Irish Dexters, The 4-door Sedan Bovine
November 10, 2008|Comments (24)
Why a four-door sedan bovine? Well, Irish Dexters are the perfect breed of cattle for a family who wants cattle simply for meat and dairy for their own consumption. Not long ago, Josh read about them in GRIT Magazine and decided that we would have them on our future farm. We searched the web for local farmers who might have some Dexters for us to see in person but came up short. No test drives for the family bovine sedan… or so we thought.
Yesterday, friends at our church invited us over for dinner at their farm. We knew that they had cattle but we didn’t know many details about their operation. Josh and John went out to feed the cattle and discovered that they had Irish Dexters. Don’t faint! They were only thirty minutes from our doorstep all along!
Considered the perfect cow for homesteaders, Irish Dexters require half the amount of grazing space as the regular-sized popular breeds. They are small in size and extremely laid back (like surfer-dudes of the bovine world). The Irish Dexters in these pictures are quite friendly and gentle. At about 800-1000 pounds, these sweet babies are full grown. Their size makes them considerably less intimidating considering that they all have horns and are completely unafraid of humans.
As the face of farming changes (thanks to farmers like Joel Salatin), farmers are learning that large-breed cattle are simply not as practical as homesteader-friendly breeds like the humble Irish Dexters. Yes, the large breed cattle produce a great deal of meat per steer but they cost a fortune to feed. So, when one weighs out the cost of feed compared to the amount and value of the meat — the stats don’t lie — the Irish Dexter wins every time.
Josh will return to feed the cattle again this evening and is still marveling that all it takes to winter this breed which produces about 500 gallons of milk each year (the steers easily provide 300-500 ponds of meat) is little more than a bale of hay each day for mother and calf. Read more in The Amazing Irish Dexter.
The comment box is below the way-cool advertisement.
Please leave us a comment. We love reading them and feel that they are the best part of the site. Thank you!
What nice cows! an interesting breed…
Cheers,
Rosa
These sound like a nice way to break into the cattle farming biz.
Lacy: What a neat story about the cattle. So are ID cattle in the future?
Hi Fishing Guy!
Goodness, I hope so. We began this blog in an attempt to show our journey into farming and parenting. At the moment, it seems like the cattle will come before the children in the timeline of our wee farm. We shall see, though.
Josh is hooked on this breed because it is so practical. Practical is good. I like their soulful eyes and warm breath on my hands. I like the idea of making butter, cheese, and yogurt with milk from our own cows. When I look at those Dexters — I can almost see our future children bottle-feeding our future calves for 4-H projects. I can see myself throwing down flakes of hay to them and smiling at the faces of our growing herd.
One day… a lot sooner than we think.
Blessings!
Lacy
Cute cattle! I wish you could have a cow in the backyard like you would a dog. I think my dogs would like a new play mate!
I found your site while wandering around the WWW this morning.
I love the “little” cattle. They are kind of cute. If I get a vote, which I am pretty sure I don’t, I think you should get a couple.
Great site. I will be back.
Hi Lacy…it’s been way too long since I last stopped by here. Everything is beautiful, as always! (love the header)
We’re enamored with Dexters, too, and saw some at the State fair, actually in the Dairy barn! I agree with you…they just seem to be the perfect fit for homesteaders. Oh how I wish we were at that point (sigh)…
I hope your “sooners” arrive VERY soon!! We’re continuing to pray for you to be with your kids SOON
Awww…but could you eat one after gazing into his soulful eyes and tossing him bits of hay? I’m not sure I could…Sigh. I guess I’m just a silly city-girl at heart, although I really want to be a country gal.
I WANT TWO Please!!!!
I’m, thinking here “Wow, that’s food for thought!” But no pun intended.
Very interesting information there. Never heard of this particular breed before.
Wow, I wish I could have been there. These cows look so content and Joshua looks so natural in the role of caretaker to the cows. The time will fly by and you will have some of your own before you know it. Thank you for sharing these pictures.
We had already decided on dexters when we get our own land!….. They are perfect for the small farm!
With 2 growing boys, maybe we should think about chickens AND an Irish Dexter or 2. That would mean moving, however, because we only have about 1/2 acre fenced. Oh well, I’ll just dream.
Hi, Lacy!
Jim says I’m just a wannabe farm girl, but I’d like a couple of those too please! Just want to start everything out as “babies” though…baby calves…baby fillies…baby kids…you get the idea. That way, when they DO weigh 800 pounds, I wouldn’t be afraid of them! So far, I’m just trying to talk Jim into a puppy! Keep on doing this great research please! I love your blog….
Hugs,
Dianne
Interesting post. I can’t wait to hear about your own Irish Dexters!
Look at how he is looking at Josh…?? Are they aggresive?
You have to get the cattle, Lacy. I just know you will be thrilled with them.
How odd they were just down the way from you! NOT a coincidence, my dear!
I have to say it…mmmm steak…. I love steak…..
They are cute little buggers, that’s why I don’t want to see any bones in my meat, it reminds me of how cute they used to be.
That’s funny, Jake and I once drove 4 hours away just to look at someone’s Dexters! At the time, our older daughter was terrified of them, and I had to hold her the whole time we were in the barn even though I was gigantically pregnant with Ibby. They’re small, but when you’re 2, they still look pretty darn big!
We would LOVE to get a single mama cow that we could use for milk and then (ahem) eat her baby every year. Doesn’t that sound horrible though!!! Eating her baby every year!!! I don’t know if I could do it, but I do love beef and it would be so awesome to raise our own. I’ve heard of farms trading animals instead of eating their own, so maybe we could look into that, but that does sort of defeat the point of actually raising your own food. Sigh. Complicated Stuff.
[...] about our trip to Westville Village in A Quiltin’ Man and check out homesteaders cattle in Irish Dexters: 4 Door Sedan Bovine. What’s up with all this homesteading talk? We’re wannabes. Plain and simple: [...]
Great post. I am also interested in Dexters. I have read about them on Nita from Throwback at Trapper Creek and Phelan at the Homesteading Neophyte, them both have them. We hope to get cows in the Spring/Summer so if I was smart I would start looking around.
[...] goats belong to the neighbor of John, our friend with Irish Dexters, and I don’t have to tell you that goats are on the list of animals we want on our farm. [...]
Nice dispatch and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you for your information.