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Post by Fran on Feb 4, 2014 12:26:01 GMT -5
I'm with the others, I love reading these stories! Scott and I bought 30 acres in Woodruff, SC, to build our dream home on. We already had 4 horses, our cats & dogs. We needed something to sell so that we could really claim the ag exemption, and I really liked the idea of growing my own food, etc. and convinced Scott that we needed to get cows. We knew we couldn't do big cows like Angus or anything, so we searched on the internet and researched the Dexter's. We found Charles Townson, who was close to us, and decided to visit his farm one day. We did and not long after, made arrangements to purchase a bred heifer and a young bull calf. We now have 4 cows, 3 heifers, and 1 bull. Most of our experiences with Dexter's has been great. We had a bad experience with one bull, but that was definitely not the norm. Call me crazy, but I love working with my Dexter's more than I do my horses anymore .
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Post by emsshamrock on Feb 4, 2014 12:59:41 GMT -5
Please talk to your dad and fill in the rest of the story. I'll see what I can do
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Post by lakeportfarms on Feb 4, 2014 20:40:01 GMT -5
One of the common links here is that a lot of us purchased the Dexters to do our property maintenance. Many of our customers have expressed the same thoughts.
Emily your dad is a well of knowledge about Dexters, Sheril and I enjoyed talking to him when we have visited the farm. Some of his stories about how he assembled the herd pre-internet are interesting. Please try to get him to share some of the stories.
P.S. Wren is doing well and her little calf Rebel Patriot was in my recent post in the photo thread.
Hans
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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 Feb 5, 2014 0:01:25 GMT -5
Hello Hans,as for doing all those hooves, yes it did take us awhile to do all of them but we only did like 20 a day..And I got pretty darn good at using my husbands' grinder...It was so much quicker and easier...It did take ME a couple of goats to learn how to use it, but after I got the hang of it , it was a breeze...You just have to be careful not to trim down to far and hit the blood supply...But you are right , I do love our Dexters much better!...But their hooves are growing very long because we don't have any rock to waer them off...But I am NOT going to be trimming cow hooves!...LOL...Donna J
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Post by lakeportfarms on Feb 5, 2014 7:31:20 GMT -5
Donna, you are one amazing lady! I'd tell my wife after trimming the 5th or 6th goat out of 35 or so that we had that I get her one Dexter for each goat she sold. I guess she followed through, and I kept my word and then some, because we have close to 75 Dexters now and only 6 little goats...lol
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Post by wvdexters on Feb 7, 2014 11:19:43 GMT -5
Growing up in town I always dreamed of having a small farm one day. Then the opportunity came to make it more than just a dream and we found this place. An old "home place" back in the ridges, a bit run-down but you could see the "dream" if you squinted just right. It's been almost 20 yrs now. Lots of work ... but sooo worth it.
The dexters are a new addition for us. Having only had them for a few years. We started with chickens, ducks, and a saanen goat named Snowball. Funny thinking back but I remember thinking how big she was to me, but being from town I needed to start somewhere. We added a few more and we learned while we repaired buidings, fencing, pastures, everything.
Then when we were ready we sold the goats and got our first cow, an angus heifer named Rosie. Then we added a small jersey for milk and built a nice little herd, raising our own beef and plenty of butter and ice cream. But it became too much. We had so much milk we were giving it away, and the grain was expensive. After a few hard winters of trying to move hay bales in 3 ft snow on the side of a hill we called it quits.
We tried sheep a few years later to keep the pasture down. But I didn't really care for them. Missing the cows/beef we decided to see if there was a breed available that were smaller and easier to keep than what we could find locally. I read about Dexters on the internet and after learning about them decided to give them a try. We found My Lazy Horse Ranch down in Capon Branch WV and Sergey Yagodin was a huge help. We left with 2 heifers and soon added another. They are the perfect breed for us and we are building our own little herd now.
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zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Feb 7, 2014 11:32:00 GMT -5
Wvdexters, we decided sheep weren't for us, either. We're pig people.
