Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

Im sure that I have asked this question before but failed to write the answer down...
We have one cow we AI every year. We are trying to improve the 'udders' in our herd. Can anyone recommend any of the society AI bulls or any Other AI bulls who are noted for throwing cows with good udders?

As I am new to keeping Dexters I am inerested in knowing what are good udders.
Sorry if this a naieve question.
John

The breed standard says "Udder should be well attached with high and wide rear attachment and a strong median suspensory ligament. The four teats should be of medium size, well placed on the udder, hanging plumb and of equal length. All four quarters should be of equal size."

To be honest I don't know that hard data will be available for any Dexter AI bulls, but this is the sort of information that the incoming linear assessment scheme will make a lot easier. Hopefully as more cows are assessed information on individual traits such as udders, or feet, will become available and it will be possible to collate information for progeny of individual bulls. When many of the older bulls were put on AI little information was available other than visual appearance of the bull and andcdotal evidence as to family members. I hope that linear assessment will enable us to look at much more detail on the strengths and weaknesses of individuals. It is all based on the "ideal" dexter qualities as laid down in the breed standard, so should improve the quality of Dexters without altering the ideals - it should not "change" the breed.
All DCS members should have, or should be about to receive, notice of a meeting to discuss this at Stoneleigh in July. I think it will be well worth attending that meeting - sadly I will not likely be able to go as between that and a council meeting I would be away for 4 nights in a row on Dexter business.

Duncan

debra wiltshire wrote:Im sure that I have asked this question before but failed to write the answer down...
We have one cow we AI every year. We are trying to improve the 'udders' in our herd. Can anyone recommend any of the society AI bulls or any Other AI bulls who are noted for throwing cows with good udders?

Knotting Saturn was advertising as 'Outstanding for Udder, Teat and Feet improvement' if you can still get straws.

Shame Beryl is no longer with us - she would be in her element. She did tell me that this udder/milk thing was strongly inherited through the female line.

I am in agreement with you Duncan. I am very interested in this linear assessment. I think it could be a very handy tool for the new dexter owner when starting up and for the experienced owner trying to improve areas of their herd.

The oldies in my family used to say "The cow's udder comes from the bull's mother", and Beryl used to say "Judge a bull by it's female relatives."

Duncan, what do you think of that wording in the breed ideal? "Hanging plumb" is the shape of commercial dairy cattle bred by selection to best fit milking machines. Most Dexter cows will be bred to be nursing mothers &/or a few house cows. Their teats will be naturally tilted slightly forward so that young baby calves can more easily find and suckle them. What advantage can be achieved by selecting for hanging perfectly plumb, apart from aesthetics, which no newborn calf will appreciate?

Although our Dexters mostly are suckler cows, I really feel we must preserve some dairy characteristics - wh knows what will be required in 50 years time? So I do not have any problem with spec for udders which is a bit dairy biased. I don't think a decent calf will fail to find plumb teats, and suspect that though this may be stated as an ideal in the breed standard, in reality most teats will have a slight outward and forward tilt. What we must reduce is the number with teats sticking out at all angles, and especially the tendency to produce teats like milk bottles (maybe some don't remember glass pint milk bottles!) Oversized teats are much more likely to cause calves problems getting colostrum than neat vertical ones.

Duncan

Oh, I definitely agree the structure, texture, capacity, milkability must be addressed. I wasn't suggesting that the dairy side of dual-purposeness should be neglected, just that from my own observation slightly forward tilted teats are found by new-born calves faster than perpendicular teats, or so it seems. On that basis alone I personally don't think slightly tilted teats should be penalised in linear classification or in the show-ring.