Our new Dexter is home

[Jcran]

We drove to Willow Creek and picked up "ISIS" this morning. She is a 6 year old heifer, so we are hoping she breeds. She is red or more officially, a red dun, I guess. She has wacky horns, one high and normal, one that juts out at a funny angle, but we will love her nonetheless. She seems relatively tame and is already making friends with our two dairy bull calves. She was free to a good home so we are tickled pink! Question: are there AI techs around? How would I find one? I would prefer to AI her with Dexter breeding but will go another route if not. I just can't seem to find the right phrase on "google" to get the info I need.

[JulieLou42]

If I were you, I'd ask at the local feed store, the vets' offices, the grangehall, the County Ag/Extension agent, locals you know who have cattle...just for starters.

[sugarbush]

6 year old heifer???? that is really odd. Was she somebodies pet? By 6 or 7 a cow is usually getting to the end of her productive life.
I don't think the feed stores in the area will know who the AI companies are......but drop in on a dairy farm and ask who they use or go to a dairy equipment supply house... AI companies rearly advertise, like the Snap-on man they rely on word of mouth and drop in on farms from time to time.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by sugarbush

By 6 or 7 a cow is usually getting to the end of her productive life..

Only on large dairies, etc. Family or small milk/beef herds it is very common to see 10-13 year old cows who are still productive. We have a 17 year old Jersey right now.
But a six year old heifer is very odd. Hope she breeds for you!

[sugarbush]

Could be bad information.......maybe the people you got her from don't know what heifer means...... My thoughts are that if a cow doesn't breed by that age and its because she is unable to......she would have gone to the butcher about 3 years ago..........unless she was a rescue........... it will be a very interesting story if you can figure it out. I first though was that she was a pet, but you say she is skiddish so that seems unlikely.

[genebo]

A 6 year old heifer will be difficult to breed. When they go a long time without breeding, it gets hard to get her to settle.

She could be a "free martin". That's a cow that was a twin to a bull calf. They're almost always sterile.

Dexters have a much longer productive life than 6 or 7 years. My Beth is 11 years old and still going strong. I think that Dexters readily go for 18 years or so, and a woman in California says she has a 30 year old cow that gave borth this year.

Look at the Dexter breeder's associations for a list of Dexter breeders in your area. One of them could loan or rent you a bull to do the job.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[Jcran]

She was a pet; the guy said she was still cycling, he thought. We thought that it was worth a try, since she was free. I got the numbers off her ear tags, and thought I'd try to find out where she came from, and possibly if she was a freemartin or not.

[Jcran]

Another question: would it be better to run her with an appropriate bull for a few months and hope she settles, or look for an AI opportunity. I wonder if the presence of a bull would bring her into a stronger cycle than waiting to AI her...I am a true neophyte at all this.

[sugarbush]

Originally Posted by Jcran

Another question: would it be better to run her with an appropriate bull for a few months and hope she settles, or look for an AI opportunity. I wonder if the presence of a bull would bring her into a stronger cycle than waiting to AI her...I am a true neophyte at all this.

At this point running her with a bull would be better....mostly because if you are not experienced in noticing when a cow needs to be bred you will miss the window; A bull will not. I wouldn't even worry about getting her mated by a dexter the first time, a small Jersey or a hereford would be my bull of choice.