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Post by ssrdex on Feb 10, 2014 2:06:48 GMT -5
I grew up in the "country"...we didn't have any property really but my dad kept bees and we had chickens and ducks and peafowl. I always enjoyed gardening with him as well. So my wife and I found 10 acres with a home that we could afford in 1999 and bought it. In 2002 we got a pair of Holstein drops calves for $25 from a local dairy that came with 2 gals of cholostrum. We bottle fed them to weaning and steered the bull and sold the heifer. Watched the pasture grow and die yearly til '09 when my daughter and I driving down our own road a 1/2 mile from our house saw a handwritten sign "dexter cattle 4 sale". The next day we went back and bought a bred cow and her 8 month old heifer from Chris Christie. The cow calved another heifer and we were able to keep Chris' bull the following year for another breeding, as Chris was moving and needed to get pastures fenced at the new place...win/win. We found our first bull on CL, still not really having a clue what we were doing . We've sold as we've had to, drove to Fallon Nevada for another bull, and are pleased with the heifers he's had. We've got a herd of 12 right now, 1 leaving in July, and 4 due within the next 2 months. So on a complete lark a commercial buildings painter became a dexter owner. I love learning new things about the cattle, love when folks come to see the cattle, love talking to dexter people or talking dexters to non dexter people! No regrets!!
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Post by lakeportfarms on Feb 10, 2014 9:02:57 GMT -5
How is your pasture Joel? I heard CA got some rain but much more is needed. Hopefully you'll see it "grow" this year!
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Post by cddexter on Feb 10, 2014 15:25:08 GMT -5
You all make me feel very old...in 1977, I saw a Rodale Organic Farming Compendium. Hmm, I thought, and picked a copy off the shelf, turned it so the spine was in one hand, and was about to leaf through it, when the book opened of its own accord, to the start of an article on homestead cows: Dexters. Never heard of them, so I read on. Small, thrifty, had occasional aborted foetuses—nothing to worry about, dual purpose....sounded interesting. I noted the source for future reference (Daisy Moore Baker of the Peerless herd in Iowa).
In 1979 I moved from Ontario back to BC and Vancouver Island. I’d been living on a farm in Ontario, and subscribed to a farm journal. The very first issue that arrived after the move had a classified ad looking for someone to manage a recently imported from England herd of Dexter cattle—in Ontario! One month had made all the difference. I’d have applied like a shot, but wasn’t about to move back to Ontario having just moved to BC, but I did note the contact information.
I come from a farming background, and wanted to be on the land. Vancouver Island is mostly rock with pockets of soil, so most ‘farms’ here tend to be small. I didn’t much care what I did, as long as it involved dirt, and I could earn a living from it. Anything involving expensive equipment was out, anything involving marketing boards and quota was out, as was a large holding, or intensive physical work or high water needs. I had lots of experience with horses, but didn’t want to get caught in the boarding game.
I thought back to Dexters. I figured with the small acreages here and on the surrounding islands, they’d be perfect. Went to an ADCA meeting in Oregon, met some really nice people, and visited the Dexter importer back in Ontario and the then President of the ADCA in Ohio. I committed to three heifers in Ontario and two cows and a bull in Ohio. This was in 1983.
Oops, all very well, but I didn’t have land yet. I arranged for the cows to be sent from Ohio to Ontario, added the three heifers and drove back to BC, in November, through blizzards and an ice storm. Had a flat tire coming off the ferry (piece of metal decking had sheered), but got them safely home to rented space on a small two acre property. Then I set about finding a farm of my own. At this time there were five Dexter owners in Canada (all in Ontario) and approx. 150 in the U.S.—and over 90 of those had just one or two animals each. Pretty slim pickings.
Did two long trips to England, visited at least 80% of the owners, was qualified as a Breed Inspector by the DCS, and researched old lines. Managed to get some early issues of the ADCA Herd Book, did some sleuthing, and discovered Dexters in New York from animals imported from England’s premier breeder in the late ‘40s. Went visiting, and talked the owner out of two heifers. I found their quality far superior to anything else I’d seen, so sold off the original purchases and bred on using semen I’d imported from England—again using both pedigree and physical appearance as my guide.
And, as they say, the rest is history, except I found I couldn't earn a living, so outside work supported the farm.. Cheers, c.
