New dexter yearling heifer.

[Moody]

We just got our first cow today. We paid $1200, cows seem to be pricey these days but it still seems high to me. But from what I've seen that is actually a few hundred less than many others. She isn't registered. She does have small horns.

The seller has a mini jersey bull who he says is very docile. I'm thinking he will be more costly than I can manage.but would a mini jersey and dexter cross calf bring less $ than a full dexter?
Should I just hold out for a full dexter or really consider the mini jersey since the guy swears he is gentle and he has no horns?

Anything I should know about this breed? I did not ask about the hereditary diseases, (pha? Or whatever it was) I really just need to establish an ag exemption but like the small cattle for our 10 acres of pasture.

 

[BrownSheep]

I vote no on the Jersey.
Dairy breed bulls 9 times out of 10 turn mean. I haven't met a docile one yet.

I would also venture a guess that the calf would be worth less. Mini- Jerseys are a niche market, more so than Dexters even. You might be able to market a heifer calf as a prospective milk cow.

 

[Moody]

I know nothing about this stuff. I appreciate the input.
I was hoping half dexter, half jersey steers could be sold for meat and a heifer as a family milker or meat but I really don't know about the reality of that being a good option. That's my hope either way actually. Whether I would go full dexter or a different mini breed to breed her. I was also hoping the market for mini breeds was growing due to more small acreage farms wanting smaller cows.

When I was search for cows, I mainly use craigslist. I see many full sized bred black cows for $2500. I assume they mean angus. I'm guessing they mean bred also to angus....

 

[jhm47]

There are "black" cattle/cows/bulls in nearly every breed, however most are Angus or Angus crosses. As to the Jersey bull---DO NOT buy him. Jersey bulls are the most aggressive and unpredictable animals there are. The Spanish fighting bulls are worse, but Jerseys are second. AI is simple, cost-effective, and you will have the choice of dozens of breeds to choose from. Good luck!

 

[Bossroo]

We had a family member get suckered into buying a mini by selling on small size so easy to handle, fun, easy to sell ... Reality, If one tries to sell a offspring or the mini at an auction, good LUCK to get a buyer much less even a bid. To sell an offspring one has to find another sucker !

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I think mini's have their place... I know folks who raise Dexters and actually USE them. They milk theirs and provide trained milkers to other folks and they also butcher their steers. I gotta tell you - Dexter steak is nothing to turn your nose up at!

 

[Baymule]

Are you going to milk the cow for your own use? Or just raise calves from her? If you are not going to milk her and you are raising calves to sell, then go with beef cattle.

 

[greybeard]

As jmh47 said, there are black cattle of all kinds of breeding backgrounds--black color hide don't mean Angus any more than red means Hereford.
Add me to the NO for the Jersey bull--I see no upside whatsoever to breeding a Jersey bull to an already pretty good milker like Dexter--pretty good in the sense that they can raise a good calf. polled or horned, jersey bulls just have an aggressive streak to them and 1/2 the genetic makeup of your Dexter's calf is going to come from that Jersey bull. On top of that, you don't need a bull with just one female. AI, borrow, or rent a bull--no sense feeding a bull for the whole year when you will only actually use him for any time except an hour out of that year at the most. Bulls, especially Jerseys, tend to get a little "anxious and hard to deal with" when they don't have enough ladies to entertain, and just because a bull is docile for the current owner there is no guarantee at all it will be in a new setting. The best time to run from a Jersey bull is before you get one.

I know nothing about this stuff. I appreciate the input.
I was hoping half dexter, half jersey steers could be sold for meat and a heifer as a family milker or meat but I really don't know about the reality of that being a good option. That's my hope either way actually. Whether I would go full dexter or a different mini breed to breed her. I was also hoping the market for mini breeds was growing due to more small acreage farms wanting smaller cows.

When I was search for cows, I mainly use craigslist. I see many full sized bred black cows for $2500. I assume they mean angus. I'm guessing they mean bred also to angus....

 

[goatgurl]

i also vote don't buy the jersey bull, they do get mean. many moons ago i worked on a dairy farm and the bulls were just awful. they had both jersey and Holstein bulls that had to be kept behind both pipe and electric fence combined. and the older they got the meaner they got. we started doing a lot of AI and just kept one bull for cheanup. as far as cows i would breed straight dexter, in my opinion they will never take over the meat market but they do have a place on a homestead for both meat and milk. and $1200 wasn't a bad price. at the stock sale yesterday they sold a 3 day old calf for $600. i about choked. i use to buy them for $50 and raise them on the goats milk but there is no way you could make a profit now doing that. think about AI or talk to a neighbor about using a bull. good luck

 

[Moody]

Thanks all!

That bull is 4 and we have met him, he seemed tame enough. The guy was only using him. He did mention that normally jersey bulls would require a club to go anywhere near them.

We need gentle if we get a bull because we must open gates and drive through their space to get to our home. but you all have me convinced that doing 2 females would be our best bet.

I could milk the dexter but I just got goats recently because I think goats milk is the way I want to do milk to drink BUT milking the dexter would be primarily for butter and cream. I think I read that dexters also have partially homogenized milk so it may not be the best for that. I intended to sell the calves but not at the sale barn. The most calves we would have is 2 (one from each female) and I would likely try to sell them on craigslist or locally. I also could try to market to small homesteads as milk cow for the heifers. I'm not seeing many of the mini cows around craigslist. I don't know if that means there isn't much of a market or that there aren't many listed because they get snatched up quickly.

I don't even know if cows are seasonal breeders or year round. I do know AI has around 80% success rate and it seems easier to let nature take its course with a bull. I assume heat signs are similar to goats. Dh is sold on getting our own bull though. I'm mostly in charge of this stuff though so I will check on AI costs and with some neighbors who have lowline angus to see if they can hook me up with someone close with a dexter bull.