An alarming fact

[yellowhouse]

It is troubling to me that all polled Dexters in the U.S. herd trace back to one bull. I recently looked at registrations in ADCA and realized that of the 30,000 plus registrations since 1920 nearly 1/3 of that total since 2004 trace back to Saltaire Platinum. All polled Dexters trace back to him and a large number of horned dexters(since 2004) carry at least one line tracing back to him. The gene pool of the American herd appears to be getting quite shallow. I am posting a link to a story about a bull that had a major impact on the Holstein breed worldwide because he was used so heavily via A.I. Who knows what genes Platinum brought to the U.S. herd. The more inbred our herd becomes to him, who knows what will surface.

www.ucdavis.edu/news/how-genetic-mutation-1-bull-caused-loss-half-million-calves-worldwide/

Another article on the impact of “Chief” on the Holstein breed.

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/10/the-dairy-industry-lost-420-million-from-a-flaw-in-a-single-bull/505616/

[cascade]

That 1960's lethal-gene carrying Holstein bull named "Chief" had about 20,000 offspring. Meawhile, the superb Dexter bull Saltaire Platinum only had about 60 calves. Saltaire Platinum is NOT an overused bull. He's highly UNDER-used.

The 1960's Holstein bull had a lethal gene, just like chondrodysplasia is a lethal gene in Dexters. Problem lethal genes are very easy to find. You simply breed a bull on his close female relatives, especially his own daughters. That forces hidden problem genes like chondrodysplasia to pair up and exhibit themselves so they can be culled.

Holstein breeders are incredibly reluctant to utilize inbreeding, and that reluctance allowed the 1960's Holstein bull to spread his chondrodysplasia-like lethal gene far and wide for many decades, going unnoticed until eventually even seemingly unrelated Holsteins, were infected with his lethal gene.

In the case of Saltaire Platinum, he and his offspring tested free of problem genes. They were used heavily in breeding programs with lots of inbreeding and they were proven free of problem genes very early on. In my own case, I breed my bulls on lots of their own daughters to prove they have no problem genes.

Another imported Dexter bull, Parndon Bullfinch and his sire Parndon Charlie Pudding, imported to the US in the 1960's were a REAL problem. They are on more than 95% today's Dexter pedigrees and they DO have problem lethal genes. They also have big giant holes in their pedigrees.

The Alarming Fact is that 1960's Dexter import Parndon Bullfinch spread his problem lethal genes far and wide and he's on far more pedigrees than Platinum.

[yellowhouse]

Platinum being a “superb” bull is a matter of your opinion. I challenge you to spend the weeks I did going through the ADCA pedigrees for horned registered Dexters and count the number of animals that have at least one line tracing back to platinum since platinum was approved by ADCA. Then add in all the polled Dexters who are definitely descendants of Platinum. It was years before anyone figured out the lethal gene Chief carried and how it affected the Holstein breed. My point is Platinum and his offspring have heavily influenced the small Dexter breed. He is a crossbred bull and nobody knows whether or not there are problems lurking in his genes. I don’t think anyone has spent the time or money to map out his entire genome. The more the Dexter breed is inbred to Platinum, the greater the chance of any underlying problems arising. Not to mention, the diversity of the breed gene pool is being weakened. I included a link to Chief to emphasize what can happen when a gene pool loses diversity. 14% of all Holsteins alive today worldwide carry the genetics of a bull born in 1962. Compare numbers of registrations to platinum and his descendants to those of bullfinch. I’m going to stick my neck out and say platinum far outnumbers bullfinch.

[cddexter]

Yellowhouse, in 1990, there were only about 12 Dexters in the US that did not have Bullfinch in their pedigree. With few owners, and most of the big herds using sons and grandsons, from whom the rank and file breeder bought, the explanation is fairly easy to see.  cheers, c.

