Sugar Mountain's Irish Dexter cattle
Over the years, we've often thought about getting cattle. For the small homestead, cattle are a big proposition. We did some investigating as to the perfect breed of cattle for homesteading. We were definitely leaning towards a miniature breed, as they require less pasture and less feed. We finally settled on the Irish Dexter cattle, which are an heirloom breed. We were lucky to locate an excellent herd of these nearby to us at Boulder Fork Farm.
We went to Boulder Fork Farm, and Ruby Fadner allowed us to wander at will through her cow pasture while they were in the process of loading up some cows that the owner had brought for breeding by her bull. At first, the cattle were a little leery of us. However, as we stood in the pasture a while, most of the girls came right up to us to be petted and scratched. The youngest bull came right up to the fence without hesitation for attention & ate grain right out of my hand. Before we left that day, we picked out 2 heifers and a young bull for our herd starters from the cattle Ruby had for sale. Ruby began lead training within the following few days.
The next thing was to come up with the funds to buy the cattle. We had 2 trios of adult Cavaliers, an older trio and a younger trio. We had also recently sold a year-old Cavalier female. We had an ad that was ready to come out that weekend in the shopper, and so we crossed our fingers & said our prayers. We did sell the older trio that weekend, and ended up with just enough cash to buy the cattle and some feed. Ruby even delivered the cattle to us since we were not too far away. She registered the cattle and paid for our first year's membership in the American Dexter Cattle Association. Boulder Fork Farm has a beautiful herd of Dexter cattle, and we would recommend them to anyone interested in buying Dexters.
Their contact information is as follows: Ruby & Mike Fadner, Boulder Fork Farm, Ava, Missouri Boulder Fork Farm
We are pleased as punch with our little herd. They are very gentle and docile and can all be walked on lead ropes. We picked out 2 dun females, one a light dun color and the other a chocolate dun color. The young bull we picked out is red. Here are some photos below.
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
.jpg "Tamsin")
For more information about the Dexter cattle, please read the article below. We found it very interesting that, during our research on miniature cattle, we found that Mother Earth News included an article on the Irish Dexter cattle way back in their March/April 1980 edition - which describes the Dexter cattle as the "perfect cow for homesteaders". The article can be found in their archives at: http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1980_March_April/The_Amazing_Irish_Dexters
Issue # 62 - March/April 1980
Randy Kidd reports on "miniature" cattle:
The Amazing
Irish Dexters
Suppose someone could "invent" the perfect cow for homesteaders . . . what would the bovine beauty be like? Well, the animal would probably be an economical, small beast that required about half the grazing land of an ordinary cow or steer . . . yet still gave a fine yield of both milk and beef, right? Not only that (as long as we're fantasizing, we might as well go all the way!), but the critter would be so docile and friendly that it could be a domestic pet as well as a livestock animal!
Well, amazingly enough, such a small-is-beautiful breed of cattle actually exists! These "dream beasts" are called Irish Dexters (they were developed—years ago—by frugal Gaelic folk who wanted to get a lot of milk and meat but owned only small plots of land), and they really and truly do possess all the "invented" virtues listed above.
So if you're a small-scale farmsteader, Dexter cattle could quite possibly be the perfect livestock for you to raise. BUT (isn't there always a "but"?) before you try to build up a herd of the pint-sized bossies, you should take a close look at both the "pluses" and "minuses" of the Emerald Isle imports.
THE GOOD NEWS
Irish Dexters are, indeed, much smaller (and therefore more "homestead
sized") than our common cattle breeds. A mature cow of this unique line averages
around 600-800 pounds, and an adult bull weighs in at between 800 and 1,000
pounds (which makes the beast a heck of a lot lighter animal than the
average-sized 2,000-pound Brahman steer!). The waist-high ruminants are stocky
and very short-legged (especially below the knees) critters. In fact, they
resemble heavy-shouldered Black Angus cattle, but they're built so low to the
ground that you almost wonder if their briskets will drag!
Dexter cattle are also "easy keepers": They're relatively weather-hardy beasts and require much less land and grain than do larger bovine breeds. During the grazing season, a cow and her calf can eat heartily on a couple of acres of good pasture . . . and an adult Dexter's daily wintertime ration need be only a bale—or at most a bale and a half—of hay along with a pound of grain.
Just as important as the breed's economical eating habits is the fact that the dual-purpose animals do a good job of producing both meat and milk. An 18-month-old steer will dress out to a good 250-500 pounds of tasty beef, and a cow may yield 400-600 gallons of milk a year. (The fresh liquid contains a high—5%, or more—butterfat content, but tends to be "naturally homogenized" like goat's milk, so you'll need either a separator or some patience if you want to produce cream.)
