Ron Metz

I haven’t been on here in a while because I am still not getting notifications of posts to this thread. I have read through some of the new to me posts. First comment I have is purebred Dexters do not come in silver. The accepted colors are red, black and dun. Dun is a brown color. “White Dexters” are not purebred Irish Dexters. They are a different breed resulting from crossing Irish Dexters with British white cattle. They have their own registry and are not eligible for registration in PDCA, ADCA or the Legacy Dexter registry.

There were questions about Dexters and climate. The PDCA has a new slogan, “any size acreage, any sustainable climate, Irish Dexters will work for you”. This breed is truly adaptable to any climate that can sustain life. Other questions involved milk production, calf sharing etc. Dexter cow milk production depends on the individual cow, how she is fed, how many times a day she is milked, her bloodlines etc. One can expect at least a half gallon a day from low producers up to as much as two to three gallons a day. Butterfat content can approach 5%.

Many readers of this thread have numerous questions. It is exciting to see a growing interest in this amazing small breed. Our breed association, Purebred Dexter Cattle Association PDCA has several sources for information on the Irish Dexter breed. I’ll list them here:

dexterstoday.com
Is the PDCA website and offers all kinds of info on the breed.

dextermarketplace.com
Is the place to buy/sell Dexter cattle and locate breeders.

Dexters Today E-magazine
Is our PDCA electronic magazine and can be found on our website. You can subscribe and get on our email list. Comes out bimonthly.

PDCA has a mentor program for those needing help in several different areas including milking. Mentor program info can be found on our website.

Dexters today community is our FaceBook discussiongroup. Ask any questions for open discussion.

More PDCA sources for info and help are being developed and will be available in the near future.

For those interested in becoming a breeder and developing an Irish Dexter herd, the PDCA has launched a breed improvement program called DexStar. DexStar uses genomic testing and phenotype evaluation to help breeders improve their cattle and ultimately the breed.

I quit using hay rings for the following reasons:

1. If you have several cows, hay rings can cause competition to access food. Cattle have a pecking order. More dominant cows will force less dominant ones out of the way. There always seems to be skirmishes around hay rings.

2. Hay rings lead to a lot of wasted hay. In the photo you sent, I noticed all the hay that has been pulled off the bale and dropped on the ground. Cattle will grab and pull hay off the bale. In doing so, much of what they pull drops to the ground. The hay that falls to the ground around the ring gets trampled, manured on and urinated on, not eaten.

3. In my previous use of hay rings I have seen individual cows with their head and front feet inside the ring as they search for the best morsels within the round bale. As the bale is eaten down, I have even seen calves standing inside the ring eating on what’s left of the bale. While there, they deposit urine and manure fouling the hay. In these situations, attempting to exit the hay ring can lead to injury.

Instead of using hay rings, I have gone to rolling out round bales. Depending on the number of cows you have, you can roll out all or a portion of the bale. This has several advantages:

1. Everyone gets to eat all at once instead of having the typical hay ring scuffles.

2. There is actually less waste and no chance of injury.

3. Manure and urine is spread out rather than accumulating around the hay ring.

4. I roll out the round bale in areas of pasture that have the weakest grass. Grass seeds within the bale are deposited. The hay that isn’t eaten provides ground cover. The manure and urine spread around the area provides nutrients.

Round bales can be rolled out by hand or pushed with forks on a front end loader. I saw one guy use the grill guard on his truck to push and unroll a round bale. You can buy manufactured round bale unrollers or if you are handy with a welder, make one yourself. A search of the internet yields all kinds of info.

The Purebred Dexter Cattle Association(PDCA) has embarked on a project to help all Dexter breeders market their cattle for sale. It’s called Dexter Marketplace and can be found at dextermarketplace.com. To launch this new marketing tool, PDCA is utilizing both print advertising and social media. The print ad campaign appears in three well read publications producing over 80,000 readers per issue. In addition to Dexters for sale, PDCA plans to ad categories for other sale items and services. These will include hay, feed, equipment, a wanted section, transportation, health etc. If you have Dexters for sale or are looking to buy, check out dextermarketplace.com. Ads are free for a limited time.

