Hello - I am new to the page & new to Dexters.

[myquiver]

I am in Middle TN and I am now a happy owner of 3 dexters. I have had them for all most 2 weeks. I have a 8 Month old bull, 1.5 year old heifer & a 4 year old cow most likely bred.

Could some one give me some link to behavior - The norm and not so norm behavior? Video of behaviors would be so great.. But I cant find any.

The cow was on the low end, in the heard she was in... She is now the TOP of the heard. I am trying to figer out if her behavior tords them is normal. I feel bad for them sometimes.

She runs them from there food ( all 3 have there own bowls & she gets more to began with )- she runs them away from the water, if they even think of coming to the fence to a person, she runs them away from the fence & walks away to.


I have a ton of questions.

Off to look at some treads. I have a lot to learn.

[ladena]

Welcome to the board and to keeping Dexters. They are great cows.
Did all your animals come from the same herd? They will establish a pecking order and hopefully things will settle down soon.
Take care, LaDena

[myquiver]

Hi ladena
The Bull came from a different farm - They were picked up at the same time, in different compartments for the 12 hour ride and released in to the pasture at the same time.

Hi Gene ( its Lisa )

I will get them a long feeder or maybe 2 6 footers, Your video helped me see how running one off is common. With the 3 bowls placed about 10 feet apart, she will eat some of her bowl ( they let her get 1st dibbs on bowls ) before her bowl is empty she makes them leave there bowls and watches for them to try to come back & she wont let them get back to any bowl & she get the rest of all 3, They do get to eat about half of it before she runs them off. I love how you can mingle with them. It has been a bizzy 2 weeks, we got the 9 acre pasture done. I have been meaning to email you,

[myquiver]

Hi RedRidge - Maybe you can help me... How do I go about getting a Farm Name? is it a big deal?

TY

[emgiger]

Welcome myquiver from a fellow middle Tennessean. You are more than welcome to visit our farm and ask all the questions you'd like. :-))


Eileen Giger
Dexter Downs Farm

[zephyrhillsusan]

Welcome from Northwest Georgia, not too far from Chattanooga!  We love visits, too!  

A P.S. to what Sheri said, if your farm name question was for registering your future Dexters.

How do I get a prefix? /\
While a herd prefix is not required, many members choose a prefix to establish identity. A prefix is generally an abbreviation of a farm name. The animal name field only allows for 21 letter characters so please consider that when choosing a prefix. Contact the registrar to make sure the prefix you want has not been taken as they may not be duplicated.
From the FAQs on the ADCA website

You can just choose a name that you like, keeping in mind Sheri's other advice, and choose the prefix you like, then email the registrar to be sure it isn't taken.  Jill Delaney is the registrar, and she's very helpful.  Her email is [e-mail] 

For example, we're Zephyr Hill Farm, so we used ZH as our prefix.  Not too many other Z's to worry about!  Animals that we bought have other prefixes, including Mrald (for Emerald Park Farm) and New Hope (for Hope Refuge Farm).  A previous cow of ours had a prefix of S&H.  Obviously, the shorter your prefix, the more leeway you have in choosing a name because it leaves more of the spaces for the actual name.  Also, if you have a cow that was bred before you bought her, the calf's name will have to use the prefix of the breeder, not yours. 

You might want to check with the registrar about the 21 letters.  I got an email some time back saying it's really 25, which works better for me since I'm long-winded!     They need to change the website for the sake of all those poor Dexters that are running around with only 21-letter names when they could have 25!  

[myquiver]

Thank you for the info on the farm name RedRidge & zephyrhillsusan - I will look into it. One may be bred so that is good to know. I will look into it when i have time. I am playing catch up right now with other things. 3 full days of putting up Field fence and the heat just dont mix LOL glad it is done.

[wvdexters]

Hello there. Welcome to the group.

You were asking about choosing farm names and prefixes for your dexters. Initials are a great way to go, another is to choose a unique name for your herd and farm. They are fun to read and are much easier to recall (especially if you are bad with names like me) LOL

You can get ideas from local history, geography, family stories, or anything .... It's fun. And you never know you might really get into dexters (like they say, you can't have just one) and want a really neat name.

After a good time thinking, we went with Knobley Mountain Dexters for the farm name and "Knobley" for the herd prefix. Unique and easy to remember. And I like it - it makes me think of little calf knees.

[myquiver]

The prefix name will be based on our area, Meriwether Lewis, Natchez Trace & we are on Grinder Creek - So something along those lines. The Cow ( Clover ans the Heifer ( Anna ) both may be bred. The bull left there farm in January, We are hoping Anna is not, she would of only been 1 year old at the latest chance. We have seen Anna ridding on our bull Quiver he is 8.5 months old. so we are hoping that is a sign she was in heat. The cow Clover, pretty sure she is. & i understand if she or they both have calves there name will be with the there old farms name. I was going to do the map thing in the group & it asked for farm name to, Thats why i asked how do you go about getting one. This is like a hobby to us, not a business.

[Mare]

Welcome to the herd Myquiver, Your going to love it here!!!! Mare