Best way to sell non pedigree Dexters - how best to sell non pedigree dexters

[Dave & sherry]

We are new to this. We have had a small number of dexters for just over a year. 4 heifers, 3 of which now have young calves (1 second calf) and 1 heifer which we believe to be preganant plus a couple of bulls. We are now getting too many for the land we have and want to sell some heifers with calves on, keep 1 bull (16month old) and take the older bull for slaughter(if we can get him into the trailor!).
We have tried advertising in the Farmers guardian and although we had some enquiries no sales resulted. We have been advised against putting them into a general market as commercial farmers and butchers would not want them. We thought the cattle for sale website might answer but they all look like pedigree. Can anyone offer advice please as to how to sell

[Mark Bowles]

What area of the country are you? Unregistered bulls for breeding dont really command a good price, only meat money. Some finishers may be interested.

[welshdexterboy]

All I can suggest is unless you want to give them away you wait for someone from your advert or you slaughter some of the stock yourself and sell the meat privately. I expect you have read some of the other topics on the board and you will have an idea how to do this. I would imagine that most of the people on this site are pedigree and wouldn't be too interested in non. This does not mean that you do not have nice cattle ok. All the best with your sales.

[Broomcroft]

Dave & Sherry - If you go to the website Dexter Beef Online, see if there's any suppliers near you and maybe they want some more dexters for beef. Being near would give them the opportunity to see the stock which would be essential. Probably a long shot but certainly worth a try.

And if you let us know whereabouts you are that may help get some more ideas.



Edited By Broomcroft on 1196360217

[Peter thornton]

Dave/Sherry
Are your animals from registered stock? If you can establish their pedigree then it may be worth ringing the Society office to see if there is any way to register them.
In the past, the Society has taken rather a strict line on late registrations but a lot of this is under discussion.
If you don't know where their parents are, or who they were, then it might be more difficult.
Good luck
Peter

[Louisa Gidney]

Try putting an ad in your local free ads paper, up here it's the yellow one, Ad Trader. I know that unregistered stock sell locally (NE England) through this. Also try finding your local small holders group & joining, or seeing if they have a newsletter with ads. Other options include the website of the Grazing Animals Project, which has a For Sale section aimed at the conservation grazing market.
May be a slight problem with unregistered stock going to some of the DBO suppliers as they need evidence of pedigree provenance to sell it as "Dexter Beef". However, I'm told that someone locally with pigs is shifting them by advertising that he will deliver porkers to abattoir & customer collects the meat.
Wrong time of year, but the regional Rare Breed sales usually have a section for unregistered & cross bred stock. Might be worth planning ahead in future.
Join your local Dexter Group to network & make contacts.
Do advertise on this site, I have sold unreg stock through here in the past.
Just be aware that the price will be much lower than reg stock, whatever avenue you take.
If all else fails, follow how Sylvia gets on putting hers through the mart.
Remember someone will always buy a bargain if they think they can turn a fast buck on it.

[bjreroberts]

You could try some other website forums e.g. Have Your Say on http://www.rivercottage.net.

They have a River Cottage Farmers Market section where you can list either livestock or meat for sale

[Dave & sherry]

Many thanks for all your comments. We will certainly try some of the options you have suggested. As regards location, we are near Coventry. So if anyone nearby is interested, please let us know.