Ohmygoshi'msoexcited-needavdiceasap!

[Jcran]

Ok, I'm not going to get tooooooooo excited just yet (no counting chickens) but I may have found a Dexter cow within 45 minutes of us. She is 6 years old, and is free to a good home...we are first on the list to see her. Now for the question....She has never been bred but the guy says he is pretty sure she's still cycling. Would a 6 year old be ok to breed as a first freshener? Would she possibly have a lower fertility rate? Could I breed her to a Jersey?(I've got two bull calves in the pasture right now-breed her then eat them...?) It sounds like she was a family pet.

[tyusclan]

My first question would be "why is she free?". Six is not a problem for her to calve as long as she's healthy and otherwise okay. The fact that she's cycling doesn't mean she's fertile.

Yes, you can breed her to the Jersey, but you'd get a nicer beef calf by breeding her to an Angus. If you have the Jerseys and want to breed her to them, it certainly won't hurt anything. If you have two Jerseys that are old enough to breed, be very careful around them. They can be dangerous.

If she's free, you're not out anything but the gas if she doesn't breed. I'd make sure they have no problem with me disposing of her or butchering her if she doesn't work out as a mama cow. If she's a family pet, they might want you to promise to keep her forever or something silly like that.

[Jcran]

Good point; how old are Jersey bull calves when able to breed? These guys are approaching 4 months old and I'm planning right now for grass fed veal; I can easily put them into a "safe pen" with said cow until she breeds. I would still slaughter one of the calves in early Fall, so there'd be just one bull to deal with until she settled. I haven't got all the details yet; I'll be sure to be careful when I do.

[tyusclan]

They're safe right now. Jerseys usually mature sexually somewhere around 9 months to a year old. Depending on when you want to try to have her calve, you may not want to wait 5 months or more to have her bred.

[Anderson farms]

Breeding her to an angus isn't a good idea. Dexters are small cattle and the angus will give her too big of a calf and cause problems when calving

[Jcran]

What kind of cross would be considered safe?

[dcross]

If you AI her and can pick a calving ease sire, an angus should be fine.

[tyusclan]

Angus are known in general for calving ease. Dexters are smaller cows, but they're not minatures. If your cow is a 700 lb cow or so, she can deliver an angus calf easily.

As dcross said, if you can AI and pick a low birth weight sire, you certainly shouldn't have any problem.

[Jcran]

I broke the news to hubbie today and he didn't have a cow (hahaha) so I get to have one! I am going to get her tomorrow...will local dairy AI techs AI a Dexter? I found some Dexter bull semen in California. Anyone have experience with that? I used to AI cattle in college but haven't done it since 1985. I would want to pay someone...would I just wait for a heat cycle or induce like with lutalyse?..I know I'm getting way ahead of myself but am so darned tickled, I can't help myself.