[yellowhouse]

According to ADCA website pedigree search, there have been 31,901 dexters registered as horned. There have been 10,613 dexters registered as polled. Platinum is the only source(approved)of the polled gene in the U.S. herd. I believe (could be wrong) platinum offspring were approved for registration in 1994. When you start adding the dexters registered as horned since 1994 that carry at least one line that traces back to Platinum you begin to see the impact this bull is having on the breed. At least one third of total dexter registrations carry platinum genetics. When you add horned dexters carrying platinum that number increases. It would be interesting to see how many dexters alive today carry his genetics. I bet the number would be sobering. I stumbled across this because I was looking for horned bloodlines that were not mixed with polled. From what I read, it is accepted by most Platinum’s heritage is questionable. My point is he is having a major impact on the breed and because of his questionable heritage who knows what negatives he is bringing to the table. Time will tell as the dexter breed becomes more inbred to him. In the case of Chief, his popularity was superior milk production. In the case of platinum, it is the polled gene. Realistically, the Dexter gene pool today is losing diversity at an alarming rate.

[Deleted]

Sept 13, 2019 1:09:45 GMT cddexter said:

Yellowhouse, in 1990, there were only about 12 Dexters in the US that did not have Bullfinch in their pedigree. With few owners, and most of the big herds using sons and grandsons, from whom the rank and file breeder bought, the explanation is fairly easy to see.  cheers, c

that is not true p bar herd alone had way more than 12

[yellowhouse]

In light of the ongoing platinum influence, I would also encourage any breeders having horned bulls that are exemplary examples of the breed with pedigrees free of platinum, to have those bulls collected. If the trend of inbreeding to platinum continues and the diversity of the gene pool continues to weaken, those bulls will become very important in bringing back genetic diversity to the breed. Frozen embryos are another route to be considered although frozen semen can be more prolific and cost effective. Case in point, the Holstein breed in general is experiencing weakened immune systems, feet and leg problems etc because of inbreeding. Penn State has embarked on a program where they are producing Holstein calves sired by Holstein bulls from the early 60’s through the use of frozen semen and embryo transfer. Their goal is to bring back genetic diversity to the Holstein breed in an attempt to correct the problems the breed is experiencing.

[Deleted]

we do have an AI list for Traditional and Legacy only. www.legacybreeders.org/ai.html

I had my first invitro calf born this spring. I have one pregnant now with one and have 2 other embryos on ice that I am waiting for the recipient cows to be ready.   

[cascade]

Yellowhouse,

Parndon Charlie Pudding's genetics were imported to the US in the 1960's via the embryo of his son, Parndon Bullfinch. They are now on far more Dexter pedigrees than Platinum is. Their pedigree is far less pure than Saltaire Platinum's Pedigree.

Charlie pudding's pedigree is full of holes.
Bullfinch has a lethal gene
They are on 95%+ of today's US Dexter pedigrees.

Here are the holes in Parndon Charlie Pudding's pedigree



Here is Saltaire Platinum's purebred pedigree, tested free of problem genes.


Xxx

[yellowhouse]

A pedigree is not the same as mapping a complete genome. It is apparently well accepted platinum has other breeds in his background. We will find out if there are any lethal or negative gene traits from platinum if the dexter breed continues its trend of inbreeding to this one bull to acquire the polled gene. If it turns out there are no lethal or negative gene traits, at the very least the genetic diversity of the breed will continue to be compromised. Look at platinum free horned bull registrations in the last 10 years. They are decreasing at an alarming rate. Same holds true for horned cows. Every polled animal in every pedigree(horned or polled)traces back to one bull....Platinum.

[yellowhouse]

I’m new and not familiar with Parndon Bullfinch’s lethal gene contribution. What is it and what is the general consensus of where it came
from?

[Deleted]

He is talking about bullfinch being a dwarf. He just think it sounds scary to say lethal gene.

Correction Kirk Bullfinch only has one "whole" in the pedigree and that is from war years when it just did not get entered. It is most likely A full Dexter We just dont know who because it was never entered. 

[cascade]

1. There are NO records of any other breeds in Saltaire Platinum's background.

2. A key source of the poll gene is from Saltaire Platinum's grandmother, Godstone Esmeralda. Her pedigree is very very pure and she traces back to early poll Dexters in 1894.

3. Many Saltaire Platinum descendants have been very heavily linebred with each other for 25 years. He is well-proven to not have any problem genes.

4. There are other modern imported Dexters that appear very often on US pedigrees, for example Woodmagic Beaver 2nd was imported in about 1979-80 and he's on zillions of pedigrees. Also, the parents of Peerless Winston were imported in about 1960. They are on zillions of pedigrees.

Yellowhouse, All your arguments against Saltaire Platinum have fallen completely flat.

