Chondrodysplasia Gene Comes From OTHER Breeds

[cascade]

There is a lot of debate about where Dexters got certain genes from.
We don't yet know 100% for certain if the polled gene was a mutation within the breed, or if it came from another breed.

But we do know 100% for certain, that the Chondrodysplasia gene comes from NON-Dexters.
That's right.  Dexters got the Chondrodysplasia gene from other breeds.  Most other breeds including Kerry Cattle eliminated the lethal gene, but some Dexter breeders used it to shorten their cattle.

Also, the color "Black" came from other breeds (likely from the same place that Angus got their 'black' from).
Also, the horn genes themselves come from other breeds.

The good news is that what makes registered Dexters so special, is ongoing selection for their important traits, generation after generation.

1. 100% consistent, compact-framed animals, not too tall.
2. VERY friendly, safe, and easy-to-manage bulls.
3. VERY friendly and easy-to-manage cows that will let you work with their calves.
4. Cows that give birth easily to robust calves in all sorts of weather, with NO assistance (even as heifers)
5. Cows with good udders that can give a reasonable amount of milk, but not so much that they MUST be milked.
6. Maintain their weight easily on good-enough grass (and minerals) alone.
7. Hardy and have a good degree of natural resistance to disease and parasites.
8. LONG LIVES... Dexter Cows should live 20 years, Bulls should live to their teens with no arthritis (unless you eat them first)
9. Generally nice cattle conformation (good feet, strong legs, strong backs, etc.)

Certainly, there will always be people who love horns vs. polled and that's simply a personal choice. If you want to promote horns, then do so. They're very nice to look at and physical dehorning can be very painful for an animal.

Regardless of where their genes come from... Dexters are a TERRIFIC breed and you can't beat their unique personalities.

[lakeportfarms]

Kirk, we're not stupid.  Everybody realizes that Dexters didn't just spring up out of nowhere a couple hundred or so years ago, that they were accumulated from small hardy cattle that were DWARF and HORNED.

From the ADCA: "The native home of the Dexter is in the south and southwestern parts of Ireland where they were kept by small landholders and roamed about the mountainous districts in an almost wild state of nature.

The origin of the Dexter is quite obscure. The common assumption has been that the Dexter breed was derived from the Kerry breed or that it was a cross between the Kerry and some other breed, perhaps the Devon. It has also been claimed that a “Mr. Dexter”, agent to Lord Hawarden, was responsible for developing this Irish breed by selection from the “best of the mountain cattle of the district”.

In January 1887, the “Farmer’s Gazette” of Dublin published the first register of “Pure Kerry Cattle and Dexters” in Ireland. This first Register included 46 Kerry bulls, 100 Kerry cows, and only 10 Dexter cows. It did not include any Dexter bulls. The Royal Dublin Society acquired rights from the publishers of the Farmer’s Gazette for this Register. In 1890, the cattle with the original numbers assigned to them, were thus included in Volume One of the “Kerry and Dexter Herd Book”, as published by the Royal Dublin Society in Ireland. The Royal Dublin Society, Volume One included 118 Kerry bulls, 942 Kerry cows, 26 Dexter bulls and 210 Dexter cows. By January 1912, the Royal Dublin Society had published fourteen volumes with the following number of animal registrations: 678 Kerry bulls, 3,565 Kerry cows, 565 Dexter bulls, and 2,349 Dexter cows.

The English Kerry and Dexter Cattle Society was organized in 1892 in England. Previous to that date, breeders of Kerry and Dexter cattle were obliged to register their cattle in the books of the Royal Dublin Society of Ireland. Volume One of the English Herd Book was published in 1900 and Volume Two was published in 1902. By January 1912, eleven volumes of the English Herd Book had been published and the following number of animals registered: 238 Kerry bulls, 1,334 Kerry cows, 455 Dexter bulls, and 1,820 Dexter cows. In 1924, the English Kerry and Dexter Cattle Society changed its purpose to the exclusive one of promoting Dexter cattle and adopted the title of the “Dexter Cattle Society” in Volume 25 of their Herd Book. Herd Book Volume 27, in 1926, showed that 986 bulls and 3,896 cows had been recorded since the foundation of the English herd book in 1892."

Dexters were selected and formed into a breed as a horned, dwarf breed. From the Mother Earth News article about the Dexter: "Owning a Dexter is like owning a piece of history and doing your part to help preserve genetic diversity. They are one of the world's smallest true breeds of cattle, not a miniature developed from a larger breed.

The introduction of other breeds more recently that were polled, has been an effort to change the foundation phenotype of the Dexter, and your efforts to then "miniaturize" this particular version go against how the breed was originally formed.  

In essence, you're stealing the name and history of the Dexter in order to define your own "new" breed, which is polled and miniaturized.  Instead of cheating why don't you call your "breed" something else, like "Kirk's Small Friendly Red Polled Cattle Without LETHAL GENES"?   I suppose the URL for your website might be a little long, but you could just use an acronym like the other associations.  Just think, you can start your own registry and be KING, and demand that your breed be cleansed of lethal genes.  We know you'd like that rather than always arguing with us and putting up with our defective cattle!  If they did it in the 1800's, you could certainly do it now.

[cascade]

Dec 12, 2014 11:16:50 GMT lakeportfarms said:

Kirk, we're not stupid.  Everybody realizes that Dexters didn't just spring up out of nowhere a couple hundred or so years ago, that they were accumulated from small hardy cattle that were DWARF and HORNED.

They are one of the world's smallest true breeds of cattle, not a miniature developed from a larger breed.

Actually, the originators simply selected the smallest cattle to start dexters without knowing if SOME were lethal dwarfs, since there was no test.
.
Some of those small ones were truly short and were a TRUE BREED that breeds true, and SOME of those small ones were hybrid dwarfs with lethal genes that could NOT breed true.

True breeds MUST BREED TRUE, or they aren't a true breed at all.
True breeds must be able to have offspring just like themselves, or they're just hybrids.

It's true that many were horned, but so very many people cut, gouged, or burned the horns off.  It's a good thing that we have the polled gene today to save them from that brutality.

Long ago, some of the smartest Dexter breeders figured out why many of the small dexters were having 25% dead deformed calves and also figured out that some of the original, truly small dexters could breed true WITHOUT the dead calves.  Those smart Dexter breeders selected the truly short dexters.  These truly short dexters are a true breed that breeds true, with NO Lethal Dwarfism.

Here are some fine examples of true-breeding truly short dexters, that are a true-breed (without the lethal dwarfing gene). 

I love this traditional small, shorter legged, black, horned bull. He breeds true and 100% of his offspring can look just like him.... he's not a hybrid dwarf, he's a truly short dexter with no lethal dwarfism genes.  




Here are some true-short dexters from the Woodmagic Herd in England - traditional, short dexters WITHOUT lethal dwarfism