Dexters or Cheap Holsteins for Freezer Beef

I actually did start reading up on them and and they do look like a viable option for me.

I think for now I am going to monitor CL and see what pops up in the next few months and get a couple of Dexter or Lowline Angus steers to see how they go before I commit. If I cant find any at a reasonable price i'll default to the Holsteins.

If anyone in central ohio is reading this and wants to part with Lowline or Dexter steers PM me....

There is a dexter show and auction in Ohio in may.
You might want to consider attending if you are in Ohio and looking for dexters.
Steers should not be difficult to find.
My search for a new bull has taken me to almost every state in the country, but steers are a snap. There are half a dozen for sale down the road from me right now. And I know she is going to OH in may and would be glad to bring them.
Email me privately for more info.

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Sheri, Red Ridge Farm
www.red-ridge-farm.com
Dexter Cattle
East Friesian Dairy, Tunis & Polypay Sheep
Maremma lgd's

You may want to look at highlands also. They are easy going and a smaller breed. I just sold all of my steers, and had more people ask for them. They forage better than most breeds.

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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons...for you are crunchy and good with ketchup!

True, but consider a few other perspectives...
Many bulls being used aren't of high enough quality to qualify for breeding.
Yes, there are many good bulls out there, but excellent bulls are hard to come by. I believe I have a good bull right now. He is a Supreme Champion. But he is not excellent. So, I have two choices if I want to improve my genetics. I can sell him for meat when he is 2 yrs old which will bring about $2k, or I can keep him another year or two an continue to use him until I can no longer breed him back due to being too tightly related (a different topic). So my options when he is 4 are to sell him for a new herd sire for someone else, or put him in hamburger at half the profit of prime beef.
Frankly, I know a lot of people who have 4 and 5 yr old bulls thy are excellent herd sires but selling them is problematic since even those bulls who are halter broken and easy to handle are not highly marketable. Yes, there is a market, but its very limited.
Just some different perspectives.
I've done this for years with sheep. We own the national champion ram in one breed and he is the only ram who has earned his retirement here. :-)
Any way you look at it, its still a business.

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Sheri, Red Ridge Farm
www.red-ridge-farm.com
Dexter Cattle
East Friesian Dairy, Tunis & Polypay Sheep
Maremma lgd's

I have to say - this sort of thinking comes up around here a lot.

But we don't live on islands that are cut off from everyone, and even when the nearest town was 2 days away by horse, people still bought necessities f rom other people.

Before I'd worry about the dairy I lived next to suddenly vanishing into the mist, I'd worry about things like "Can I grow all the hay I need to support my breeding herd?" "I eat other stuff besides meat - where are my potatoes coming from? I use flour to make good beef gravy - where's my wheat coming from???"

Not being able to make good beef gravy, now THAT is a legitimate worry! I mean think of it - no gravy?

Holstiens make very good beef. You'd be surprised just how much of the beef you've eaten in your life came from a Holstien. If I lived anywhere that I could easily get cheap Holstien bull calves - the thought of keeping a breeding herd JUST so I could grow my own beef would never even cross my mind. Breeding animals of ANY sort are a p.i.t.a. Even sweet, small bulls are still bulls - moody unpredictable and weighing FAR more then you! You'll be feeding a cow all year for a product you can easily get - a calf. What if she doesn't have one this year? It happens. What if something goes wrong? That happens too. Now yes, if all goes well, she'll also raise the calf to weaning - but sometimes that screws up. Having a breeding cow does not guarantee a fat, weaned calf 100% of the time - nothing does!
Economically, if you're going to lose a calf (which happens to everyone), is it cheaper to just lose the calf, or is it cheaper to lose the calf and feed a cow for 2 years (the year she was carrying the calf that was lost, and the year it will be before she delivers the next one)

What I'm saying is that before I worry about suddenly being the only one on the planet and having nowhere else to get livestock again ever and making my own little 10 acre Noah's Ark, I'd first to a LOT of math and see what is the most economically viable option for me and my specific situation. Maybe if I had lots of acreage that was growing grass anyway, I wouldn't feel the harder pinch in my wallet to feed that cow, kwim?
And I'd worry about growing potatoes. Can't have beef without potatoes

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A ship in the harbor may be safe, but that's not what ships are built for

From the first Dexter beef I ever ate, I've been pleased with it. The taste and texture are phenomenal.

Once I ran out of Dexter and bought a side of Angus from my neighbor. We were so disappointed!

Two years we went without Dexter beef. We'll try to never let that happen again.

Jerseys you can find from free to $80 when holsteins are around $60-170 for calves

Don't know what dexters cost havnt seen many but right now cow prices are up

From what I have seen online about $500 for a steer calf, higher for heifers. Has anyone tracked what it costs to raise a Holstein from calf to slaughter and the same for Dexters or Lowlines? Wish I had been keeping better records so far......

