PDCA - One Blog

Welcome to the first Dexter cattle blog to disseminate information for members of the Purebred Dexter Cattle Association of North America (PDCA) and for those with a curiosity about Irish Dexter cattle, cattle in general, as well as news from the PDCA. Expressions of opinion are to not be regarded as expressing the official opinion of the PDCA unless expressly stated. Hopefully you will find something here of interest and don't overlook browsing through the archives. Comments are welcomed.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Dairy Cattle Breeds Come in All Sizes and Colors

Article by Lois Kerr in Ag Roundup, with a mention of Dexters:

'The little Dexters, a small breed whose cows average about 750 pounds as adults, made the ideal homestead cow. Dexters, which range in color from black, red, dun, and occasionally white*, provided milk, meat, and made outstanding beasts of burden. The Dexter breeders didn’t specialize when the cattle industry began to select specific traits for development in individual breeds, so Dexter numbers dwindled. Today the US has about 6000 Dexter cattle. People who use oxen as beast of burden still appreciate the willingness and hard working attributes of the Dexter.'

*It should perhaps be noted that generally white has been discouraged by most Dexter breed standards with the exception of allowances for white on the udder to the umbilical and a few white hairs acceptable in the tail switch.


PDCA - One Google