Post by genebo on Dec 30, 2016 10:05:59 GMT -6
You may not know it, but the American Dexter herd, including the Canadians, was the only herd that did not permit outcrossing of its registered entries. The American herd was an outpost of pure Dexter blood for many, many years. The practice of outcrossing to "improve" traits in the animals registered in other registries was simply not allowed here.
The English herd was freely and openly outcrossed, with the association's blessings. The results may be deemed to be better than the originals, or they may be deemed to be inferior to the originals, but the purity was lost. Only the American herd remained as an island of Dexter breeding purity. Our Dexters were sought after for that very reason. They were bought and taken to other countries, where they were promptly bred into the outcrossed herds, and the purity was lost.
There remained enough pure Dexters here to satisfy those who could afford them overseas. At least until a few Dexters were brought to America from the outcrossed herds. It wasn't supposed to be allowed, but it was. It was done behind the scenes, without most of the Dexter owners even being aware of it.
This has caused a lot of consternation among the Dexter preservationists. I'm one of them, and hate the day that an American registration was granted to an outcrossed bull.
I abhor anyone who would willfully change the breed of small cattle that I love. No matter whether they want to knock the horns off of them with outcrossed blood, infuse them with colors from outcrossed bulls, or eliminate the dwarfism that has been a part of the breed from its beginning.
I have outcrossed a Dexter bull with cows from several breeds over the years. The owners of the other cows wanted the Dexter qualities in their animals while still retaining certain qualities of their cows. An admirable thing for those owners to do. Of course, the calves they got were not registered as Dexters. That would be as shameful as what actually happened.
Among these outcrossings, we got the world's smallest bull, that measured 27" at 3 years old. He wasn't a Dexter, but looked a lot like one. Claiming that he was a Dexter would have been an unconscionable crime. He carried several shortcomings to his general health that he got from his outcrossed breed. That is the consequence of doing it.
Also among these outcrossings is a cow that looks exactly like a Dexter and is very small, but is actually part Jersey. This cow would easily pass as one of the false dwarf Dexters, except that she has an absolutely enormous udder. I guess she got her udder from the Jersey side. I suspect she got her temperament from that side, too. She's mean as a snake. Not a very good candidate to pass off as a Dexter.
All of the outcrossed animals that have crept into the American Dexter registry carry bits of the other breed's DNA. Having a bull that goes berzerk as he reaches maturity is no surprise. Most people can guess which outcrossed bull appears in his ancestry. I recently arranged a sale of a bull with that ancestry to a lady who wanted to use him over her Angus cows. After owning him half a year, she tells me that he is "ornery". She faults me for having told her that Dexter bulls are gentle. My defense is that pure Dexter bulls are, but there is no guarantee what you'll get when you mix in other breeds. Especially not the Jersey breed, which is as renowned for its mean bulls as the Dexter breed is renowned for its gentle bulls.
Bring forth all the pictures you want of bulls and cows that look just like a Dexter, even down to being the same size. I can match you with the same type of pictures, with one difference: I know each of the animals I'm talking about and I can tell you what flaws they each carry. Sure, Dexters have flaws, too, but over the hundred or more years they were in existence, the flaws that were hard to live with gradually disappeared. Until they started outcrossing. Now it not only starts over, but many of the known flaws that are in the other breeds can be expected to show up.
It's hard to deny a connection, when so many breeders of the polled animals report calf sizes that are larger than traditional Dexters. Is it a coincidence that one of the outcrossed bulls has sired three cows that were diagnosed with "crooked cervix", so they could not be AI'd? Is it a coincidence that since the modern bulls were introduced into the American herd the number of reported difficult births has zoomed, along with calf size?
There is value to be had from breeding traditional Dexters to traditional Dexters. The product of this breeding is what has been produced for over a hundred years.
There has always been attempts to eliminate bulldog calves from Dexters. Way back before the reason for bulldog calves was understood, breeders everywhere were trying to figure out how to avoid having bulldog calves. I am in complete agreement with the objective of eliminating bulldog calves. I believe that it has now been done, with the advent of the DNA test for chondrodysplasia and a simple breeding plan.
Of all the variations on breeding plans to avoid bulldog calves, there is one which will simultaneously eliminate dwarf Dexters. That is the one that the most simple minded of breeders can follow. It is also the one which requires the least effort. That plan is to keep a herd that is completely free of all dwarfs. It works, and anyone can do it. It also costs the breeder that follows that plan the pleasure of raising any dwarf Dexters. Not even one can be tolerated in that plan. The end result of such a plan becoming widespread is to wipe the dwarf Dexter off of the face of the earth. Never to reappear.
The only thing standing between the eradication of the dwarf portion of the traditional Dexter herd, is those stout preservationalists who are willing to stand in the line of fire of those who would prosper by eliminating traditional Dexters. We have to be firm in our resolve in order to preserve a great breed of cattle.
Think back on everything good you heard about Dexters that convinced you to adopt them as a breed. Think hard. Isn't it mainly the reputation that the dwarfs gave to the breed? Small? Cute? Gentle? Great beef? Wonderful milk? Efficiency of feed conversion? Novelty? The list goes on and on.
Take someone new to visit a herd of the modern cattle called Dexters, and hardly any of these images come to mind. The herd members are not so small. They look a lot like a small Angus, not tiny and cute. All the traits that Dexters are known for are lessened, if not eliminated.
I have had the genes of the Windridge herd of Traditional Dexters put into storage for the future, against the time when poor breeding decisions have taken Dexters in the direction that so many other breeds have gone. There will still be a little of the seedstock available. There are 25 straws of Brenn of Paradise semen stored in the vaults of the Swiss Village Foundation.
