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Post by cascade on Mar 14, 2015 0:22:39 GMT
While ALL dexters have non-dexters in their distant backgrounds, Did you know that Australia has a lot of purebred 'full-blood' dexters with no upgrades on record?
49 of the first 50 registered purebred Dexter females in Australia were imported from US and Canada. They were not recent up-grades. 13 of the next 50 were also imported from US and Canada, they were not upgrades. 20 in the second 100 were also imported from US and Canada.
Those 62 imported cows in the first 100 had 360 registered female progeny and 241 registered male progeny. The second generation of full-bloods were flushed for embryos just as severely as the imported generation.
Yes, there are upgrade herds in Australia , but many of those early upgrade breeders dropped out of the scene.
Many of today's Australia herds have a minority of animals with upgrading in their backgrounds, and the majority are 'Full-bloods'
By any definition of 'Full-bloods' Australia has LOTS of FULL-BLOOD Dexters.
PS. But remember, that even the most "legacy" of "full-bloods" in America or Australia or elsewhere has tons of non-dexters in their more distant backgrounds. What really makes dexters "Dexters" is continued selection for excellent Dexter traits against a breed description. Well-selected upgraded dexters can be just as "pure", or even "purer" than many "full-blood" Dexters.
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Post by jamshundred on Mar 14, 2015 2:42:19 GMT
Kirk,
Do the FULLBLOODS that actually began the Australian Dexter herd not count? I realize the same thing happened to them as happened to the US FULLBLOODS but likely for different reasons. You should get that person who keeps feeding you ideas and info to do their own work instead of using you as patsy.
I am sure you will recognize the acclaimed Bedford herd when you read the name. Well, back in the late 80s when Dan Randall published his book of Dexters, a Canadian breeder went through the listings and one of the herds of interest was the Bedford herd. Discovered there were still animals on the farm and gave them identities, got them registered. Hmmm. sing this to the tune of the Pepsodent commercial >>. you'll wonder where the Bedford went . . . . .
Acclaimed American herd. Old bloodlines. Shipped to New Zealand,
And....theres more to the story. . . . . ( catchy lyrics from another cute song).
Those acclaimed Bedford animals of old and renowned bloodlines were bred with Saltaire Platinum semen, a mongrel grade bull that doesn't even meet the man-made standard of purebred. Another step in the threat made to the ADCA board to wipe out every last drop of purity in America fulfilled!
judy
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Post by Donlin Stud on Mar 16, 2015 21:41:08 GMT
Its well known that in 1985 Australia did not have any purebred females so my assumption is the figures you are quoting were from the late 1800s to early 1900s before the war and recession near crippled this country. But I have sent a couple of emails to those who are the foundation Dexter breeders in this country for the real information. Stay tuned  |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2015 21:48:41 GMT
I think I remember hearing that there was one from the Colorado herd shipped there. I cant remember the details.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2015 21:55:42 GMT
I found it Colorado Sheila. She died at 23 and was owned by John Thompson. You may want to look her up in your registry and see who she was breed to and if any of those offspring are still around.
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Post by Donlin Stud on Mar 16, 2015 22:03:43 GMT
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Post by Donlin Stud on Mar 16, 2015 22:52:56 GMT
Here we go.....................
Dexters first appeared in Australia after being imported by the Syme family in the late 1890’s. They graced the show rings of Australia as early as 1894 when they were photographed at the Royal Melbourne show. The Hawkesbury College in New South Wales also maintained a dairy herd of Dexters in the early 1900’s where the herd provided practical, hands-on training for the agricultural students and kept the college in milk. Dexters seemed to have disappeared from Australian farming at a time coinciding with the Second World War.
In spite of their earlier popularity the prevalence of herds around the world dwindled and the Dexter Breed was listed with the Rare Breeds Survival Trust in the 1970’s..
Australia was void of purebred females so the only way to establish the Dexter breed in Australia at that time was by grading up. Imported semen of purebred Dexter bulls was used to inseminate cows of other breeds. This strategy was to ensure sufficient numbers of cattle could be bred to fulfil the demand for females which would form the foundation of the national herd.
The first Dexters to be imported into Australia in modern times were imported by Bridie Prettejohn who in 1988 imported two females in calf to a British bull ‘Whitegates Storm’ and a young bull ‘Saltaire Guiness’. The heifers produced two bulls, Kalinda Angus and Kalinda Allan.
Later in 1988 importation from UK was banned. Similar bans were applied to the rest of Europe within the next few years. The outbreak of BSE (Mad Cow Disease) meant Dexter enthusiasts could no longer access Dexter semen from UK so several breeders looked to Canada and US to source breeding livestock. Apart from the scarcity of Dexter sale stock world-wide, associated quarantine expenses made this a prohibitive exercise for many other aspiring Dexter breeders.
Full blood animals with pure Dexter genetics were also introduced to Australia by way of imported embryos and further imported semen.
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Quotes taken from other forums where this same issue has been discussed
"- The only reason the ugly one hasn't been culled is because she is the only descendant of Colorado Sheila in the country. "
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"- Who said there are no fullblood Dexters in Au?
- I suppose it depends what is meant by fullblood. If they mean that there are no Dexters here that descend on absolutely every single line from the early imports to America, then that is true. No totally "back to the arc" US bulls ever came to Au. "
"
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"- I'm beginning to sound like a broken record: several major early herds in the US went through a period of no registrations. later on existing animals were registered from scratch pedigrees. There are records of breeders registering stuff that couldn't possibly match the paperwork.
- There are breeders whom we know falsified paperwork. As you know from the AU everything-dna'd, genuine mistakes happen, too.
- As was recently pointed out, none of the early pedigrees come with a guarantee. I'd be really careful about making a stand and promoting some animals over others, especially as there is precious little that can be provided as concrete proof, either way."
"
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"- Sons of Grade 4 cows, homegrown fullblood bulls, two early-on Grade 4 bulls who were accepted as purebred before the bar was raised to 5th cross males equals pure."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2015 14:15:45 GMT
it looks like sheila was mostly bred to wood magic animals. I looked at some of the descendants but start to run into ones I am not familiar with. Have you ran down any of those lines to see if there are still some that do not have upgrading?
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Post by Donlin Stud on Mar 17, 2015 21:39:46 GMT
Hi Mike No I havent had much opportunity as I am travelling for work so time and concentration levels are limited. The iPhone isnt quite suitable for reading pedigrees either. But my curiosity has certainly spiked, again. Thanks Kirk, for the anticipated future spinning of info in my head In the past I obviously had been told only a small section of the history when I was sure there had to be some aussie Dexters which did / would go back to imports on every line but was told there were no females Dexters available in 1985. Being a newbie I accepted that at face-value. I wasnt aware there had been imports of actual animals. Even when I was told the sire of one of our boys was the first imported Dexter embryo born in Australia - it still didnt click. I think I will spend some time and start going back through those in my own backyard first and then those whose lines we have brought in with purchased pregnant females......and go from there. I am starting to receive information from those people I have asked which is going to be a great start. Thats the problem, there is no central place where this info is stored for accessing. Its in people's heads, personal files and/or in magazines of the past which only a handful of breeders would have in their personal possession. Now to work out the best place to put this info as it comes in so I can work through it inbetween my schedules - cloud applications here I come Im also a little flattered that my postings here are being discussed via phonecalls. I had posted immediately under my posting above what I thought were the earliest registered, first upgrade etc using the registration numbers from the online herdbook. I deleted that post about, roughly half an hour or maybe an hour later as I discovered in further searching that the numbering wasnt appearing in chronological order in the online herd book. But in the time it was up, someone had rung one of my contacts noting I had posted this information. |
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