[yellowhouse]

I just received my new issue of the ADCA Dexter Bulletin. Thumbing though the magaazine I realized the only photo of a horned dexter in the whole magazine was in an article explaining the difference between horned and scurred animals. The majority of other pics were of red polled dexters. Am I the only one seeing the long term impact of this trend on the breed?

[yellowhouse]

Kirk, those are your claims not supported by fact. I supported my claim with numbers from registrations. The only source of the polled gene in Saltaire platinum and he is taking over the breed.

[cascade]

These modern imported Dexters are on far more American Dexter pedigrees than Saltaire Platinum is. Why aren't you worried about them taking over?


Parndon Charlie Pudding
Parndon Bullfinch (with a lethal gene)
Woodmagic Beaver 2nd
Peerless Winston's parents


Saltaire Platinum is NOT the only source of polled. There were other polled Dexters in America before Saltaire Platinum semen was imported.

Allie's Fling of Grandview descends from 1894 Irish foundation Dexter "Harley Poll"

www.dextercattle.org/pedigreedb/pedigree.cgi?horse=6202&HorseName=Allie%27s%20Fling&Page=1&Sort=0

[jamshundred]

Kirk,

Any respect I have had for you is gone.  Theories and ideas and research speculation is how we came to have electricity and automobiles and medical advances but researchers who knowingly lie or misrepresent efforts and data are the worse sort.

You very well know Saltaire Platinum's pedigree is incorrect.  Carol Davidson investigated this when I discovered one error, and confirmed the original registration was correct.   Homer Rixey Piella was registered twice.  The original registration was an appendix entry A138.  Later when the animal was sold the new owner registered re-registered this cow with a different sire.   The record on file with DCS shows the error, both owners involved have validated the error, DCS has validated the error at an annual meeting, passed the problem to a genetics committee to figure out how to resolve and correct the error. . .. and today. .  it lanquishes as uncorrected online.   

Has this just become a "game" for you?  

[cddexter]

Hi Judy, you are right. Hindsight is often more accurate, isn't it. At the time Platinum was selected, his pedigree looked better than great.  Later research indicated the double registration but by that time, Platinum was here.  You could say the same about Bullfinch--BUT DO NOT--whose owner was publically known to cheat on the paperwork, Charley Pudding is a classic example.  A lot of the issues over Platinum and his mutation acceptance are caused by one person:  you.  Screaming, vitriolic, hysterical posts with ##$%^@$$%%^(*&^&%$#@@ warnings in CAPITAL letters, didn't do much for neutral acceptance.  You continue to require thousands of registrations before a mutation, and continue to ignore Valentine who was scientifically proven to be a mutation right here.  Fred was right:  not having to dehorn has turned out to be a popular choice.  Others have used Platinum because of his other qualities including excellent conformation and yield traits--all found in real Dexters (or maybe not since they are English and thus subject to upgrades which makes them not pure anymore).  I just wish you'd use the same magnifying glass on Fermoy.  How about keeping the discussion on the animals and evidence rather than deflecting the topic to personal insults?

Cheers, c.

[cascade]

A study was done showing that all pedigrees have some errors. You can't completely trust old pedigrees.

Staring at old pedigrees is historically interesting, but is useless in preserving a breed.

If you want to preserve Dexters as a heritage breed, then do what I do as a professional heritage breed preservationist:

1. Study the original breed description.
2. Establish an environment similar heritage environments.
3. Raise animals in a heritage manner.
4. Select animals that fit the original breed description and that thrive in a heritage environment.

I follow the 1890 Irish Dexter Breed standard and I raise Dexters in an old heritage environment.

I'm happy to share my professional expertise.

[Deleted]

Kirk, you make this argument and yet you do not follow your own argument.
How many black, horned chondro positive animals that look like the original Dexter do you have. I already no the answer to that not one. 

[cascade]

Dexterfarm,

I closely follow the original 1890 Irish Dexter breed standard which says nothing about horns, and nothing about chondrodysplasia. It describes a red or black breed of 100% true-short cattle, horns optional.

[yellowhouse]

I’ve been busy and not able to participate in this discussion for a while. Kirk, I would point out the abscence if a stipulation regarding horns does not indicate horns were “optional” as you freely and incorrectly say as if it were fact. Again I ask where are the photos and write ups of these unusual polled dexters from that time period?

