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Post by bffarms1 on Jun 30, 2014 15:58:52 GMT
Good Morning!!! I'm new to this board, and a rookie to Dexters!! We have had our loveable group of Dexters for a little over a year, and our first calves arrived Memorial Day weekend. I have tons of questions!!
While reading through the previous posts I have seen references to Traditional Horned Dexters, and Modern Horned Dexters. Can someone explain to me what each is? I ask because we are looking for a new bull to replace one of our current bulls (we have 2) and I want to make sure that we are getting the right animal to continue on with the line we already have.
Let me give you a little background we purchased our starter herd from Shaun Lord, (when I say we...I mean that my husband and I started this venture with our 2 best friends...hence our farm name Best Friend Farms.) We purchased 11 animals from Shaun 7 Heifers/Cows and 2 bulls. The bulls have the same sire but different dams. (okay I will be honest the one bull was destined for the freezer, but in all honesty he is amazing.) This year's calves all came from Bull #1 as Bull #2 was only 6 months old or so and though not tested I'm sure he's chondro. After watching bull #2 we decided that we will go through testing and registering him to use him this year with part of our "ladies" and bull #1 will have the other half of the "ladies."
Okay, I guess I will stop there since I seem to be hijacking my own thread!!!!  |
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Post by jamshundred on Jun 30, 2014 19:45:57 GMT
Hello,
All of Shaun's herd has been DNA genotyped through Legacy with UC-Davis where the first and original Dexter database was established. If you genotype your offspring through Legacy they will be parentage confirmed and automatically, at NO CHARGE ( for a brief period of time and just minimal after that) be added to the Legacy registry and online pedigree program and you will have extended pedigrees not available anywhere else in the world of Dexters. The difference between traditional horned and modern horned has to do with pedigree. Go to the historical section and read the post on pedigrees and herd books.
Traditional horned are Dexter cattle whose ancestors predate the English upgrading programs began in 1944 and the English Experimental breeding program of the 1960's. The modern horned are animals that worn born after 1944 with ancestors in the English upgrading registry called "appendix" or the "Experimental" breeding program.
Shaun has the largest herd of traditional Dexters in the US. She is a lifesaver for the breed. Do ask your questions. We all learn something in the proces
Judy
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Post by genebo on Jul 13, 2014 2:53:56 GMT
Legacy qualified Dexters have been defined as coming from the horned American Dexter herd as it existed prior to the 1960's. Traditional Dexters are those that come from the horned American Dexter herd that includes the Legacy Qualified Dexters, plus those that would qualify as Legacy were it not for the inclusion of the bull, Parndon Bullfinch, in their pedigree. So all Legacy Dexters are also Traditional Dexters, but not all Traditional Dexters are Legacy qualified.
In the 1990's a polled bull, Saltaire Platinum, was imported to North America. He came from England, where they allow controlled outcrossing with other breeds. Two other red bulls were imported from england at about the same time. All three of the bulls were widely spread throughout the US by AI, creating all of the Modern category of Dexters.
Things are changing at this time. No documented proof could be found to impeach Bullfinch or Cornahir Outlaw as being less than pure, so their categories are being reviewed. I expect that the presence of Bullfinch in the pedigree will no longer disqualify a Dexter from being Legacy qualified. I'm not sure exactly how Outlaw's category will be changed. Wait and see, I guess.
It's easy to tell the category of Dexters that are registered with the Legacy Dexter Cattle Registry (LDCR). The registration number starts with a letter "L" followed by numbers, then two letters that designate the category. LH means Legacy Horned, TH means Traditional Horned, MH means Modern Horned and MP means Modern Polled. Then a dash (-) followed by two numbers and two letters. The numbers are the year of birth. The letters tell whether the sire and dam are horned or polled. 10HH means that the Dexter was born in 2010 from a horned cow and a horned bull.
As you search for different search criteria you will display a list of the Dexters that fit your search. A quick glance down the registration numbers will help you pick out the ones of the category you want.
One of my favorite searches on the Legacy on-line registry is to input the owner's name. When the list is displayed, click on the column labeled Birth Date. If it shows the oldest Dexters first, click on it again and the order will be reversed. Now you can see the first page, containing the youngest Dexters. These are the calves, heifers, young cows, that I may be shopping for. A glance at the registration numbers will help me eliminate the categories I'm not interested in. Then I can click on one of the links to get the Info or Pedigree.
If you do that with my name (Gene Bowen), you will find that I have 4 TH calves born in 2014 that may be for sale or coming up for sale soon. Then if you click on the "I" link you will get the Info on each of them, where you can find out their test results. Lots of info in there.
It's fun, try it.
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Post by Donlin Dexters on Jul 13, 2014 22:48:07 GMT
Hi bffarms1 I could have been mis reading the-between-the-lines about the brother was meant for the freezer but you have decided that wont be his fate but I will put my two cents worth in anyways... We also have two half brothers but different sires, and we also have a son of the eldest. These three boys will be our 'herd sires' for many years to come. The two boys dam is one of our 'template' girls and she is expecting a son/mother calf in about 8 weeks: which we have already included into our breeding program assuming her third calf to be another son and if HE is all we are expecting in conformation etc. Of course if its a heifer - then she will also be in the breeding program but we will have to re-jig it a little |
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Post by bffarms1 on Jul 15, 2014 14:02:03 GMT
Thanks, Gene!!! I appreciate the walk thru, I sat down with my hubby last night and we practiced. Our main concern in bringing in a new bull is making sure we preserve the traditional line that we have. On a side note I wanted to say that I had the pleasure of meeting Braden while he was at Shaun's, my kids were out of town and we went to pick up the last of our starter herd so we took the neighbor boys with us boy oh boy did they love him!! He was truly a looker, and such a gentleman!!!
Donlin, how I wish my half brothers have different sires, there would be no question then however they have the same sire, and like you I also have the mothers to both bulls. Our first round of calves from Tomas aka Thor went well, I still have one cow to deliver but overall I am pleased. We had mostly heifers our first year with 2 boys. One boy I am really impressed with, the other is coming along nicely. Ironically enough both our boys were born on the same day 12 hours apart by our only 2 dun heifers. It has actually been a great learning experience watching them grow together and also noting the differences between the two.
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Post by Donlin Dexters on Jul 15, 2014 21:44:34 GMT
Yes I do suppose it all comes down to how you have structured your breeding program.But if you like them both then I wouldnt be so quick to 'remove' one from your breeding program just because they are half brothers. For our two boys, we did secretly wish that they had the same sire, it certainly would have saved alot of whiteboard pens even though we are very impressed with both boys sires - one we have nicknamed 'drool-material' and the other boy's sire is still quite impressive as he heads into older age. That sire is also sprinkled throughout our foundation girls pedigrees. But we looked at the positives and will interweave the outcrossed bloodline of Mr Drool-materail throughout the years while we concentrate on the two maternal lines - our two template girls. You could also concentrate on the maternal lines if your boys dams are something special? Just throwing a different prospective on it all I love the idea behind your name, very creative in the name and someone should design 'Dexter-size' ear tags for our little ones - they look so funny on ones so small *L* |
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