September 2024

By Sue Pollington

So, now you are ready to buy your first Irish Dexter. You have your land, fencing, a water source, a farm vet who makes farm calls (or a trailer to take them to the vet), a shelter, hay or a hay source, a mineral source and the money to buy.

Now you need to find your cow or cattle as the case may be and the confusion starts. What’s the difference between an Irish Dexter and an American Dexter? Are the white ones really Dexters? Do I want registered or unregistered? What registry is better?

Remembering I am not an expert, and I can be wrong. This is what I learned in my own Dexter journey. There is an American Dexter Cattle Association (which is the largest), a Purebred Dexter Cattle Association and many more that I won’t get into.  A registered Dexter is more expensive. This is because the market will pay a higher price to know the genetic testing, DNA and pedigree. But even with registration it doesn’t mean they are all perfect cows, if there is such a thing. I personally don’t care about registration yet I have chosen to buy registered Dexters because there is less chance of deception ie I know what I am getting.

I have a cousin, we will call him Dale who has cattle in MI and he claims if someone comes to him he sells them an Aberdeen and tells people they are the same as a Dexter (they are not) and Dale’s cows aren’t registered and most are mixed in breed. I don’t buy from Dale as I want to know what my cows are, Dexters. There are more people than just my cousin Dale pulling shady things in cattle sales just like with any animal sales. Buyer beware.

Find a reputable breeder, with references. Go see their place and their cows in person. It’s worth the cost. Or if you have a trusted friend who can do this for you, for breeders out of your area, ask them. I found a breeder about 2.5 hours from me and went to visit. .The breeder was open to visitors and she had a great place and super good looking cows that were friendly and approachable. She also wasn’t trying to sell me a cow but made it more educational as my first visit was for that and to see if I would even like Dexters. By the end of the visit I was in love and wanted to buy a cow. This breeder wasn’t sure if she had anyone for sale right now but said she would think about it and the kind of cow I needed as my first cow. I was looking for the unicorn of cows, trained to milk, bred, with a calf at her side. The breeder did offer me an ADCA Dexter at a registered Dexter price. I did not get the perfect cow but I did get the perfect cow for me as a 1st time cow owner, she was patient, easy going, was pregnant with a yearling steer included. She also didn’t have the perfect udder, it was good but she had large teets with small orifices. So she hand milks slowly. She was a great first cow and taught me a lot of good things. I was lucky to end up with her. I still have her.

Take your time, know what you want and be willing to either wait or compromise where you can. Make sure you feel good about the purchase as this is an investment. Cows are not cheap and if they are I want to know why.. Listen to the good stories and the horror stories and learn all you can. Get a cow mentor to guide you who is not trying to sell you something. Let me know if I can help. I am happy too. Good Luck. Getting the Dexters I have,, was a great choice and they make my life so fun. I wish the same for you.

Sue Pollington

By Eliena Bodtke, Stay’N Put Farm

Whit Ashe of Circle A Ranch in Savannah, Tennessee , has been our cowboy, AI tech and friend for over ten years now. Our nick names for him, include Man With The Golden Arm, Mr. One And Done and My Favorite Cowboy to name a few. But, wouldn’t you use those names to describe a perfect heifer record and he only had to come back twice for redos in 10 years. We recommend him for anyone in the area. But after several conversations, it appears that much of our success as team, is not just his technique.

Minerals

For both Circle A Ranch and our little homestead, Stay’N Put Farm, it started with the management program. We both use Vitaferm Concept aid minerals. Whit recommended these right from the beginning, including when we were doing live cover on and off. It is set out free choice for them to utilize at their pleasure. With the success rate like ours, proper nutrients to help them take with one attempt has to be one of the key components . Seeing others succeed when switching to it, seems to us to be part of one of the keys to success. But this is just one of components to this success.

Timing

Timing is very crucial as well. Each Dexter will have its own cycle. Ours are between 18 and 21 days. Signs of coming into heat differ from cow to cow. Some of the signs we look for are loose poops, change in behavior…extra sweet or standoffish behaviors. You will often times see the cows standing close to each other, one appears to be more affectionate than the others. These for us are the start of of the heat cycle and duly noted.

Next we watch for jumping or restless behavior. This could include a nursing calf, jumping on mom or behaving weirdly with mom. If you’re milking, you may see an appreciable drop in milk, we do.

This is when your observation skills are most important. Cows will jump cows. Cows will jump bulls. This behavior is referred to as bulling. If you only have one cow in your herd and no other Dexter or bovine friend, this can be troublesome.

It can help you know that a cow is in heat, but it can’t tell you whether it is in a standing heat.

Telephone conversations and texts happen with Whit Ashe when we see behavior changes, poops getting loose or a milk drop and then we keep in close contact until we are sure that we are in standing heat.

Standing heat

Standing heat is when the cow stands for anyone to mount her. It is at this point you should be ready. We try to AI within the next 12 hours…and close to the 12 hour mark.

When your tech arrives, you should have your cow either in the barn or in the milking stanchion or shoot. You will need to have your straw selected that you want to use. The tech will warm the insertion device, by placing close to their body…down their shirt. The straw will be warmed in a special straw warmer. Once it is thawed, the device will let you know and the fun begins. The attached video will show you what it typically looks like.

Whit Ashe has only had to make two trips back in 10 years, and I would have to say one was probably the semen , which is rare to have a problem with it and the other was my timing. We chased it…knowing it would probably result in a bull, but we were unsuccessful. As of the time writing this article we have only received two bulls by AI, and that was from another AI tech, Weston Williams. Whit Ashe has a perfect heifer record here, very hard to believe, but true.

Here is a video of it