Historical Crossbreeding

[kansasdexters]

In the book, "Cattle. Breeds and Management" by William Housman, published in London in 1915, the author reports the following about Kerry and Dexter cattle:

"For crossing with the heavier breeds to produce grazing stock of convenient size, with the most readily-saleable joints of beef, the Kerry is likely to become exceedingly useful. Mr. James Macdonald (in the Royal Agricultural Society of England Journal, 1883, part 1) gives details of experiments in Shorthorn-Kerry crosses carried out by Mr. E.J. Smith, of Islanmore, Ireland, about twenty-five year ago and Mr. James Bogue forty-five years ago. Mr. William Hooper (Farmers' Gazette, Dublin), in one of his interesting papers upon Kerries and Dexters written for the Live Stock Journal Almanac, records the very successful results of crosses of the polled Angus upon the Kerry in Mr. Robertson's experiments at La Mancha, and suggests an experimental cross of the Kerry cow and the Red Polled bull, as likely to give better dairy results, although for beef, the Aberdeen-Angus cross produced "just the kind that the feeder wants" -- small polled cattle of prime quality; and some steers of the Hereford-Kerry cross have come out profitable feeders and good butcher's bullocks. Mr. W.J. Malden, of Cardington, Bedford, in the third part of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England for 1894, gives interesting particulars of crosses between the Dexter Kerry and the Indian Zebu (humped), the Shorthorn, the Polled Angus, and the Jersey breeds, respectively. The true Kerry and the Jersey breeds "appeared antagonistic", and offspring disappointed the experimenter. The Dexter was then substituted for the Kerry, with satisfactory results."

Here are some photos of one of our purebreed, registered Kerry bulls, Kelmscott's Seamus (at 7 years of age). We have CSS-certified semen available for this bull (in the US, Canada, and in New Zealand), if anyone is interested in using him for crossbreeding purposes. We also have carcass data on purebred Kerry and Kerry x Dexter crossbred steers.





Patti

[midhilldexters]

Hi Patti,
have you noticed any changes in the meat with the crosses? Also not sure if you have butchered a Kerry but if you have, what is that meat like compared to Dexter?

Carol

[kansasdexters]

Hi Carol,

I sent you an email with the EXCEL spreadsheet of the carcass data comparing a 22-month old Dexter-Kerry crossbred steer with a 24-month old Dexter bull, a 24-month old Kerry steer, and a 24-month old Dexter steer. I can't figure out how to load the EXCEL spreadsheet onto this Board. The spreadsheet has the complete carcass weight breakdowns.

All four of these animals were finished for the same number of months on the same pasture, alongside of each other. None of them were chondro-carriers. We had very hot weather (over 110 oF) in August 2011, so the weight gains were not as good as we've seen in prior years. The Kerry steer and the Dexter steer were harvested in September 2011, the Dexter-Kerry crossbred and Dexter bull were harvested in October 2011.

Here is a small sample of some of the data from the spreadsheet:

Purebred Dexter, 24-month old Steer: Live weight = 740 lb; Hanging weight = 414 lb
Quality Grade: Choice

Purebred Kerry, 24-month old Steer: Live weight = 760 lb; Hanging weight = 423 lb
Quality Grade: Select

Purebred Dexter, 24-month old Bull: Live weight = 840 lb; Hanging weight = 435 lb
Quality Grade: Standard

Dexter-Kerry X, 22-month old Steer: Live weight = 740 lb; Hanging weight = 426 lb
Quality Grade: Select

The beef from the purebred Kerry and from the cross-bred Dexter-Kerry steer were very similar to that of the Dexter steer -- fine grained and dark red. The Dexter beef was very tender and flavorful. The Kerry beef was tender, but not as tender as the Dexter beef. The Dexter-Kerry cross-bred beef was sold out before I personally got a chance to sample it. Must have been good!

Patti

[midhilldexters]

Thanks for sharing all your info Patti, really interesting. I think you may be one of the few people keeping very good records on the beef side, congrats on your business and thank you for the records.

Carol

[legendrockranch]

Thanks for the info Patti,

Interesting that the Dexter bull only graded at standard.
During normal years, minus the heat and drought what are your
statics as far as what are the average grades of meat you get from a Dexter?

I have heard that it's mostly choice and select grades occasional prime, but that's rare.

With your great record keeping on carcass data it might help with what I am "hearing".

Thanks
Barb

[kansasdexters]

Hi Barb,

Last year was not a "typical" grazing year. We had extreme heat for weeks and not much rain in July and August. Fortunately, we have a lot of acres in pasture, relative to the number of animals that we have grazing that pasture, so we had plenty of grass. The problem is, when it gets so hot, the animals don't graze during the day and they just don't gain at the rate they normally would. In 2011, we only had 2 steers attain a quality grade of "Choice", 7 steers were "Select", and the one bull was "Standard".

In 2010, we had 6 steers attain a quality grade of "Choice", 3 steers were "Select", and one bull was "Standard".

In 2009, we had 4 steers attain a quality grade of "Choice" and 4 steers were "Select".

I don't believe that we could ever achieve a quality grade of "Prime" by grass-finishing. Prime steers are really obese steers and it would take months of grain feeding or concentrated feed to get a steer that fat. We don't feed our steers that way, and they just can't get that fat on their own with what grows in our pastures (brome, fescue, and native grasses).

Our processor is amazed that we can achieve a quality grade of "Choice" so often, since our steers are only grazing on seasonal pasture and being fed hay and pasture residuals during the winter.

Patti

[midhilldexters]

Hi Barb,
when I have raised bulls for beef opposed to steers, they gain very well but are very lean, they just don't gain fat like a steer. I'm sure that would probably knock grading down on the bull.

Carol

[legendrockranch]

Thanks to you both for the info.

Barb

[bruff64]

Do you find that the heifers from this cross land somewhere in between in size or do they favor one side over the other? Does the Kerry influence increase milk production in the cross heifers as one would assume? Does your Kerry bull have a disposition like Dexter bulls, leaning towards the docile nature?

[kansasdexters]

We've only produced two heifers from this cross. One of them (Wakarusa RLA Betsy) was sold to Round Hill Farm in Earlysville, Virginia as part of a cow/calf pair. Her dam, LTR Branwen, is a registered Kerry and her sire, RDC-Rainbow Lucky Ace, is a registered Dexter. Wakarusa RLA Betsy was born on 7/27/2010, so she isn't old enough yet to determine her milking ability.

The other heifer is Wakarusa RLAG Mystery, born 12/8/2010. Her dam, LTR Moya, is a registered Kerry, and her sire, Wakarusa RLA Galen, is a registered Dexter. Mystery is a very nicely built heifer, larger than a same-age Dexter heifer. Because we have such a good demand for beef, we're planning on grass-finishing her this summer and getting carcass data on this cross-bred heifer.

The Kerry bulls that we've owned have all been docile and easy to manage. They do take longer to mature than a Dexter bull, but they also get quite a bit larger. Kelmscott's Seamus measured at 53.25-inches hip height and weighed 1,630 lb at 7 years of age.

Our current Kerry herd sire is Wakarusa LTRK Shea and he will be two years old on July 9, 2012. He measured 49-inches hip height and weighed 900 lb on January 22, 2012.

Our Kerry bull lives together with our Dexter bulls in a 2-acre, securely fenced, bull pasture. When we want to breed a cow that is in standing heat, we select the bull that we want to use and move him into our breeding paddock area, then we bring the cow into the paddock and leave them together for an hour or so. We record the breeding date and time, then the cow goes back with the other cows and the bull is put back into the bull pasture.


Patti