Cost to purchase Dexters?

[swan]

Hi we are from Manitoba, Canada, are going to start raising a few cattle and are considering Dexters.  Wondering what price non-registered calves or cows would sell for in Canada?

[zephyrhillsusan]

I did a Google search and found only a few registered Dexters for sale on the CDCA page Here.  I don 't know about unregistered ones.  Is there any particular reason you want unregistered cattle?  You might look into getting some imported from the U.S.  cddexter, any connections?

[DoubleD]

My wife and I raise registered and unrestigered Dexter cattle here in Ontario. I would definitely check the CDCA for sure and periodically check kijiji for Dexter cattle. We paid $1200 a few years ago for a unregistered dexter cow calf pair. We paid $1400 registered bred Dexter cow at same time.

How do you plan to raise them? How many acres?

[cddexter]

Not all Dexters are created equal, with or without papers. Don't buy by price. You might try asking Marion Clements in Ontario, who has a good finger on the pulse in Canada or check in the Cdn Livestock Registry (clrc.ca) for breeders and see if they have anything to sell, or know of unregistered animals in the vicinity. cheers, c.

[swan]

Thanks everyone.  I searched further and there are some Dexter close by in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  We are looking to raise a few cattle for beef.  I like the small size of Dexter but my husband isn't so keen on having small cattle due to predators.  We live on a farm with pasture, hay, bush and river.  Anyone experience much problem with predators and their Dexter?

[zephyrhillsusan]

None at all. We have coyotes, and especially when one is calving we can hear them, but we have an LGD, and we put her in with any cow who is due to calve soon and leave her there until the calf is at least a week old. We have one pasture right behind the house which we have fenced with no climb horse fence to keep out predators as much as possible, and that's where we put our soon-to-calve cows. But Dexters are good, protective mothers. Before we got our first (horned) cow, we heard from her owners that when a dog chased her calf, she hooked the dog with her horns and threw it over the fence. I've been told by other breeders that it's not so much the horns that matter and that any Dexter cow would have done the same thing.

[DoubleD]

We seem to have similar experiences with regards to predators around our herd. We pasture our chickens, and when we keep the flock out close to the herd, we don't ever seem to lose a bird. Last summer we let them get too far apart one week, and weasel took out several birds in one night. In fact, we tossed two heifers just over a year old (so not exceptionally large horns), in with our small flock of lambs last fall, and no issues with predators, there, either. There are coyotes roaming the property, and we have even seen large feline tracks in the snow. Dexters are also rather agile and have incredible stamina compared with some other breeds.

[hobbyfarmer]

I am from Central Alberta and just purchased by first Dexters yesterday. I paid $1200 for cow/calf pairs ($1000 for exposed, but not confirmed, cows and $200 for steer calves). When I picked them up she told me beef prices had risen again and was not selling them for $1400/pair. Hope that helps give you a Ballpark.
(A few years ago when I was looking, cows were $1000 and Bulls were $1400-$1500.)

[Ironwood Farm]

Actually, you did well! I paid $1200 for a Dexter heifer bred to a Jersey, and $1600 for a cow/calf pair last January. I am in Southern Ontario. Just recently purchased two of this seasons heifer calves at $800 each. Not sure what bulls are going for. Mine are all registered/registerable...not sure if that makes a difference.

[cathylee]

Feb 8, 2015 12:35:43 GMT -5 swan said:

Thanks everyone.  I searched further and there are some Dexter close by in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  We are looking to raise a few cattle for beef.  I like the small size of Dexter but my husband isn't so keen on having small cattle due to predators.  We live on a farm with pasture, hay, bush and river.  Anyone experience much problem with predators and their Dexter?

The only predator issue I have heard about with a near by Dexter herd was this one.  

www.libbymt.com/news/2010/01/Wolfattackclaimscowa.htm

[zephyrhillsusan]

That's a sad story. Lately we've seen a huge coyote (likely a coy-wolf, we've been told) in our pastures in broad daylight, twice. It's never near where the cattle are, so I'm hoping the presence of our bull keeps it away. And hopefully it has plenty of small game to eat. It's very possible that it also comes around to clean up whatever the hunters leave in the 350-acre hunting preserve that's on two sides of us. We'll kill it if we get a chance.

[cathylee]

They were the breeders of the bull I used this year. Very sweet lady. They are aging and reducing their herd. I don't think they've had any more wolf attacks. I spoke with her by phone last summer. Husband is not well. 

Fortunately, our coyotes are still just coyotes. Last one I saw on our property was in the middle of several days of snow and below zero weather last winter. I have read about the coyote wolf hybrids in the East. Pretty scary predators.