more dexter milking line questions

[darbyfamily]

Would ya'll mind looking at a couple of pedigrees and telling me which one is the 'best' choice for breeding?

There are three bulls near us, in the event that I have to go with the 'find a bull' as opposed to the AI thing...

here is the first... ADCA Reg. No: 13820

the second..... 019449 actually this guy has four bulls (one of them heavy with Ocallon and peerless)

and the third.... 15954

which one is the best choice for a milking bloodline

and are there any DUN bulls that are good milking line? I love dun cows... I love my two black girls, but I would have been even more happy to find a dun cow.

[Timberline]

That's a tough call. I've seen many cows from the lines more known for milking that are not good producers and have seen outstanding cows from lines that aren't known for milking. The more female relatives (or pics) of the bulls you can see, the better. A heifer's udder generally (but not always) resembles her paternal granddam's udder.

Also, the first bull you mentioned is horned while the other two are polled. So, you will have to decide if you want horned or polled calves. If it were my choice, going by the pedigrees only, I would most likey choose 15954, as he has quite a bit of Woodmagic in his line.
These bulls could carry dun, do you know if they have been tested?

Probably the most well known milking lines are Cornahir Outlaw:
http://www.dextercattle.org/pedigree...&Page=1&Sort=0

And Lucifer of Knotting:
http://www.dextercattle.org/pedigree...&Page=1&Sort=0

If you look at this page of my website http://www.lazyj5dexters.com/Milk.html
you will see 3 of the Dexters I've milked over the years. The first one is Crystal Star's Eileen.
http://www.dextercattle.org/pedigree...&Page=1&Sort=0
I called her my little black Jersey and that was just how she looked. She had a beautiful udder and teats and was easy to milk.

Second is Elkhorn Sweetie. http://www.dextercattle.org/pedigree...&Page=1&Sort=0
Sweetie is now owned by my friend who has been milking her for a few years now.

Third is Shome Shena. http://www.dextercattle.org/pedigree...&Page=1&Sort=0
Not the largest udder, but very well balanced and nice teat placement, and good suspension.

Hopefully, this will give you some idea of the different lines. But, as I have found over the years, it's kind of a crap shoot, and you never know just what you'll get.

[darbyfamily]

THANK YOU so much for taking the time to type that all out!

Im really reading a lot and trying to learn all I can. My husband says Im getting my cart before my cows..rofl but I want to know what Im doing and I want to have somewhat of a plan going into it

[darbyfamily]

dont suppose there is any way to get semen from Shalimars Houdini?

[Timberline]

Houdini! His dam was Eileen (as you know). I sold him to a man here in Colorado. I know he had him a couple years ago. He bought another bull (Sha Black Bullet) from me and I got to see Houdini after many years. He had the biggest horns I've ever seen on a Dexter! I will contact him and see if he still has the bull. I don't know if he will be interested in collecting him or not, but you never know.

I had Sha Black Bullet collected. Dan Butterfield will have straws available. Bullet is very docile, and his calves are the same way. The were the easiest to train, just amazing dispositions. Here's a daughter of Bullet that we really like, Lazy J5 Antero. She is expecting her 2nd calf soon, so I will post udder pics when she freshens. This is her on her first lactation, she will produce more this year with her second lactation.


This is a bull calf of Bullet's at 5 months of age, Lazy J5 Tincup. Bullet puts very nice carcass qualities on his bull calves. Bullet carries dun, the calf's dam was black.


And here's Bullet with Lazy EA Aspen, Antero's dam. Bullet brought the size down as Antero is 41" at 3 years and her dam was several inches taller, Bullet is about 48".

Bullet with Shome Peppy in the background.

[darbyfamily]

ahhh.. .so AI wise, Bullet looks like a great choice too, huh?

i need to call the guy at the steel place I was at the other day and ask if he does AI. I found one guy but he's moving to NE soon.. and he recommended a vet and an AI company he knows of that has a rep in the area too.... but if this other guy can do it for a '4-h'er' at a better price, then that'd work well too. he was very nice, and is trying to buy his wife a Panda cow from that guy up in WA who has them.

anyway, maybe this fella will have a tank and such as he does raise cattle already.... if he does his own AI.

The fact that Black Bullet has very calm and docile calves is a real plus to us, as our kids would love to show the animals as they can at the fair

[Timberline]

There are a lot of good choices out there for AI. Trying to decide which bull will improve your herd where needed without losing the good qualities your cows already have is the hard part. There is Woodmagic semen available in the US (unless sold out) for Woodmagic Hedgehog 3rd. Should be excellent for improving milking ability.
See him here:
http://www.dextercattle.org/AI%20Bulls.htm