Jersey X Dexter's

Hi Linn, I've heard that theory too, Beryl Rutherford's book I think. In Dexter's the genetic abnormality is identified as 'Chondrodysplasia' formerly it was believed to be 'Achondrodysplasia' but just like the 'dun' gene it's unique to Dexters. I think it has to do with how the 'dwarfing ' affects the cannon bone ... but someone with more knowledge could maybe help me out with the explanation. L

The questions posed by the OP were about cross breeding Jerseys with Dexter, to produce a mini Jersey. The presumption is that people on a Homesteading Forum do not want a pasture pet, but an easily managed small cow, that milks well without the huge volume given by most Jerseys. This can be achieved with the cross, with proper consideration to the background of the Dexter used. A small milking cow can be bred without the unnecessary introduction of a lethal gene.
IMHO, the pictures of the extreme dwarf animal belong in a pet forum, not in the cattle section, although the later picture of the normal animal of the same breeding without the inherited dwarfism illustrates just how valuable the elimination of dwarfism from both breeds would be.ck

I believe that is where I first read it, I couldn't remember until you mentioned her book. I remembered the above article so I referenced it. Probably didn't use the correct terminology. LOL For my part, when choosing an AI sire, I chose one that is a non-carrier of Chondrodysplasia. Why take a chance when there are so many good bulls that are non-carriers? By the way, I loved the picture of your Reannagh. My Lucifer daughter calved a couple of weeks ago. I will have to post the picture of her and the calf. She is much deeper bodied now than she was this summer.

__________________
Visit the Christian Homesteader
http://farmwoman.proboards.com/index.cgi

There are always two kinds of people who breed livestock. One is the person who trys to maintain the breed standard and is rigid in what should be allowed. The other type is the person who likes to mess around with genetics and likes tinkering. I have never known anyone of the second type who tries to adulterate the pure stock with the cross bred stuff. That's done by people who aren't breeders at all! Both types of breeders have their place: You wouldn't keep a breed around with the first kind, and you wouldn't get new breeds with the second.

For some reason the purebred type person always has problems with the person who likes to experiment with the genetics of their herd/flock, but the genetics person never seems to mind the purebred type.

Thanks for all of the posts on Dexter genetics. It's interesting to me as I've had no contact with the breed at all.

Jennifer

__________________
-Northern NYS

Sorry I don't understand. Liz

The deliberate introduction of a lethal gene into an animal to breed a 'pet' is unconscionable! Maybe us 'french' Canadians are just more ethical and can see how wrong it is to consider breeding an animal such as bucky!

I don't have any problem at all with short leg Dexters as long as they aren't bred together but as I've told Gene before, that little bull is pretty sad and I wouldn't be showing off pictures if it was mine. We've got a little heifer that's probably 3 times his size that I'm pretty embarrassed about and I don't show pictures of her. She's are smallest cow but that doesn't make her special because she's really kind of ugly.

I'm still waiting for a picture of a good Jersey/Dexter milk cow. I'd love to see one. The best example of a similar cross that I've seen was a Lowline Angus / Jersey cross. I'm sure you can still find it on this board.

__________________
www.franciscanfamilyfarms.com
Chaffee, Mo

Olga has a really nice Dexter/Jersey cross, Elsie, pictured on her board. Maybe if she reads this she would post her here and get this topic back on track. Liz

This is the kind of crap that really helps us promote our breed, NOT!! Could you guys please keep your infighting to yourselves ??? We have a wonderfull breed cattle but some people are going to get the idea that dwarfs and bad feet are the norm, not the exception to the breed. There are a lot of Dexter breeders who want to breed for the smallest animal they can get, some of us don't. It's very simple, we're all different in what we like. Genebo, I understand that Bucky is a Dexter Shorthorn cross and that people don't read all the post before jumping to conclusions.
P.J.

__________________
given the oppurtunity, a cow will always take the wrong gate...Baxter Black
www.newdaydexters.com
Irish Dexter Cattle for sale..............

I have a Dexter-holstien I'm milkng now She wieghs about 550 lbs and is giving two gallons a day plus raising her own hiefer calf.

In the past I have cross bred cattle. I have come to believe that in most cases you lose out. A holstein crossed with a herford isn't as good a beef cow as a herford and isn't as good a milk cow as a holstein.

A pure Jersey is a beautiful milk cow. I'd like to offer a couple suggestions.

A homesteader with 4 Jerseys does not need a bull. It is a waste of money and feed. Either borrow a neighbor's bull or AI. I recommend AI.

If you have Jerseys and want some freezer beef, breed your Jerseys with a quality Jersey bull. Then sell the year old heifers and buy a year old beef steer. It'll take less feed and you should able to get a larger steer for the same money.

Sure, you'll get some Jersey steers, but you can still put those guys in the freezer.

The size of someone's Jersey/Dexter cross and the daily milk output has little bearing on what your calves will look like or amount of milk. Simply too many variables within each breed.

Do as you want, the world won't end over it, just MHO.

