cleaning out files

[cddexter]

I'm in the process of cleaning out the filing cabinets, tossing things that no longer apply or that I think don't matter any more. I keep running into stuff that's interesting in its own right, but not really going to matter a heck of a lot longterm. I don't really need any of this stuff anymore, but it seems a shame to get rid of it, as there may be something interesting for others. Is there any interest in material that doesn't really affect anything. If yes, then I could copy selected bits here. What say you?

So far, and this is just in the first 10 pages of the first file, I found an email from Beryl about the basics of setting up a closed herd, and the preliminary results of the Cardiff study from the head of the DCS genetics committee (2008), the next was my asking a senior researcher I knew at Roslyn (Dolly the sheep place) about a study on US animals with only 1915 genetics (2000). I know I'm going to dump all the Calgary Stampede stuff, but thought I'd send the cattle ID sheets to Charles in case he wants to use it or get the assn. to provide them for others who show.

cheers, c.

[Gorignak]

DUH....you have Marco Polo's letters home, and you wonder if anyone would be interested..... What's the copying fee??

Beryl's thoughts and the like would be of great interest.

[cddexter]

Aug 14, 2013 21:08:58 GMT -5 @genebo said:

Be careful with the preliminary results of the Cardiff Report. I heard that you were fed some bogus info as a joke. Compare what you have to the final report to see if it matches.

Hi Gene: I only pay attention to those whose opinion matters. And, it helped to have been at the DCS AGM in Devon when Michael and Tim made their initial presentation to the Society. I still have my notes. Cheers, c.

[cddexter]

more from the files of: a paper on the estimation of heritability for linearized type traits, for instance Stature has a 40% inheritability, but rear heel only 7%, udder texture 8%, attachment 15%. etc. cheers, c.

[cddexter]

A PR blurb sent me October 2nd, 1990, by Mr. Kellogg, of his BEDFORD herd of Dexter cattle.

Mill Pond Farm is in its tenth year of Dexter Cattle raising and breeding. The herd now numbers 14 head all of which (except for two yearling bulls destined to be steered) ae registered with the Asscoiation. These animals which are of pure English stock are also recorded in the Herd Book of our sister organization in England, the British Dexter Cattle Society.

During World War II, the farm's pastures became overgrown with weeds, brush, and the encroaching woodlands, and stone walls were thickly covered with poison ivy. In an attempt to rehabilitate fields and pastures, a flock of sheep was introduced but results were disappointing. In addition, it was soon apparent that neither walls, fences, nor barbed wire would contain the flock.

A brief newspaper article on Dexters caught our eye and imagination. Two American-bred Dexter heifers we4e the start. A year later and after endless correspondence and incredible official red tape, three English imports arrived via Canada from the famous herd of the late Do9wager Lady Loder of Sussex, England. these became the basic breeding stock--fine typey, pure black animals with nice quiet manners as well as the best blood.

During the past decade, the herd has numbered as many as 20 and as few as 8. there has always been a demand for stock either as pets or from small land owners desiring a manageable breed of cattle for a relatively few acres of land. Meanwhile, our fields have become thick with clover while brush and weeds have disappeared and thee is no more poison ivy. Most remarkable of all is the small amount of care Dexters require. Mill Pond Farm's herd winters entirely out-of-doors and survived without difficulty last year's unusually heavy snows and 19 days of unbroken below zero weather. No wonder our enthusiasm for this little breed.

Written by Mr. Kellogg, from Mill Pond Farm, October 23, 1961

[cddexter]

Seattle Post Intelligencer, feb 20, 2004 Headline: 15 FIRMS IN STATE BROKE RULE REGULATING COW FEED, subheading: Mad cow inquiry finds violations of FDA ban over 7 years: Si8nce a ban on feeding certain animal parts to livestock was put in place seven years ago, 15 companies in Washington state have been cited for failing to comply with a rule the government considers the best defense against mad cow disease, according to inspection records from the FDA. FDA investigators sought an injunction against Tacoma feed mill S-Cel issued warning letters against three other companies and cited an additional 11 for failing to comply with rules put in place to control the spread of BSE. (both pet and livestock foods). Etc.

[cddexter]

Just rediscovered a paper written by Larratt Hggins* on Bulldogs. Such fun. "...we start with the assumption that there is a single fatal gene in Dexter Cattle. The Bulldog (B) gene. Initially we assume that it is a totally recessive gene: that is, there is no way of distinguishing animals which carry the gene from those which don't.

"There is some evidence that the B gene is not entirely recessive. On the one hand, there is the experience of Beryl Rutherford, who appears to have a remarkable degree of success in breeding out the gene. Almost equally convincing is the evidence that some other breeders seem somehow to prefer animals with the B gene for breeding purposes, because with random mating one would expect the B population to have declined to levels commonly found in most breeds or even to 2.2%. The provision in Section 19.7 of the Constitution of the CDCA presently requires the reporting of all bulldogs to the Registrar and to the secretary of the Association. Section 19.7(a) provides that a bull who sires a bulldog shall cease to qualify for registration. Section 19.7 (b) requires that the bull must be slaughtered within 30 days."

As a statistician, Larry figured it wouldn't take long to eliminate all the B gene carriers in Canada. Little did he know the U.S. HiDrif and Highland animals his close friend Marshall Crowe and his wife had added to the gene pool were carriers.

