Historical

Dexters – Poor Man’s Cow to Luxury Cow By Danielle Lowther

Poor Man’s Cow to Luxury Cow

How did the Poor Man’s Cow become owned by the wealthy and famous. Dexters and Kerry Cattle became recognized for their unique hardy attributes, Kerry for milk and Dexter for milk and meat. Dexters were known to get by on less, produce rich milk and raise a healthy vigorous calf for their owner’s table. Dexters were bred to their breed specific traits transforming them from just any poor Irish cows to these 2 beautiful, registered Dexter cows we see in these two later photos.

They were rare and they were at risk of being cross bred out of existence, but breeders in Ireland started selecting and registering Dexter cattle with breed defining traits to preserve and register them in a herd book. Once the promotion of Dexters began every wealthy aristocrat wanted one. All of a sudden, they were not the Poor Man’s cow but rather for a short spell until the numbers grew, cattle that only the wealthy could afford. Consider as this article states a $200 dollar Dexter cow from 1915. This is the equivalent of $6221.78. I checked multiple inflation calculators to verify that number as being correct. With the highest price the ad mentions at $350 in 1915, you would pay $10,936.81 today! Consider today we pay less for quality breeding stock. Rarity always drives the price up and just like with the rarity of gold it dictates the price.
Registered cows were important then and today. Registered Dexters will always hold a higher value than unregistered. Still with Dexters it took devoted breeders to breed Dexters according to the Dexter Standard to the highest quality like the 2 cows you see in the photographs. Not every Dexter cow was nearly as ideal as these two beauties. Compton Daphne, I speculate is a Chondro Carrier while Grinstead Watercress I speculate to be a non-carrier. Of course, we can never go back and test them so it’s just speculation. Both are extremely well bred and both fit the standard well.

So, as you can see Dexters are a dual-purpose breed that can be bred by multiple types of people regardless of fortune because they are a great pick for everyone. Whether you’re a small homesteader trying to save money with a thrifty headache free cow or someone who just wants to raise them as beautiful lawn mowers true Dexters are a great fit for these reasons and so many more!

30 Jan 1915 is the date of article written.
Photo of cattle in town are common type of Celtic cow that roamed Ireland.
Other two photos are of registered Dexters.

Dexters – Poor Man’s Cow to Luxury Cow By Danielle Lowther Read More »

Historical

Building history opportunity and a chance to win a copy of a signed book!

Do you have an amazing photo of a heritage breed animal? Share your best shot and help The Livestock Conservancy grow its photo library to support vital conservation messaging!

You could win a signed copy of “Practical Color Genetics for Livestock Breeders.”

Contest Rules:

  • To enter, send your high-resolution photo (300 dpi +) to lodell@livestockconservancy.org by July 31.
  • By entering, you grant The Livestock Conservancy full royalty-free, perpetual and nonexclusive rights to use, display, edit, publish or archive the image in whole or in part online or in print.

(This photo is Florida Cracker cattle; credit Steve Howell Jr.)

Building history opportunity and a chance to win a copy of a signed book! Read More »

Historical

Interesting, Dexters were used to replicate a farm in 300 B.C.

Two long legged Dexters were kept at an Iron Age site to replicate a farm in 300 B.C. The attempt was to recreate what some of our Celtic ancestors would have experienced in their environment as close to what archaeological evidence in 1974 could validate. A round wattle and daub building was constructed with a thatched roof on site, and it withstood two Hampshire hurricanes with no ill effect. A man named Peter Reynolds was testing hypotheses to establish or to refute established theories during his era. He researched to establish accurate theories on the livestock and crops that would have been grown at that time. He wanted to establish facts and create a representation of the time as accurately as he could.
The dark wooled small breed of Soay sheep were kept, as it is commonly believed they are as close as possible to the Iron age sheep genetically, because they remained isolated on St. Kilda for thousands of years. Then there are the two long legged Dexter cattle being kept that are believed to be the same body size and weight as the extinct Bos longifrons. This seems to be what was considered the best match for the time. When researching the subject, I found that McKenny Hughes says “that Bos longifrons was a very small animal; probably not larger than a Kerry cow.” It was likewise believed that the color of the British and Celtic Bos longifrons was black but with a shorter horn shape than is seen in Kerry and Dexter cattle. With those considerations it is understandable that long legged Dexters that have often been called Dexters of the Kerry type would have been used as the best choice for the day. Newspaper article: Country Life 27 June 1974

Interesting, Dexters were used to replicate a farm in 300 B.C. Read More »

Historical

Article from 1906 Ladies Field

This article mentions some interesting information about Dexters.

