Dexter

It came out of southern Ireland in the early 1800s, developed from the Kerry by selecting for smaller size and better beef. The name comes from a Mr. Dexter who promoted the cattle in the mid-1800s. Dexters were shown as their own class at the Royal Dublin Society from 1863 and reached England in 1882.

More than 200 Dexters were imported to North America in the early 1900s. The first American club, covering Kerries and Dexters together, was established in July 1911 and became the American Dexter Cattle Association in 1957. The breed nearly went out in the mid-1970s and has recovered since.

Cows stand 38 to 42 inches and bulls 40 to 44, at 700 to 1,000 lb. Most are black, with red and dun also in the standard, and most carry mid-sized, black-tipped white horns that arc upward, though polled lines exist. Two body types occur: a short-legged form and a proportionately small one.

The short legs have a genetic story a buyer must know. Some Dexters carry chondrodysplasia, a semilethal dwarfism gene: carriers are 6 to 8 inches shorter than non-carriers, and mating two carriers brings a 25 percent risk of the pregnancy ending in a premature, nonviable calf. A DNA test from tail hairs identifies carriers. The breed is also susceptible to PHA, a separate tested condition.

Milk runs about 5,000 lb per lactation, with some herds reaching 6,600 lb, and it is high in solids.

Gentle and easily handled is the Conservancy's summary, with a novice to intermediate rating. Cows are fertile, have few calving difficulties, and are usually excellent, attentive mothers.

Milk and beef on very little acreage, which is still the reason people buy them. The beef is lean and well regarded; the milk's high solids suit butter and cheese. They are also hardy foragers and useful browsers, working over pasture growth other stock ignores.

Less land than any other cattle option: early Dexters were shaped by open, mountainous Irish country, and smallholders in Ireland and England took to them because a productive cow that fits a small holding was exactly the point.

They are hardy on forage and do not need pampering, but they need the same fencing, handling and shelter any cattle do. Small does not mean a pet.

The Dexter is ranked Recovering on The Livestock Conservancy's Conservation Priority List: nearly extinct in the mid-1970s, now secure enough globally that the wider population is no longer considered at risk, though it remains rare in Ireland itself. Recovery is the success story; the herd book discipline that got it there still matters.

Ask for the chondrodysplasia and PHA test results before you bid on any Dexter, and if you plan to breed, know the status of both animals. The tests exist, they are cheap, and a seller who cannot produce them is asking you to carry the risk.

Its history stayed tangled with the Kerry for a long time. The two were registered in one herd book for years, which is where the idea that a Dexter is a miniature Kerry came from. Blood typing has settled it. They are closely related but genetically distinct breeds, and they should not be interbred.

More than one registry records Dexters in the United States; the American Dexter Cattle Association is the historic book, and the Conservancy also lists the Legacy Dexter Cattle Registry and the Purebred Dexter Cattle Association. Ask which book an animal is in before you assume the papers transfer.

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