This provision in the CDCA Constitution was quickly removed and changed to just notification, after the Vice President Cathy Lovejoy discovered her very expensive just imported from the Knotting herd cows were dwarfs, and Doris Crowe (Cranworth) learned her US imports were, too.

* Larry was, I think, something big in the cdn gov't to do with economics. He was one of the initial importers of Dexters from Beryl, along with his best buddy Marshall Crowe, an External Affairs ex-consul to Russia. They both bought hobby farms near Cranworth Corners just south of Ottawa, as weekend and holiday get-away places.

[ssrdex]

Thanks for sharing these. Please keep adding ;-)

[Gorignak]

THE BOOK, Carol.....you know you want to, and you already have the title.....
"Beyond Beryl, Beyond Bull S..t" ....."My life as a dwarf cow girl".

[midhilldexters]

Ha the book again, Mike she's been talking the talk on that book for years! She just has to get around to writing it, can't wait. What do you say CD?

Carol K

[cddexter]

well, Carol, if Mike had ever seen me, he'd never refer to me as dwarf anything but you are closer than ever to be inflicted with 'the book'...maybe. cheers, c.

[legendrockranch]

Aug 24, 2013 15:17:27 GMT -5 cddexter said:

well, Carol, if Mike had ever seen me, he'd never refer to me as dwarf anything

Sorry c, thanks for the GREAT laugh though. I am also waiting for your elusive book and it must be a signed copy

Barb

[Gorignak]

Okay....I watch the CD this week......and I did mean the "dwarf" to go with cow.....not girl

[cddexter]

my goodness, what a trip down memory lane. At the time, there was no test for dun and many breeders on both sides of the border were calling dun 'red' by mistake. Sometimes we forget how recent stuff is, and how easily we take things for granted. here's a little politics for you: April 2000: from me to Cdn Dexter members:

Using DNA, I researched Dexter coat colour in 1997-8 (and mentioned it at the '98 Congress) and sent the results and conclusions to all Dexter breed associations worldwide, so Dexter owners would be aware of how they could accurately identify and breed for colour. Your association received its copy of this formal report early in May/99.

I noted in December/99 that the CDCA mailed you a copy of Andrew Sheppy's theories put forward at the World Congress, including those on coat colour.

Four issues of the CDCA Newsletter have now come and gone without publication of my DNA study the Secty/Editor received a year ago, so I believe it is only prudent to send you the 'real goods' direct. Please find attached the 'Press Release', two page 'study', and three page detailed outline of genetic basics as they relate to coat colour.

Andrew, in his Congress paper, proved to his own satisfaction, using himself as a expert reference, that Dexter dun was from introgressed (crossbreeding) genetics from 'channel islands' animals. The DNA study proved channel islands animals have the E+ gene, which is brown there, but red in Dexters, so cannot be the source of Dexter dun. So, here we have the Cdn newsletter Editor knowing Andrew's information is incorrect, sending that info out to members but not telling them there is a scientific study which contradicts Andrew's opinion and gives them the correct info. I understand the CDCA never did publish the info, and certainly not while that Editor was in power .

[kansasdexters]

It appears that Genebo is under educated when it comes to knowledge about Cornahir Outlaw. This surprises me, because Andrew Sheppy has published an article about this pedigree line, calling it "Line 3: Shadwell" and this is what Andrew Sheppy had to say about it (ref: Proceedings of the First World Congress of Dexter Cattle, August 1998, p. 153-154):

The Shadwell herd of Dexters was based on stock from an almost self-contained group of herds situated in the North of England. Owned by the Tetleys, the brewers of Leeds, the herd contained foundation stock from the Elysian, Vycanny and Strebor lines. Although Shadwell Peter was widely used at Layer Marney and Shadwell Frederick at Statenboro, the really influential bull was Shadwell Robert M1978. At the herd's dispersal two groups of females went overseas to found the Arbory herd on the Isle of Man, and very importantly, the Cornahir herd of D.G. Couper in the Republic of Ireland. Both these herds have remained effectively closed ever since, with the Cornahir cattle being exclusively Shadwell bred. Shadwell Robert does have a tendency to breed over large cattle, apparently a common Shadwell characteristic, and the high proportion of reds in this line often, but not always, exhibit unusually dusky faces with black noses. Apart from this color inconsistency, no problems have been discovered in the pedigrees of the Shadwell line, and Shadwell Robert is treated as a purebred animal. Shadwell Robert stood at AI himself and is the line animal for Shadwell in the bull analysis. Interestingly, Ratcliffe Negro's Manager M1096 appears twice within the compass of Shadwell Robert's five-generation pedigree.

Shadwell Robert has reached Canada via Lucifer of Knotting M2292 and, more significantly, via Cornahir Outlaw M2906, who is almost equivalent to a Shadwell Robert son. This line is almost ubiquitous in Australia and New Zealand via Bookhams Robert M2111, the first AI bull in Australia, who was a son of Shadwell Robert."

So you see Genebo, the choice of Cornahir Outlaw for that study was an intelligent and well thought out choice. Cornahir Outlaw is considered as pure a Dexter as the best of them, from a closed herd in Ireland, and "Sheppy-approved" as an internationally significant purebred Dexter bull.

Patti