Milky lines?

[pacrofter]

Hi, all. I'm looking into cattle and leaning toward Dexters. Although we don't drink much milk, I love cheese, butter and ice cream...so it looks like some sort of dairy animal is in our future. As I'm looking through ads of Dexters for sale, is there a particular line I should be aware of that has better milk-ability? (Or are there lines I should stay away from?)

I'd hate to go through the trouble of buying a heifer, getting her bred and then find out she won't put out more than a cup or two a day. Since I also want beef, that wouldn't be a crying shame, but I'd like to get the best of both worlds if I could.

Thanks in advance!

[lazyj5]

Hello. There are lines known to be more milky, but I always take that with a grain of salt. I have seen cows from those lines that were average milkers and have seen some from lines that generally aren't known for milking ability that are great milkers.

The best advice I can offer is to buy a cow in milk (hard to find sometimes) so you can see her udder. If you're buying a heifer, it helps to see her dam and her sire's dam, so you can get an idea of what her milking potential is.

[copperhead]

Deb's right, I have a nice heifer, out of my very best milking cow, and she barely gives enough for her baby. I'm hoping for a better result next year, it's hard to judge sometimes from the first freshening.
P.J.

[lazyj5]

Right, Genebo. When granddam or good pics of her are not available it be helpful if you can see the sire's scrotal attachment, teat placement, etc.

[lsg]

I would think that the Woodmagic line would be a good milking line; because Beryl Rutherford ran a Dexter dairy for years. Surely she would have bred for milk production as well as to get rid of the bulldog gene. Lucifer of Knotting is also a bull that should produce a good milking daughter. As with any line; there is no guarantee that the heifer you get will be a good milker.