[yellowhouse]

In my spare time, I did some number crunching and would like to share what I found. Saltaire Platinum is the only source of the polled gene in the U.S. Dexter herd. I have made some comments about platinum taking over the breed and heavily affecting the diversity of the Dexter gene pool. Here is what I found looking at just ADCA bull registrations. The numbers do not include dexter bulls registered with PDCA. All horned bull registrations with ADCA total 7,365. I specifically looked at horned bull registrations from 2014 through 2018. That total was only 713 for all five years, a strong indicator of the rapid decline in horned bull registrations. Here is where it gets interesting. Of the 713 bulls, 480 of them had at least one line of their pedigree that traced to platinum within five generations. Therefore 67.4% of all bulls registered as horned from 2014-2018 carry platinum blood. Only 32.6% of bulls registered during those five years were platinum free. Now let’s look at polled bulls registered in ADCA. There are a total of 3094 bulls registered as polled since platinum was approved. During the time period of 2014-2018, 1611 polled bulls have been registered(over twice the number of horned bull registrations for the same time period). In other words 52% of all polled bull registrations in ADCA have taken place in the five years from 2014-2018( a strong indicator of an increasing trend towards polled dexters). Now add in the number of horned bulls carrying platinum blood and you come up with 2091 bulls carrying platinum blood registered during the time period 2014-2018. Take some time and contemplate the number of offspring these 2091 bulls can produce and the effect it will have on the dexter gene pool as more breeders seek the polled gene and cross breed polled with horned pedigrees. I’ll let everyone cogitate on these numbers for a while, then feel free to comment on the dwindling genetic diversity of the Dexter breed. Saltaire Platinum is not a pure Dexter. It’s not a given that platinum carries undesirable genes, but nobody has mapped Platinum’s genome therefore nobody knows if any undesirable genes will show up. However, as the breed continues to become more inbred to platinum to acquire the polled gene, we will certainly find out. If this trend of inbreeding to platinum continues, I predict in ten years one will be hard pressed to find a diverse pure horned Dexter pedigree. I find it amazing the impact one man and one bull has had on changing forever an old heritage breed.

[jamshundred]

Yellowhouse,

It is actually worse in many ways than just the statistics.

Dexter cattle are a horned, dwarf breed, a historical minor breed.   At the time the first upgraded bull from England was imported to Canada, ( with semen and offspring to the US), and then the polled GRADE semen 7 years later. . . . . .  .THERE WAS NO UPGRADING permitted in America.    No appendix registry, not outcrossing, not grade to purebred program.    None.  Nada.    America breeders were forced to compete with those who were using upgraded genetics in their herds when they could not develop the same traits on their own farms.   This situation exists today.  The association claimed they could not deny herd book entry to these upgraded animals because there is was NO rule against it.  There still isn't.  ( It will be interesting to watch how they will deny the entry of graded-up White Dexters when the program to purebred is identical to that of the appendix registry in England - as the breed may face another calamity from dreadful leadership).

At the time Saltaire Platinum was entered in the herdbook his sequenced registration number was . . . . 6504.    Think of that.  In nearly a century of Dexter cattle in America only 6503 Dexters had been registered.   Considering probably 40 per cent of that number were likely bulls with usually short lifelines. . .. .  .how many cattle of breeding age were active in the US herd?  The level of disregard for this rare little breed of cattle and the owners who preserved them through a century, is appalling, but the  lack of leadership has not descriptor it was so dreadful.
Here is the last compilation of ADCA stats I did last year.    The individual workpages are available as well showing each individual registration, category, and color


.

[yellowhouse]

Jamshundred, I can see your point. No regulation or oversight to monitor the use and impact the “upgraded” bulls would have on the breed. I specifically looked at bulls because of how prolific they can be. A cow can have one calf a year(excluding those in embryo transfer). A bull can sire hundreds of offspring a year via natural service and A.I. Let’s say those 2091 bulls sire just five offspring each. That adds 10,455 Dexters carrying platinum blood to the gene pool.

[cddexter]

thx for the hard work.

Everything I have is still packed. Maybe you could check out Parndon Bullfinch's % influence on the national herd back in 1985, when we got the first of the recent imports.  c.

