dexterlady
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Wife, mother of two daughters and five grand children
Posts: 647
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Post by dexterlady on Jul 24, 2011 22:42:41 GMT -5
Whoops, I ment to say not as bad as some...........Donna
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dexterlady
member
Wife, mother of two daughters and five grand children
Posts: 647
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Post by dexterlady on Jul 24, 2011 22:51:56 GMT -5
This is Thomas' RY Red Rhea. She has a nice udder when nursing. This picture doesn't do her justice, and sorry if it is hard to see. I am trying to send two pics' , don't know if they will both attach. If not I will send the second one again of Rheas'udder....Donna Attachments:
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dexterlady
member
Wife, mother of two daughters and five grand children
Posts: 647
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Post by dexterlady on Jul 24, 2011 22:55:01 GMT -5
I guess I should say , both these girls are drying up, I have weaned their calves. The best picture of Rhea attached so no need to send the first one. All the rest of our cows are either getting ready to calve or are drying up.......Donna
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Post by cddexter on Jul 31, 2011 9:10:03 GMT -5
hiyu rosegay at 19 years, 17th lactation, my idea of a dual purpose Dexter. Attachments:
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Post by cddexter on Jul 31, 2011 9:14:42 GMT -5
can't figure out how to put more than one pic on a post, so here's Rosegay herself, in toto. c. Attachments:
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Post by Olga on Jul 31, 2011 21:40:00 GMT -5
I love that udder, C.D. And yes, that's a good dual purpose udder - exceptional considering her age! I will say that the type of udders posted before Rosegay are wonderful to have if you want the option of not milking. Because many of the bigger uddered Dexters I've seen have the types of udders that HAVE to be milked due to some problem - bad suspension, threat of mastitis, engorged teats and such.
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Post by cddexter on Aug 1, 2011 0:23:21 GMT -5
Olga, Rosegay has never been milked, and 19 years later, this is what a good udder looks like. Her udder is like that because she has great suspensory ligaments and great forward and rear attachment, well defined quarters and nice teat shape, and lovely supple skin. This has nothing to do with being milked or not. Here's a pic of one of her dry daughters, Dorothy. In milk, Dorothy's udder looks just like her mom's. Pics of two of her sons can be found on the ADCA site (Reiver and Benjamin). Hiyu Salty Rambler IV was another of her sons. Bad udders can often be fixed in one generation, if the right bull is used. c. Attachments:
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Post by Olga on Aug 1, 2011 2:24:56 GMT -5
C.D., I never said anything about milking or not milking Rosegay that influenced her udder. I just gave her a compliment, that's all. Then I commented on other udders. I only said that I personally in my short affair with Dexters haven't seen an udder of that volume that didn't have some kind of fault that would make milking a necessity, or on another hand make milking difficult. Such as I've seen (and own one) those with larger udders that have very large teats that you have to milk because the calf can't suckle them otherwise. I've seen (and had one) those with large udder that had become pendulous with age. I've seen (and had one) udders that had too small of back teats to be milked by hand and thus one couldn't wean the calf for as long as one wanted to milk said cow. And then there are those with front and back teats too close together - they get in the way during milking. I remember visiting 3 Dexter farms within driving distance before buying. Frankly, I didn't know what to look for. It sure helps to milk for a while before you get the idea. After our breeding pair purchase, we ended up visiting a few more farms, further away - OK and MO. AGMs helped too. The udders that our 1st bull threw seamed to be better suspended. We kept Sam's son out of the biggest volume cow for our current herd bull. I'm thinking about keeping his son out of Sioux - best suspension and very good symmetry - for next herd bull. Just an example of how those of us on a very small budget can still try to dabble in genetics - oh dear! P.S.: Sorry for babbling, can't go to sleep tonight...
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Post by cddexter on Aug 1, 2011 9:18:44 GMT -5
olga:
"udders like the ones posted before are wonderful if you want the option of not milking"
is what prompted my comments, and my point was--and is--that you don't have to resort to that type of udder to control volume. I agree there are a lot of udders out there that could use (1) shape and (2) attachment and (3) teat improvement. Because so many Dexter owners are new to cattle and don't know what to look for, or breed for, and because years ago many owners bred primarily for size, some of the important functional traits kind of fell by the wayside, and we are all reaping the NOT rewards today. The trick is to want to repair the damage.
You are doing exactly the right thing. Take your best* cow, breed her to the best* bull you can find whose traits either match or improve the cows', and use the male offspring across the rest of the herd to improve them all. The other side of the coin is to steer the male calves from the lesser females, and gradually raise the overall standard of animals.