Dexters are also extremely easy to work with. The low-slung cud-chewers have such gentle dispositions that some owners let their children caretake 'em . . . others find that a few strands of barbed wire fencing are enough to contain the placid critters . . . and lots of Dexter ranchers think of their animals as bovine companions!
You'd naturally assume that such positive traits would make Dexter cattle just about the breed for small landholders. And sure enough, most everyone who raises the animals is absolutely delighted with the petite-but-productive beasts. So why, then, haven't Dexters become farmstead regulars? Why don't you see the critters all over our nation's pastures? The reason, of course, is that along with all the good news about the hardy cows, there is also some bad news.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY
The most "infamous" drawback of the Irish Dexter is the breed's genetic
"bulldog trait". This birth defect (chondrodystrophia fetalis) is fatal to any
fetus that inherits it. The mother is not affected, but her unborn calf—which
has a bulldoglike pushed-in nose and extremely short legs—is spontaneously
aborted sometime between the second and eighth months of pregnancy.
The inherited trait is carried by a recessive gene, so while only a moderate percentage of Dexter calves are "bulldogs", the potential for the defect is often handed down by seemingly healthy specimens.
In theory, one quarter of Dexter offspring bred from parents who carry the trait should not survive. Fortunately, some other—and not yet completely understood—genetic factors modify the occurrence of this calamity so that, in real life, less than one quarter of the offspring are bulldogs. (Incidentally, other cattle can be afflicted with chondrodystrophia fetalis . . . so never risk spreading the bulldog trait by mating a Dexter with an animal of another breed.)
The first piece of bad news, then, for potential Dexter caretakers is that such farmers will lose a percentage (probably around 5-10%, but conceivably closer to 25%) of their calf crop. Established Dexter owners, though, don't find this part of "doing business" with the breed to be a prohibitive drawback.
Prospective "mini-cow" raisers will have to face one more—quite serious—problem, however: scarcity. There are only 500 or 600 Irish Dexters in the entire United States, so it can be danged hard to find an animal that's up for sale. Folks sometimes have to search for years to locate an owner who's willing to part with even one healthy, productive cow.
You can learn the whereabouts of Irish Dexters in the U.S. by contacting either the American Dexter Cattle Association, 707 West Water Street, Decorah, Iowa 52101 . . . or James Johnson (the organization's president), 4092 Broadview Road, Richfield, Ohio 44286. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Be sure to send a couple of dollars along with any requests for information, to help compensate these folks for their mailing expenses and completely voluntary assistance.] But be patient while you're waiting for a reply. The Dexter Association people have—at times in the past—been deluged with information requests. They eventually (and kindly) answer all their mail . . . but they might understandably not "cotton to" insistent queries from people who are too anxious.
So if you want to raise Irish Dexters, you first have to accept the fact that it will take time—and persistence—to discover a source of the economical animals. On the other hand, though, folks who eventually do get these "dream" farmstead livestock most often find that the rewards are worth the wait.
All articles are reprinted just as they were published on the date indicated. Source listings, addresses and prices have not been updated; some details may have changed and terminology may be outmoded.
Over the years since this article was printed, the American Dexter Cattle Association has encouraged DNA testing for the bulldog gene to the point where it is not nearly as common among the Dexters as it was back in 1980. If the parents both test as NC, or non-carriers, the offspring are pretty much guaranteed also not to be carriers. Also, there are estimated now to be approximately 15,000 Dexter cattle worldwide but still only 6000 in North America at this time. This is still only an increase of 4,500 or less cattle in the U.S. over the last 26 years - or less than 200 head per year.
The American Dexter Cattle Association at http://www.dextercattle.org/ describes the Dexter cattle as "Triple-Purpose Cattle" who can be raised for milk, draft animals, and beef. Their website information includes the following:
Dexter Cattle in America
The importation of Dexter cattle to America is thought to have occurred long ago, but the first recorded importations arrived between 1905 and 1915 and numbered over two hundred head. A complete history of early herds, their owners and the transfer of cattle between owners is well documented in the ADCA Herd Book. Although the Dexter was an ideal homestead cow, providing meat, milk and power and found a good deal of popularity in that arena, as milk and meat production became specialized, the Dexter numbers decreased. At one time there were thought to be less than 5,000 in the world, but today, with renewed interest in small holdings, the numbers have risen to approximately 15,000 head worldwide. There are some 6,000 in North America at this time. The ADCA has nearly 650 members and registered 852 cattle in 2000.
We found our cattle within the same county we live in, just a short scenic drive through the country (although this may not be the case all over the country). Contact information for Boulder Fork Farm is as follows: Ruby & Mike Fadner, Boulder Fork Farm, Ava, Missouri Boulder Fork Farm
We're happy with our decision to go with the Dexter cattle. We agree that they are the perfect homestead cattle.
4/11/06