WOW, I forgot about this thread. It is getting pretty carried away. I have no idea about what his gene's are??? nor do I really care. I picked him up for $300, he is a red, polled dexter bull. My plans were to keep him long enough to breed all 4 of my jerseys and then send him to freezer camp. If the calves come out all freaky and dwarfed, they will follow straight to freezer camp. I had planned on raising all the calves that I get from him for the freezer, but I had a lady contact me looking for info on mini Jerseys. I think they are just a ridiculously over priced fad, like all of these mini cows. I like my old world Jerseys and everything about them But my hubby says I am not allowed to have more than the 5 cows that I have now (2 are young heifers) and it seems like every time I AI I am getting heifers!!!! So I saw this little bull and thought that he would be a good excuse not to keep any more heifers. After I had this lady contact me about the mini jerseys I thought that there may be a market for the heifers? So I just posted a question asking if anyone has crossed them before and what the aprox volume of milk that you would get from one is? These are questions that the potential buyer asked me. I have only ever had pure Jerseys and a holstein. So I can only assume that they will produce less milk, but wanted a guess on how much less? Thanks for the people that have posted some great info! My little "Fire Crotch" as we named him (lol) is really taming down! He has been in a box stall for about a month, he has learned to love his head scratches and is a nice little guy. I have to finish about 100 feet of fencing then he gets to come out and play!

edited to add,

haypoint, I am paying about $100/AI service I have bred one cow 4 times now! The bull cost me $300, as there is no Jersey bulls on the Island I love on, borrowing the neighbors is not a option! The only people around me with bulls have LARGE beef bulls, there is not even a angus that is close by as far as I know. I am NOT going to put my little heifer under a large herford bull!!! IMO keeping a bull till it is 18 months or so and butchering it, is more cost effective that AI

Keep your little bull until he's 24 to 27 months old if you can. The beef gains a lot in flavor and marbling during those last months, and you get weight gain, too.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

Even as a bull will he still be good at that age???? As long as he is behaving I do not have a problem keeping him that long, but the first sign of "bulliness" he goes I plan on keeping him with my horses, then putting the cows in when the time comes for them. My horses will be good for keeping him in line. I have 2 shires.

Oakshire the only problem with a bull, intact is that he doesn't put on the fat cover for hanging. As Gene said the longer you keep him the better the flavour. We usually ship steers at 29 months and the argue with the papers about age! Liz

The most "bulliness" he'll display will be his courtship of any cow that is in heat. At that time, he's intent upon doing the job he lives for. So intent that he may resent the presence of any other creature, including you, or he may completely focus on her and not even realize you're there. Give him room to work at that time. Don't get too close to the action and never get between him and the cow he's courting.

It may last 3 days. Once it's over, he'll rapidly return to his former self.

That's his job. Don't mark him down for doing it well. If he's a good bull, he should have to do this no more than 3 times for each cow. She should rebreed by her third heat after calving. Then you have nearly 10 months before she comes into heat again.

I've never eaten a bull, but I've read the statements of many who did, and only one ever said anything bad about bull beef. Bulls gain weight faster than steers, and have a higher beef to bone ratio. The reasons for steering a bull that is intended for beef is to make him less bullish in behavior and to prevent him from breeding the cows.

In the manner you intend to use him, he should out-perform a steer. My bulls outweighed my steers of the same age by a good margin.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

If it is costing you $100 to AI your Jeresys and it takes several tries, I suggest you learn to do it yourself.

If you are getting mostly heifers, rejoice. I think that a steady production of Jeresy heifers would boost the farm's profits like none else.Then you could buuy youirself one of those big beef calves from a neighbor. That's what I would do.

Doing your own AI doesn't necessarily guarantee conception on the first try. A lot of it has to do with your cow's condition and catching them at the right time in their heat cycle. Semen from good bulls start at $25. and go much higher. There is also the expense of shipping the semen plus the expense of a liquid nitrogen tank and regular refills. Training is also needed before one can start to AI their own cows. That is not cheap. A Dexter/Jersey cross should make a good calf whether it is a heifer or a bull calf.
I have AI'd our cows in the home pasture for years. It can get expensive it you have to AI the same cow more than once to get her to stick.

__________________
Visit the Christian Homesteader
http://farmwoman.proboards.com/index.cgi

I was thinking that if one could do their own AI one could do a better job of breeding at the right time. If $100 a trip and 3 trips is the norm, you may have breeding broblems, but I was guessing the Tech. wasn't top notch. If you can't get someone good to AI, become good yourself. Think of it as another way to be a bit more less reliant on others, a goal of many homesteaders.

If you think a half milk cow, half beef is a beef cow, you might believe Tiger Woods and Barack Obama are white guys?

A Jersey is so small and delacate (meatless?) adding half the genetics of a beef animal isn't going to make it a meaty cow. That is not to say there isn't a lot of meat in a cross bred cow. I'd be more willing to go along with your plan if it were just a Holstein.

Few of us plan to sell our cows, but things change and cows do get sold. Most of the cross bred cattle (dairy/beef) that I see sell at auction are sold at a lower price than those bred specificly for one or the other.

When we figure up what it costs in feed, time and housing to raise a cow, the costs of obtaining a valuable animal through AI seems small. But that's just what I believe.

It is just one cow that I have bred 3 times. I am thinking the problem is more the cow, both my other cows get bred first time. The cow that I cannot seem to get bred is a very over weight almost 3 year old Jersey, she has never been bred! The vet and AI tech have not found a reason that she is not getting preggo? But her date with freezer camp it getting closer, if my Dexter cannot get her.