Reading Matter - Which books would you not do without?

[Tim Watson]

I am sure that you all have a number of Dexter or cattle related books on your shelves gathered over the years. Being new to this I only have one which is An Introduction to Keeping Cattle by Peter King which I have found very informative and is about to get read a second time.

Which books do you find yourself referring to most and why? (A sneeky way of trying to build a library of quality books!!)

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Here is a list, by no means exhaustive and in no particular order

1. "The Dexter Cow" by Dr W R Thrower, published by Faber & Faber,

now out of print but occasionally available second hand, includes stuff on small scale cattle keeping as well as Dexter specifics. Not very helpful on issues like bulldogs etc.

2. "The Life and Times of Dexters" by Ted Neal, published by Carlton Barclay Group, 1992

This was produced by Ted for the DCS centenary year, and has a wealth of info on Dexters past and present, well illustrated.

3. "Kerry and Dexter Cattle" by P L Curran, published by Royal Dublin Society, 1990

A rather academic book which was produced before the bulldog gene was identified and whilst very interesting not as practical as it might be for the new breeder of the 21st century.

4. "Dexter Cattle, a Breeders Notebook" by Gabriella Nanci and Stephani Millman, published by AuthorHouse, in USA, 2009

A very useful little book styled as Vol I so there may be more to come. Can be got on Amazon. Up to date info on such things as bulldog genes and PHA. But remember it is American so info on such things as castration does not comply with UK law.

5. "My Love Affair With The Dexter" by Berly Rutherford, first published by Triple D Books in Australia in 2005, recently reprinted and available from myself, £14 including p & p to UK addresses.

Provides an in depth insight into the development of the Woodmagic herd as a population of Dexters free of the bulldog gene long before these things were widely accepted and DNA tests were available. It includes a huge amount of other wisdom as well and every Dexter owner should have one.

This is just a short list of Dexter orientated books, there are any number of books on general small scale farming which would be useful to a beginner, and many older books on cattle breeds contain small bits of info on Dexters.

Duncan

[jem]

If you are keeping Dexters for beef, the best book I bought, as an absolute beginner to cattle, was Suckled Calf Production (second edition) by Richard Fuller.

The chapters are:
1. Principles of production
2. Systems of production
3. Management of the Suckler Cow
4. Culling Strategy and Herd Replacements
5. The Herd Sire
6. Management of the suckled Calf
7. Grassland Management and Forage Conservation
8. Recording Herd Performance
9. The Suckler herd at Givendale Farm.

As somebody with no farming background whatsoever, this seemed to cover every aspect of what I was trying to do with my one Dexter cow, and was as relevant for the small owner as large herd owners.

[Broomcroft]

Another real great one if you're doing beef is "Grass-Fed Cattle" by Julius Ruechel. It covers every aspect of raising and care, including herd selection, breeding, yearly cycles, cultivating and maintaining healthy soil and grass, fencing and pasture rotation, winter grazing, pests and diseases, and necessary equipment. A lot of what you will read in this book about how to breed cattle to live of grass alone is very relevant to dexters. It's written relating to Argentinian farming I think, but it is still relevant and largely applicable in the UK. Especially as they go for "small" cattle to make it all work and they explain why.

Amazon.co.uk - "Grass-Fed Cattle" by Julius Ruechel

[Louisa Gidney]

I still find the TV vet books by Eddie Straiton invaluable.

[Saffy]

I bought the TV Vet Books back when I was still in school - as a teenage girl I was fairly horrified by the calving pics - no not the blood and gore I was brought up here on a dairy farm - the man seems obsessed with taking his shirt off! ???

I still wish he had kept his shirt on but the books do have their uses, especially the sheep book for me back then, as we didn't have sheep until I was in my teens, so I needed to learn about thier diseases and I used it a good bit for a while.

Stephanie

[jeanthomas]

I loved the sheep vet book, every conclusion was the animal would probably die, enough to put you off keeping sheep, well, except me :p

Jean