normande cows the most prized assets.

After collecting hundreds of litres of milk each week, the product is sent a short distance up the road to become some of many cheeses produced at Harvey Cheese — a partnership of two families committed to strengthening the local Harvey community.

“We make two cheeses called Halls Suzette and Fifi Camembert,” Ms Hall said.

“So this little girl will grow up to be a Normande cow to be milked to make our cheese.

“I haven’t had a chance to decide what I’m going to call her yet, but . . . it’s going to start with an O.

“There’s been lots of great suggestions.”

The family name all of their cows with French names to honour their origins.

Locals jumped onto social media to offer their suggestions — serving up names including Ophelia, Odette and Orian.