Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

I've heard that in order to revive the Dexter breed that other breeds were used. We had a Dexter bull that we sold earlier in the year (Ashdown Graham), the bull was registered pedigree however he had a slightly white tail, was polled and looked very like our Red Polls. Is it likely that he had some...

I've dealt with a fair amount of Saler, however not pedigree so a bit hard to know. We have had very few calving difficulties from Saler bulls onto Dexter cows however it could be down to that bull rather than a rule. My current strategy is to try a small number of mature cows on a new breed of bull...

The Belted Galloway sounds like an excellent choice, I was looking at it as an option, I would be interested to know how fast they are maturing to finishing, our Highlands are so slow but with the Dexter crossed I can knock off 8-10 months! Is there any difference between the Belted Galloway and Gal...

I've not got any figures for the growth rate of the Whitebreds, however I feel it is reasonable considering I'm on poorer ground, and much better back end than the dexters. I don't think it will compare to the "improved" breeds, however we seem to struggle with getting high energy required...

Hi Ann, I have thought the Welsh black would be a nice cross but not too many up here. I will be keeping the Whitebred Shorthorn for one group of 30-40 cows/heifers, however I think I will need one more as my preference would be to have around 30 cows per bull to get a tighter spring calving. I've g...

Anyone got any good tips to help get through the winter? My best change for this winter is for feeding round bale silage. In order to take the wrap of we used to put the bale down on the ground and cut around the ends and a single cut along the top then lift the bale and remove the wrap, the wrap th...

Just before Christmas I sold a Dex x North Devon steer 6 months old minimal barley creep for last 2 months £485-00. 2no Dex x North Devon heifers again 6 months £380 each. These are excellent prices and shows what a Dexter is capable of, perhaps farming without subsidy is possible! Add to this that...

Rob, I've read the article, very interesting and I like what he is doing, however as he indicates it is very tight, however I do believe it is a correct aspiration, even if not fully achievable for most. As everyone who isn't getting single farm payment is indicating. If I was changing strategy I wo...

Some people are running sucessful businesses without any subsidies Who are those people? think it is largely responsible for the increasing average age of farmers in the UK today I think it is due to the Single Farm Pension that the average age of farmers are increasing, sadly unless you have bette...

Although I would like to get enough from selling produce and would ultimately like it to be removed, sadly farmers after the war had the choice and voted to keep the subsidy based system and we are left where we are. If you want to now make a living off the land it is essential to work within the sy...

First of all, Happy new year! With a new year coming in and with most of the details released for the CAP reforms I'm assessing what is the best strategy. I know that it has been applied slightly differently in Scotland to England and Wales, however I am interested to know if anyone is altering beca...

Thanks for that Rob, I think I might give them a try once I'm through my current pallet. The price sounds good compared to the Crystalyx Organic range! The current pallet I have a Dallas Keith and are a similar price to the Seaquim, however they come as 20kg blocks, easy to put out put I end up find...

How to people find the Seaquim compared to other licks? They seem to be a reasonable price and organic so might give them a go.

Just thinking about bulls for next year... Is anyone producing any interesting crosses. Any successes or failures and why they work or don't work?

We had one PI cow that we had purchased,it was through a cattle dealer and it would have been clear to the person selling the animal that it was either barren or had something wrong with it as it had never calved and should have been sold fat. We got the knacker man to destroy the animal and take it...