[lakeportfarms]

Sept 19, 2019 23:50:05 GMT yellowhouse said:

In my spare time, I did some number crunching and would like to share what I found. Saltaire Platinum is the only source of the polled gene in the U.S. Dexter herd. I have made some comments about platinum taking over the breed and heavily affecting the diversity of the Dexter gene pool. Here is what I found looking at just ADCA bull registrations. The numbers do not include dexter bulls registered with PDCA. All horned bull registrations with ADCA total 7,365. I specifically looked at horned bull registrations from 2014 through 2018. That total was only 713 for all five years, a strong indicator of the rapid decline in horned bull registrations. Here is where it gets interesting. Of the 713 bulls, 480 of them had at least one line of their pedigree that traced to platinum within five generations. Therefore 67.4% of all bulls registered as horned from 2014-2018 carry platinum blood. Only 32.6% of bulls registered during those five years were platinum free. Now let’s look at polled bulls registered in ADCA. There are a total of 3094 bulls registered as polled since platinum was approved. During the time period of 2014-2018, 1611 polled bulls have been registered(over twice the number of horned bull registrations for the same time period). In other words 52% of all polled bull registrations in ADCA have taken place in the five years from 2014-2018( a strong indicator of an increasing trend towards polled dexters). Now add in the number of horned bulls carrying platinum blood and you come up with 2091 bulls carrying platinum blood registered during the time period 2014-2018. Take some time and contemplate the number of offspring these 2091 bulls can produce and the effect it will have on the dexter gene pool as more breeders seek the polled gene and cross breed polled with horned pedigrees. I’ll let everyone cogitate on these numbers for a while, then feel free to comment on the dwindling genetic diversity of the Dexter breed. Saltaire Platinum is not a pure Dexter. It’s not a given that platinum carries undesirable genes, but nobody has mapped Platinum’s genome therefore nobody knows if any undesirable genes will show up. However, as the breed continues to become more inbred to platinum to acquire the polled gene, we will certainly find out. If this trend of inbreeding to platinum continues, I predict in ten years one will be hard pressed to find a diverse pure horned Dexter pedigree. I find it amazing the impact one man and one bull has had on changing forever an old heritage breed.

Yellowhouse the influence is probably not as great as you think.  At some point in time, especially when polled started to become the must have, there was no requirement for parent verification.  It's more than a little likely that a lot of polled non Dexters entered the registry.  Nobody said anything then, but in more recent times you'll see how some prominent polled breeders state how they have raised "Lowline Angus" in the past, among other breeds.  So, genetic diversity is alive and well.  No need to worry.

[yellowhouse]

I suspect that could be true. It would have been easy before genetic testing. Since platinum is regarded as a crossbred bull, those offspring could have been registered as his and nobody would the wiser. What this possibility does is raise the question of what genes have been added to the Dexter gene pool via offspring of other breed polled bulls registered as platinum offspring.
The fact still remains the breed is trending towards polled and the records show platinum as the only source of the polled gene. Whatever shows up, Platinum will take the credit.....or the blame.

[cascade]

The original founding registry for Irish Dexters in 1890, The Royal Dublin Society, made no mention of horns for Irish Dexters in the breed description nor in the registration rules.  This allowed poll animals to be registered.  Godstone Esmeralda and her grandson, Saltaire Platinum are heavily linebred back to Harley Poll in 1894.



The English established their own version of ENGLISH Dexters and ADDED horns to their English Dexter description in 1900,  but they still allowed poll Dexters to be registered and shown and they could win shows.

Here is a scur-polled 1912 Dexter, Spalpeen, that is on Godstone Esmeralda and Saltaire Platinum's pedigree.



Godstone Esmeralda has a VERY pure pedigree, with no records of horns, nor photos of horns going back to Spalpeen.

Harley Poll and Spalpeen are the great, great, great, great grandparents of today's poll Dexters.

[cascade]

Saltaire Platinum is known as a purebred Dexter. Two DNA tests show that he is purebred Dexter with no traces of any other breeds. The DCS (UK Dexter Cattle Society) lists him as a purebred Dexter. There are no records of any other breeds in his background. He traces back to the earliest foundation poll Dexters in 1894.

Like most all Dexters, he may have some old holes in his distant pedigree, but the evidence shows that those holes were likely just unregistered Dexters... there is no record of any other breeds.

Saltaire Platinum and his offspring were used heavily in linebreeding in the early years, in order to capitalize on the poll gene. That quickly proved that he has excellent, problem-free genes. Problem genes can't hide in heavy linebreeding.