Those American Dexters that can trace their ancestry back to the foundation herds of America are now so rare as to be endangered. We need more dedicated Dexter owners to help preserve what few remain.
The English herd was freely and openly outcrossed, with the association's blessings. The results may be deemed to be better than the originals, or they may be deemed to be inferior to the originals, but the purity was lost. Only the American herd remained as an island of Dexter breeding purity. Our Dexters were sought after for that very reason. They were bought and taken to other countries, where they were promptly bred into the outcrossed herds, and the purity was lost.
There remained enough pure Dexters here to satisfy those who could afford them overseas. At least until a few Dexters were brought to America from the outcrossed herds. It wasn't supposed to be allowed, but it was. It was done behind the scenes, without most of the Dexter owners even being aware of it.
This has caused a lot of consternation among the Dexter preservationists. I'm one of them, and hate the day that an American registration was granted to an outcrossed bull.
I abhor anyone who would willfully change the breed of small cattle that I love. No matter whether they want to knock the horns off of them with outcrossed blood, infuse them with colors from outcrossed bulls, or eliminate the dwarfism that has been a part of the breed from its beginning.
I have outcrossed a Dexter bull with cows from several breeds over the years. The owners of the other cows wanted the Dexter qualities in their animals while still retaining certain qualities of their cows. An admirable thing for those owners to do. Of course, the calves they got were not registered as Dexters. That would be as shameful as what actually happened.
Among these outcrossings, we got the world's smallest bull, that measured 27" at 3 years old. He wasn't a Dexter, but looked a lot like one. Claiming that he was a Dexter would have been an unconscionable crime. He carried several shortcomings to his general health that he got from his outcrossed breed. That is the consequence of doing it.
Also among these outcrossings is a cow that looks exactly like a Dexter and is very small, but is actually part Jersey. This cow would easily pass as one of the false dwarf Dexters, except that she has an absolutely enormous udder. I guess she got her udder from the Jersey side. I suspect she got her temperament from that side, too. She's mean as a snake. Not a very good candidate to pass off as a Dexter.
All of the outcrossed animals that have crept into the American Dexter registry carry bits of the other breed's DNA. Having a bull that goes berzerk as he reaches maturity is no surprise. Most people can guess which outcrossed bull appears in his ancestry. I recently arranged a sale of a bull with that ancestry to a lady who wanted to use him over her Angus cows. After owning him half a year, she tells me that he is "ornery". She faults me for having told her that Dexter bulls are gentle. My defense is that pure Dexter bulls are, but there is no guarantee what you'll get when you mix in other breeds. Especially not the Jersey breed, which is as renowned for its mean bulls as the Dexter breed is renowned for its gentle bulls.
Bring forth all the pictures you want of bulls and cows that look just like a Dexter, even down to being the same size. I can match you with the same type of pictures, with one difference: I know each of the animals I'm talking about and I can tell you what flaws they each carry. Sure, Dexters have flaws, too, but over the hundred or more years they were in existence, the flaws that were hard to live with gradually disappeared. Until they started outcrossing. Now it not only starts over, but many of the known flaws that are in the other breeds can be expected to show up.
It's hard to deny a connection, when so many breeders of the polled animals report calf sizes that are larger than traditional Dexters. Is it a coincidence that one of the outcrossed bulls has sired three cows that were diagnosed with "crooked cervix", so they could not be AI'd? Is it a coincidence that since the modern bulls were introduced into the American herd the number of reported difficult births has zoomed, along with calf size?
There is value to be had from breeding traditional Dexters to traditional Dexters. The product of this breeding is what has been produced for over a hundred years.
There has always been attempts to eliminate bulldog calves from Dexters. Way back before the reason for bulldog calves was understood, breeders everywhere were trying to figure out how to avoid having bulldog calves. I am in complete agreement with the objective of eliminating bulldog calves. I believe that it has now been done, with the advent of the DNA test for chondrodysplasia and a simple breeding plan.
Of all the variations on breeding plans to avoid bulldog calves, there is one which will simultaneously eliminate dwarf Dexters. That is the one that the most simple minded of breeders can follow. It is also the one which requires the least effort. That plan is to keep a herd that is completely free of all dwarfs. It works, and anyone can do it. It also costs the breeder that follows that plan the pleasure of raising any dwarf Dexters. Not even one can be tolerated in that plan. The end result of such a plan becoming widespread is to wipe the dwarf Dexter off of the face of the earth. Never to reappear.
The only thing standing between the eradication of the dwarf portion of the traditional Dexter herd, is those stout preservationalists who are willing to stand in the line of fire of those who would prosper by eliminating traditional Dexters. We have to be firm in our resolve in order to preserve a great breed of cattle.
Think back on everything good you heard about Dexters that convinced you to adopt them as a breed. Think hard. Isn't it mainly the reputation that the dwarfs gave to the breed? Small? Cute? Gentle? Great beef? Wonderful milk? Efficiency of feed conversion? Novelty? The list goes on and on.
Take someone new to visit a herd of the modern cattle called Dexters, and hardly any of these images come to mind. The herd members are not so small. They look a lot like a small Angus, not tiny and cute. All the traits that Dexters are known for are lessened, if not eliminated.
I have had the genes of the Windridge herd of Traditional Dexters put into storage for the future, against the time when poor breeding decisions have taken Dexters in the direction that so many other breeds have gone. There will still be a little of the seedstock available. There are 25 straws of Brenn of Paradise semen stored in the vaults of the Swiss Village Foundation.
Those American Dexters that can trace their ancestry back to the foundation herds of America are now so rare as to be endangered. We need more dedicated Dexter owners to help preserve what few remain.