  1. The owner of these Dexters mentions having pastures that were rough and neglected with no accommodation for heavy cattle, so Dexters were the most suitable cattle for the location.
  2. She received young 2-3 year old heifers who had been out doors their whole lives and therefor needed no buildings to shelter them, and throve well, having plenty to range, on the rough pastures. In frosty weather they were given a little hay, but they have no concentrated food of any sort, except a handful of oats now and then from Mrs. Hoare’s coats pockets. (I personally can relate to this comment on Dexters just getting a treat here or there but not needing a concentrated feed regimen)
  1. Though they were wild they became pets in short time except for one shy heifer.
  2. Five of the heifers were bought in calf but two of them were Aberdeen Angus crossbreeds. Miss Hoare had a first intended to sell these for veal, as she had at first only intended to keep store stock, but when the little curly-coated (pure Dexters historically were known to have fine and silky hair) babies arrived she was so charmed she decided to keep them instead. In the picture of the four calves, the cross- bred one may easily be distinguished by the absence of horns and the peaked forehead.
    5.Perhaps the prettiest of the cows is Daisy, whose portrait is given above. She is an Irish bred one, long and low, with a very stylish head and horn. The most perfectly shaped of all is Brindle, as her name implies, she is not a fashionable color (Did not meet the breed standard), otherwise she would be good enough to win in very good company, but her calf is black as coal.

Article from 1906 Ladies Field Read More »

Historical

Bantam is what a Champion prize Dexter looked like in 1897.

This picture is very interesting for quite a few reasons.

First Dexters though many were black in the early days compared today this bull Bantam was red.

Second and most interesting point to note, this bull was bred by the Prince of Wales at Sandringham in 1896. This location is situated in Sandringham, Norfolk, England. Dexters had a very early start of popularity in England being bred by some very noteworthy people. In 1862 Sandringham Estate was under 8,000 acres were as today the acreage is closer to 20,000 acres. If you look at the second picture you will see that in 1914 Dexters were still being breed at Sandringham by the King. The first bull Bantam has a good broad form for a Dexter of his day but when you compare him to the form of the Dexter bull that the King had in the photograph in 1914 you will see he has a broad back end as well as his front. I do wish this photo was better, but I think you can still make out the bull’s form. While improving on beef traits one must always remember to improve dairy traits equally too so as not to diminish dairy traits in favor of beef. When both traits are in harmony you get a great dual-purpose Dexter.

Bantam is what a Champion prize Dexter looked like in 1897. Read More »

Historical

Breed standard…Detailed English Dexter Breed standard that well defines Dexters unique traits.

Breed Standards define breeds so that people know what unique traits the breed possess. Dexters were known to have extremely fine quality beef, it turns out that the original genetics Dexters process may actually help them to have finer quality beef because they have “skin that should be soft and mellow, and handle well, not too thin, hair fine, plentiful and silky”. Consider this quote from the first screen shot “This cow has a very soft supple skin with short sleek shiny, silky hair. She has a well developed gland system. Note the wrinkles in the skin. The softer the hide the closer the wrinkles are.” This well describes Dexters, they have both good overall butterfat and fine textured meat, and they are wearing the signs, if properly bred on their backs. Another good reason to not deviate away from the original Dexter breed standard.

Breed standard…Detailed English Dexter Breed standard that well defines Dexters unique traits. Read More »

Historical

Livestock Conservancy Dexters

The early Dexters adapted to the challenging conditions of open, mountainous Irish countryside and developed the hardy animals that are valued today. 
Dexter Cattle

Livestock Conservancy Dexters Read More »

Beef Historical
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