(*highest quality)
30 years ago, I saw a lot of the same things you are seeing now. The difference is that we have more people truly aware of quality, and more really good animals specifically bred for superior qualities, available, and communication is a lot easier so, on average, I think things are improving.
I've been on that same shoestring you are talking about, and yes, sometimes it takes almost extraordinary measures to seek and find those really good qualities and incorporate them into one's herd, even if the herd only numbers a few. But, knowing that all things can be corrected, and the satisfaction of doing so is a great spur to making that push. ;D c.
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Post by quappelle on Aug 1, 2011 15:34:45 GMT -5
I bred fancy uddered, high-producing dairy goats for almost 40 years until I got tired of having to be half a vet. The metabolic problems and the tightrope that had to be walked on nutrition with such heavy production wore me out. So the Dexters looked like something that I could actually enjoy since they are so tough and low maintenance. But almost all of the udders I have seen so far have had narrow, low rear attachment, and short, open foreudders, which in goats would lead to a very pendulous udder in time. But I figured that I could put up with homely udders as the rest of the picture is so ideal for me. Now I see some pictures here that give me some hope that I may milk a pretty Dexter udder someday. I am located in Fraser Valley, BC, and would like to get some of the semen for udder improvement bulls that are mentioned. Possibly ccdexter could help me out on where I might get some? Hope it is okay if I give my email gigoodman@shaw.ca . Thanks for any info anyone can provide.
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Post by rdoubled on Aug 1, 2011 18:28:52 GMT -5
CD, Love Rosegay's udder. It is so tight and well attached, if you never stated her age you would think she was a young heifer. That is one special cow, but that is nothing new to you.
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dexterlady
member
Wife, mother of two daughters and five grand children
Posts: 647
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Post by dexterlady on Aug 1, 2011 21:34:16 GMT -5
Hey CD, since you know a lot about udders, would you please critique ( sp.) my two girls udders? I don't know if they have good ones , mediocre, or what. I know I have seen worse that these two. But how could I improve them. Also I am having a terrible time drying these girls up. They get no feed, just hay, while drying up. So give me your opinion on both of mine. My two are the first and second one at the top of this page. I do not milk, but would like to maybe once just to have some fresh milk. Thanks.........Donna
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Post by cddexter on Aug 2, 2011 10:21:24 GMT -5
Gene, too late for me to get pics now, but Hiyu Madrigal II was a 4+ gal/day cow. She was milked once in a while, but never milked right out or on a regular basis. She left here at 15. Her udder had a slight drop in the back, and while her teats were below her hocks, the floor of the udder wasn't. I think that in your picture, the collapse of the rear attachment has a lot more to do with poor suspensory ligament attachment than it does with too much milk. I really like the term 'homely' udder. That sums it up without being too outspoken or obviously critical. Sometimes I've seen some really dreadful udders, but the owners don't get it, so there's really nothing one can say. (Well, I used to... ...but of course, the old saw about shooting the messenger got pretty tiring ). These boards are great for sharing stuff without pointing fingers. On the cut teat thread, Patti posted some pics of an udder worth looking at: good attachment, good definition, nice teats. Cows like that are out there, one just has to go looking, or buy what you can and then choose the right bull. If the rest of your cow is okay, look for a bull calf from a cow with a good udder, sired by a bull whose dam had a good udder, too, and use that... Hey, Monica....you're just saying that because you had Rambler II (haha), but yes, aren't I lucky!!!!!!!!! Rosegay is a great little cow. Having had bulls for 8 years in a row, she's now given me 3 heifers. I think she knows her days are getting numbered, and wants to make sure I have replacements. Her heifer calf this year is to die for, half Winslow of course. Just look at the width of that muzzle! Marion thinks she may be polled. Now wouldn't that give me all my eggs in one basket. too c. Attachments:
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Post by cddexter on Aug 2, 2011 14:07:47 GMT -5
gene, check out the cover of the ADCA Bulletin from the year they had the AGM in N. Carolina. Madrigal's pic was taken from a frozen frame of a video I sent in, and chosen by the Brown Swiss evaluator as an example of an outstanding milking Dexter, the year Dean and Wes tried to get their version of evaluation accepted by the BoD. c.
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Post by rdoubled on Aug 2, 2011 14:26:04 GMT -5
That is a stout looking heifer and at 2 days old she looks like a little adult. Love it!
It is too bad that you never milked Rosegay, would be interesting to know what her butter fat, and production is. Her son, Rambler II was a great bull that produced wonderful calves. His daughter that I milk has some of the best milk for making Cheese, butter and yogurt. It is almost too heavy for drinking even skimmed.
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