I had a little over $2000 in 3 of them one year before Istarted growing my own corn and hay

I have 2 600lb jerseys that I have about $100 in but that's not from normal feeding

We raised a jerseyXcharolais calf last year and this year a holstein FreeMartin heifer.
Last years calf filled our freezer with awesome beef!!!

Dexters finish very nicely on pasture alone, so depending on what you have for pasture, it might cost very, very little to raise a Dexter to slaughter weight.

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www.glimmercroft.com
The basic message of liberalism is simply: The true measure of a society is how it treats the weak and the needy. A simple Christian message (Matthew 25:40). -Garrison Keillor

We have a small dairy. We raise a few steers for ourselves and a few neighbors. We usually butcher them around 12 months of age. Everyone is happy with the product. We like to have them smaller so that we keep the meat fresh. Most of our customers don't want 1200 lbs of meat.(Approx. yield of 3 year old Hol.
One thing I would consider, while looking at any novelty breed. If , if, something happens and you need to get rid of them, there is no market.

Because someone asked.....

http://houston.craigslist.org/grd/3708692830.html

I saw this heifer today for $600. Cheapest I've seen. There's also another for $800. I seriously thought about it, but I have jerseys and when I DO get a bull, I want it to be a jersey bull and I'm scared of the thought of breeding a jersey bull to a dexter cow.

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Joy Alba
Oak Hill Ranch
since 1834
Bedias, Texas

What worries you? That's one of the most desirable crosses out there for heifers...

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There is a time and a place for decaf coffee.
Never, and in the trash.
Are you an AZ farmer too? Arizona Backyard Farmers on facebook

If you are thinking of getting a Holstein for a herd bull, I have only run into two really mean bulls in my lifetime, and they were both Holstein.

I just saw a Dexter 24 month hanging on a hook at a processor. NO fat at all and the aging was not complete. Not impressed at all. Hanging next to it was a Angus fat looked good. That Dexter needed a lot of grain most likely to get some fat on it. We ate a 3 year old lowline all grass even with the back bone out it was good meat.
I use 1 string to rotate my lowline and no horns. You will not find lowline on Craigs list to often or for long. I suggest you look at the lowline website and check them out in person. You could have 4 or so on your 10 ac plot and graze possible year round.
My lowline came out of OH and with this years calves I could even put a starter herd together for you.
Steve

We have Dexters and are really happy with them. We do have more boys than girls. We had other types of cows and hubby was not happy with them at all. The bulls were always very difficult. Our Dexter bulls are docile, but that does not mean we turn our backs on them. We like the taste of the Dexter and we like that it has so little fat. We also like that they eat less than larger breeds. We can butcher one animal and it is enough for our family. We do not end up with a bunch of beef and wonder what we are going to do with it all. We have short leg Dexters. The hanging weight of the bull we butchered last month was about the same size as a half of a larger breed.

We just butchered a Dexter steer at 24 months and put 590 pounds of meat in the freezer. We are spoiled eating Dexter. Even though our breeding herd is for sale..we will continue to buy Dexter steers and grow them out. Love the taste and love the fact that the meat is not fatty. We grass/hay feed only.

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http://homesteadingexperienceswithbobby.blogspot.com/

http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/10...y_tomfeld.html

We have a few Dexters and we want to breed also for home freezer beef. I could not find anyone to AI locally and since we are just starting all this I doidnt have a stock trailer at first, so we just got a bull. I'm not sure whats the right answer, I just know when I want my dexters breed, I just let him in with them, and I'm done.

just a note or two about the AI process.with a small herd its not really feasible at all.unless you have a buddy or neighbor who will do it for you and is competent at it.you will need the semen straws and a nitrogen tank to keep them frozen untill ready to use.tank will have to be refilled periodically with liquid nitrogen. what a lot of people wont tell you is that even the most competent AI guy is only as good as your ability to determine the correct stage of heat on your cows. there are shots and seeders to bring your cows into heat when you want them to.its all very involved and requires tons of knowledge. even when done correctly you will be lucky to get 70% conception. usually cows are turned out later with a "clean up" bull in case they are not sucessfully bred by the AI process.dates are recorded so you know what your calf is out of.

a lot of small producers here will rent a bull for a small fee per month.the guy letting yu rent the bull like this cuz you are feeding him when he doesnt need him. a young bull will gain weight while you have him and thus be more valuable when he returns to the orig owner.

however, this can transfer diseases to your herd and his as well and is not as common a practice as it was 10 years ago.

what i would do with a small herd of say 3 to 10 cows is just buy a young crossbred bull big enuf to breed.drop by the vet on the way home and have him semen tested and disease tested.keep him a couple years and resell him.if you lose money on a young bull then your not doing something correctly.