Armada fair with us and Wieringa's

[lakeportfarms]

I was a bit busy to snap many photos, but this one deserves a post...this is the 1.5 year old bull class at the fair.  Us with our little bull Guinness, and the Wieringa's with their bull "Adam" I think.  What is funny is that Guinness is out of a Wieringa cow "Claudia" that we own, and our bull Shamrock Mike.  Claudia is out of Ned, and their bull Adam is out of Ned and Paula, who is Shamrock Mike's daughter.  So their genetics are nearly identical in many respects except that they are switched between sire and dam.  Adam is one week older than Guinness.

Guinness is being shown by a 6 year old boy and his stepfather.  He raises Simmentals and his son was having a hard time with the 6 month old bull calf they had, so we offered him Guinness to take care of and show.  He proudly walked him around, bathed him, and when people would say "look at that little boy with the calf" he would say "This is a bull!  See the nose ring?  Don't pet him on the head because that's a sign of aggression!"  He was very proud of handling Guinness and it really boosted his confidence.

[kansasdexters]

Hans,

Guinness is the perfect size young bull for that little guy to show. It was kind of you to provide this special experience for him and his Dad.

When I look at the two bulls side by side, knowing that they are the same age and of similar pedigree, it reminds me that similar pedigree does not necessarily correspond with similar size genetics (or other traits determined by genetics). If the dam is heterozygous for a gene pair that controls growth rate, then some of her offspring may grow faster than others. If the bull she is bred to is also heterozygous for a gene pair that controls growth rate, then the offspring from that mating can range in growth rate from being very slow growing to being very fast growing, depending on which combination of genes they inherit from their dam and sire. Those offspring will have identical pedigrees, but they will not have identical genetics.

That's where breeder preferences and selection decisions come into play. If the breeder desires to produce faster growing, fast maturing cattle, then they will keep the fast growing offspring as the next generation of breeding animals in their herd. By purposefully selecting for the desired traits and type, over multiple generations, and using only animals that exhibit the desired traits and type for breeding stock, they will eventually produce offspring that are homozygous for the desired traits and that will predictably reproduce those traits in their offspring.

So starting with exactly the same foundation animals, different breeders can end up with very different results in the animals they produce, and your photo illustrates this outcome perfectly. Thanks for posting it and good luck at the show!


Patti

[zephyrhillsusan]

What a great experience for that little boy! So nice of you!

[lakeportfarms]

We made a concerted effort to bring our smallest Dexters, and it paid off tremendously for us. Since the fair a little more than a week ago we've already had 4 farm visits with 3 more to happen this coming weekend, and several more contacts for visits in the near future. A few are looking to start their herd this year but most are looking toward next spring to get started with their Dexters but wanted to come out to see how we set up our fencing, etc...so they can get started on that.

So for us, the smaller sizes have been very effective and we'll continue to breed for that. Of course having Dexters alongside Simmentals, Herefords, and Angus makes them smaller yet. Claudia's calf this year, also a chondro bull calf out of Mike (so a full brother to Guinness), is growing at a pretty good rate so it is likely he'll be a larger size than Guinness at the same age which is in line with Patti's comments. If this is the case, isn't it possible that Guinness, even as a small bull, could periodically produce offspring that could grow faster and larger than he is? (Disregarding that he will anyway because Guinness is a chondro carrier) Since we are not a commercial producer, but match up the steers with a customer's order preferences, that would be a benefit to both us and our customer.

[ssimons]

Lakeportt Farms; I do not have the words to adequately express the "awesomeness" of your caring gesture to that young man. You have likely created a lifelong Dexter fan, not to mention a young man that will have a memory for life and for the kind folks that helped him have such a great time. Those kind of things echo through many generations. I hope that "Karma" comes back your way a hundred fold. Well done Hans !

[lakeportfarms]

Thanks SSimons for the kind words. "Chase" (his name) actually had his 7th birthday the following day, but his mom and stepfather had a birthday party for him later that day right there in the tent. We were all invited to celebrate it with him anyway, but Sheril and I felt pretty good about helping to make it just a little more memorable for him. The following day he came back with his dad and some of dad's family and proceeded to show his dad what he had been doing the past few days who had some really kind words for us, and good things to say about Phil (Chase's new stepdad) and how the experiences with with the farm and livestock were a positive thing for Chase.

We had at least 10 or so 4-H kids helping us with all 26 Dexters and Highlands that we brought, so I'd say we were returned the kindness many times over already.

[wvdexters]

Congratulations Hans on a very successful show. Sounds like you all had a great time. Busy but great. LOL

Wonderful story about Chase and your little bull. And all the other 4-H kids who helped out too. Such a great experience for everyone.

[Fran]

Awesome Hans!! The vast majority of Dexter's breeders that I have met - whether in person, thru facebook, phone call, etc. have been wonderful. Some more so than others. You're an example of one of the best!