Summary of Article About Dexters

Home     Back to “Summaries of Publications and Articles About Dexters”

"Dexter"

page 78 of Cattle: A Handbook to Breeds of the World
by Valerie Porter

This book was published in 1991 by Christopher Helm, London

This book provides an illustrated description of nearly all the cattle breeds in the world, some wild, some now extinct. It contains chapters on a number of topics, such as the Aurochs, domestication, and the development of breeds. The breed entries are organised by country of origin. Valerie Porter has written a number of books about cattle, rare breeds and smallholding. Jake Tebbit provided the illustrations for the book.

In the section on "Ireland", Porter includes comments on the Kerry, Dexter and Irish Moiled breeds. The summary for Dexters notes that they are black, dun or red in colour; horned; dual-purpose; very small and short-legged; and come from southwest Ireland. The main entry starts: "While the Kerry is naturally small in its native environment, the Dexter has been deliberately bred small, often to the point of being a true dwarf." Tebbit's illustration on page 80 of the breeds of the Channel Islands, Wales and Ireland (see right below) includes an "extreme dwarf type".

Porter notes that the Dexter's shortness is of the leg between knee and fetlock. Its head is short and broad, its neck short and thick, while its body is deep, compact, square and low-set. The Dexter has medium-length horns that curve forwards and upwards. Both milk and meat can be produced economically from Dexters at tight stocking rates. They can give about 3,000 kilograms of milk of more than 4 per cent butterfat, and provides small beef carcasses ideal for the home freezer and small-scale catering. "Provided breeding is selective, it is a most useful smallholder's animal."

Porter observes that while the Kerry is a very rare breed, Dexters have become more popular partly due to promotion by its breed society. Porter then discusses the problem of the bulldog calf syndrome. "In Britain and South Africa, most breeders are now careful to select the longer-legged type, standing perhaps 110-112 cm at the withers, which is a well-proportioned animal in contrast with the big-headed 90 cm dwarves."

Porter suggests that the Dexter breed was probably developed from very small Kerries, although the two breeds are now quite distinct genetically. As traditionally Dexters were bred by mating Kerry cows to Dexter bulls, she believes that the longer-legged Dexter could be viewed as a "useful gene reservoir" for the rare Kerry. "It is not know whether the original breeding [of the Dexter] arose from mutation or selection, or, some say, by crossbreeding with perhaps a French breed or the Devon." She refers to Mr Dexter as deliberately breeding Dexters from "the local mountain dairy cattle" as small animals that would provide both beef and milk for the household.

At the end of the entry, after referring to the development of herdbooks in Ireland and England, Porter notes that by 1911 there was a breed society in the USA where, at the time of writing, there were about 250 registered Dexters, with fewer numbers in Canada. In 1958, a South African breed society was established, with 1,200 registered Dexters there, the largest herd consisting of 120 head and "the total commercial herd numbering about 2,500".   

~ End of Entry ~

Two Other References to Dexters in Porter's Book:

Page 157: The Hérens or Eringer of Switzerland is a fighting breed (involved in the "head-to-head pushing" matches in the Battle of Queens). This is a dual-purpose breed used mainly for milk "and looks vaguely like an Irish Dexter in some respects: both are very small in stature and can claim Celtic origins". Its short legs give it a height of 122 cms for bulls and 119 cms for cows.

Page 235: The Dexter-Kerry of South Africa (Cape Province) originated from imported Kerry being bred to Dexter bulls imported from Ireland. In the late 1950s, further Dexter cows and bulls were imported. As well as being of value to smallholders living near the cities, Dexters also "have an unusual role in the extensive semi-arid farming areas in the Karoo region where they are used as nurse cows to suckle orphan lambs". About 1,200 Dexters were registered at the time of writing and numbers were increasing due to keen demand. Porter notes that the South African Dexter-Kerry is on the tall side compared with American and some British and Irish strains. Two types are recognised, the dairy type with a finer bone structure and the beef type which is better muscled in the back, loin and shoulder and especially the thighs and hindquarters. Porter concludes with the observation that "average milk yields under normal conditions are 1,800 - 2,750kg)".

Back to “Summaries of Publications and Articles About Dexters”

To Top of Page