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Post by ssrdex on Feb 11, 2014 2:21:03 GMT -5
How is your pasture Joel? I heard CA got some rain but much more is needed. Hopefully you'll see it "grow" this year! Hi Hans. We did get a really good soaking rain, and went from dust to mud overnight. No complaints. From our little perspective the pasture will grow and the hay growers will hopefully get a good crop, but the big picture is too little too late. Hot button issue for sure. I'm very thankful there will be something to graze this year!
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Post by stephanie on Feb 14, 2014 6:15:56 GMT -5
I am from Wales UK and my family have farmed for 100s of years but as a child I took a fancy both to Kerry cattle when we visited Ireland and to Dexters that I saw at shows over here, my Dad was firm and clear....NO! So when my dairy herd went I got to thinking, as I really missed cows, so I carefully researched Dexters, discovered there was a lot more to the breed than....small!!! This made me take my time as I wanted to be sure what type I wanted to breed before I started, so I looked at a fair few herds before making the decision that I liked the Woodmagic type best. A decision that proved a delight in many ways as Beryl in an extremely short time became a very close friend and we emailed daily, I would never have thought it possible to find so much to say about little black moo cows. Due to her disabilities in late life her cattle were largely untouched, so when they arrived they were pretty wild but it wasn't long before they liked a back scratch, one in particular became so fond of me that if she realised another cow was getting attention it wasn't beneath her to T bone the other cow! So I had to watch I didn't get a bump at the same time. After a over half a lifetime with cattle that is the first time I had come across a jealous cow....of the bovine variety !!! Stephanie
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zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
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Post by zephyrhillsusan on Feb 14, 2014 11:53:36 GMT -5
Stephanie, just out of curiosity, did your father give you a reason for his no? So glad you finally got your Dexters--some really lovely ones!
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Post by stephanie on Feb 14, 2014 13:04:59 GMT -5
Susan he gave loads...as I nagged lots, it was well over 40 years ago I was asking, when I was 12!!!! He felt they were, "too small to run with everything/anything else/a bl**dy nuisance about the place, nobody wants them anymore and no use these days."
We had a fairly big dairy herd, grew cereals, had another farm with a fair sized flock of sheep, kept beef from the dairy herd until it was finished and had a small hereford herd, he saw dexters as just a silly idea and I gave up nagging eventually but always had a soft spot for them.
Stephanie
P.S. If he was still around I am sure he would have liked them, their interesting ways would have appealed to his sense of humour...also he mellowed as he got older!
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Post by emsshamrock on Feb 17, 2014 19:36:14 GMT -5
For those of you that wanted the holes in my Dexter story filled in... We first learned about Dexters from an article in the Harrowsmith Magazine about minor breeds. The Dexters were mentioned in it. Our dog vet, Dr. Donald Bixby, was a director in the then American Minor Breeds Conservancy and his name was mentioned in the article. So, we called him and began asking questions and gave us information about Dexters and some contact information for different people that had them. Our bull that I mentioned, was in the AMBC show and sale at the St. Joesph County Grange Fair and we decided to buy the little guy. As far as assembling our herd pre-internet time we made trips to Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Ontario. We began making connections throughout the country by using the herd books and Dexter newsletters. The first AGM we attended was in 1988 in PA and Sandi Thomas was the new president at the time. We were able to visit Marcia Read's farm, Old Orchard at Stockdale. We have been around the block a few times... my dad has held many positions within the ADCA including President, Vice President, Director and Bulletin Editor back when we had to use a word processor! I remember "helping" staple the bulletins (they were folded in half). We brought dun into our herd with Earlona Eric in December 1995. He came from Keene, Ontario from Earl and Winona Crapp. He also cam home in the back of our truck with a topper on it. It was exciting to see the colors in the calves after that. We also got our first red bull from her, Earlona Max. However, none of our cows at the time carried red. Our first red calf was Shamrock Chili Pepper out of Thomas' BLZ Red Feena. Exciting day that was! Now, most of our herd is either red or carries red with the exception of our big old dun cow Shamrock Lacy and her heifer from last year. Its been an exciting ride with the Dexters and many more years to come! That was probably way more information than you wanted to know, but it was fun to write! Enjoy it everyone
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