Here are our three girls, Snippit, Pokey and Casper. These cows are half sisters and have been together their whole life. They are Irish Dexters, a miniature heritage breed. Dexters range from 36 to 40 inches at the sholder when full grown. Many people consider this breed to be duel purpose. This means they can be used to produce meat or milk. These girls are five years old, full grown and currently pregnant with their fourth calf.
Posts
Such beautiful girls! & so much for them to eat! I love dexters & have 17 of them. But... Dexter's are not miniture cattle. They are a very old breed that was never "improved". Cattle didn't used to be the huge things they are now! Dexters have always been smaller than even the other old breeds. It's my guess that this is why they weren't taken up by those who wanted to have bigger breeds. Our wonderful, friendly, intelligent Dexters are the smallest of the naturally occuring cattle breeds; there is no larger version of the Dexter like w/ a breed that has been miniturized.
ReplyDeleteWhen are your beautiful girls due? Do they do the same as our girls do? Go off & hide to have their babies? We know that our girls are having their babies because they are absent if we go out at night. They bring their babies up in the morning to show them off! They calve so easily, we don't worry about them. That's a large part of why we got this breed. Do you milk yours? The milk is really great! They are at true dual purpose breed & we're hoping to exercise their 3rd talent as well. We're hoping to be able to use them for draft. They used to be considered a tri-purpose breed, when draft animals were used.
Dexters are just such wonderful cattle... THE BEST!!!
Thank you Evelyn for pointing out that Dexters are not a miniature breed. Dexters are new to us and we are still learning about this wonderful breed.
ReplyDeleteAre girls are due to calf in April/May.
You'll have a great Spring! Babies are so much fun!
ReplyDeleteyou have a great spring babies are so much fun
ReplyDeletekarasiwa.blogspot.com