Hi Deb,
Wanted to check back and see if you were able to get started keeping a couple of Dexters for beef?
Ron

Hi Adele,
People lease bulls for breeding all the time. The best way to handle a lease is to have both parties terms and conditions asked and answered ahead of time and spelled out in a contract. Your concern about fences can be addressed by going to the lessee’s place and having a look for yourself. While you are there, have a look at their cattle and see if they are well fed and taken care of. That will let you know how your bull will be treated. Is your bull registered or grade? Some terms to be agreed upon include how many females will your bull be breeding? How many days will the other party be keeping your bull for breeding? 60-90 days is typical. If your bull needs veterinary care, who pays the bill? Cattle can carry reproductive diseases such as bovine trichomoniasis. Your bull should be tested before and after to protect both parties. Getting a clean bill of health from a vet before and after is a good idea. Having your bull fertility tested is a must before sending him off. That lets the lessee know your bull is producing healthy sperm and covers you if lessee claims a number of his cows were open. As far as a breeding fee, some charge a flat rate for the breeding period, others charge per head. Some even trade a breeding fee for calves. The big question to be answered is how many females will your bull be breeding. Keep in mind by leasing your bull, the lessee will be getting a calf crop without having to buy a bull or spendmoney on annual bull maintenance costs. Another option is artificial insemmination. You could have your bull collected and then sell semen to other breeders for so much per straw. I would be interested in seeing your bull’s pedigree. Can you forward his registration number? Do you know how many cows your bull will be breeding? Are they Dexters? Let me know if you have other questions.
Ron

Hi Deb,
I sent you a purple mooseage.
Ron

Hi Josh,
Thanks for your questions and your interest in Dexter cattle. As far as age to breed heifers the first time, I recommend waiting until they are 20 months or a little older. Yes, you have to separate the young heifers from the mature cows so they don’t get bred at too early an age. I would also like to point out something to think about in your breeding plan. That is follow the cycle of nature. With the exception of some hibernating den mammals, most mammals give birth in the spring. Think about it from a cattle standpoint. Is it better for the calf to be born in the late fall or winter months when it’s cold and all the grass is dormant or in the spring when the rains come and there is lush new grass growth? Will the cow’s milk be richer and therefore provide better nutrition for the calf in the winter or in the springtime? Will the cow recover quicker from calving and meet her and the calf’s nutrition needs better during winter months or in the spring? It comes down to planning when to put the bull(s) in the mature cow herd for breeding. In my area I like to see my calves hit the ground from May to June. To do that, herd bulls are put in with the cow herd in August and left for 60 days. That gives the cows two heat cycles to get bred. Then the bull(s) are pulled out and put in a separate pasture. You could possibly leave the bull in with the cow herd year around if all the cows are on the same 60 day calving schedule but typically doing it that way calving gets strung out for one reason or another over time. If you leave the bull in you definitely have to wean and remove the heifers so they won’t get bred too early. As others have said Dexters can cycle and breed at an early age, something I had not experienced with other larger breeds I have worked with.

On your question about how many cows can one bull service, that depends on several factors. Those being sperm quality and quantity, age, proper structure and nutrition/body condition. Sperm quality and quantity can be determined by a fertility test done by a vet. A semen sample is collected then evaluated for number of live sperm present, morphology and motility. A young bull with excellent quality semen, good structure and good body condition shouldn’t have any trouble successfully breeding 30 cows in 60 days.

My Dexter cattle are horned, but the horns aren’t as wide as highland cattle. I would recommend checking with some Texas Longhorn breeders and see what they recommend. I’m sure there is a longhorn breeders discussion group out there. Powder River makes excellent  heavy duty squeeze chutes. The one you showed has a palpation cage attached to the back end. I use a manual powder river squeeze chute on my farm. It’s been a while back, but from what I remember when doing artificial insemmination, longhorn cattle would learn to twist their head so the horns were pointing in a one up/one down direction to negotiate through the squeeze chute and headgate with the chute sides and headgate in the fully opened position.

Hi Brian,

Saw this topic you started and would like to recommend you looking into a group of people who milk Dexters. They are on Facebook and it’s called Dexter Family Milk Cows. This group has a mentor program for anyone interested in milking Dexter cattle. I’m sure they would welcome your participation and questions. I agree with your concern about the prolific deterioration of the structure of udders in the breed today. It’s largely due to poor selection and breeding practices. Improving the udders of females within the breed is one of the goals of PDCA(purebred Dexter Cattle Association).

Tommy.

As promised, I visited with some board members and didn’t have to go beyond that. Two of them confirmed they have had young heifers, one 5 months and another 6 months come into heat and get bred. Neither was as young as yours but none the less too young. I stand corrected and have learned something new about Dexters. I have never experienced this issue with my Dexters and hope I never do. Although it is not common, people reading these posts should be aware of the possibility and manage their Dexter bulls accordingly.