Meadowbank Dexters
The Dexter herd was established in 2016 from stock purchased from several well established Pedigree Dexter herds. As the herd grew in number we decided to join the Dexter Cattle Society and our herd has been registered as pedigree since 2021. The prefix for the herd is a mash up of things that remind me of the home town that I grew up in.
The Dexters are not shown at agricultural events, as a rare breed few shows have a Dexter class and it would do them a massive injustice to put them up against much larger breeds.
Why Dexters?
While on a holiday to New Zealand we visited the Agrodome farm park that happened to have a small herd of Dexter cattle and I was completely fascinated by this miniature cow with the big personality and I knew from that point on that I wanted to find out more about them and start my own herd.
The Dexter which originated in Ireland is the UKs smallest native breed of cattle , with the average weight of a cow being some 300 – 350 Kg’s and standing 92cm – 107cm at the shoulder. The dexter is highly prized as being dual purpose, renowned for its marbled excellent quality and traditionally flavored meat and also its high butterfat and protein content milk. The fact it can achieve both of these on a grass fed system makes them the perfect breed for these environmentally sensitive times and are the ideal cattle for conservation grazing. They poach the ground a lot less than the larger breeds, an important consideration as part of our land management objectives.
Like most of the native breeds they are tough and hardy and therefore very happy to live out all year round on rough grasslands, in all weather, harsh conditions and on steep slopes. They will quite happily eat nettles and thistles even when there is abundant access to lush grazing! Who needs weed controlling chemicals when you can have a Dexter?
Dexters are also excellent mothers and tend to need little to no intervention during birthing or the early days of motherhood. It is also quite normal for them to happily let another cows calves suckle which any other breed of cow would just not tolerate! Native and rare breeds tend to have fewer health issues than bigger, commercial breeds which is something we also considered when selecting Dexters as over use of medicine and medicine resistance is becoming a hot topic in agriculture.
If you wish to know more about the breed please click the button below which will take you to the Dexter Cattle Society's official website where you will find everything you need to know about these brilliant little cows.