Post by cascade on Jun 23, 2015 22:50:26 GMT
First, how is a "Line" of dexters created?
"Lines" of Dexters (or other livestock) are created when a long-time breeder maintains a mostly closed herd, and selects for certain traits, generation after generation after generation in a certain environment with certain environmental factors. It probably takes close to 20 years before a recognizable "line" STARTS to develop and likely takes 30 or 40 years or more to fully develop.
Every choice the long-time breeder makes and every environmental factor on that breeder's farm, goes into creating that line:
What were the cows fed?
What sort of soil were the cows kept on?
What sort of plants grew in the area?
What behaviors did the breeder enjoy?
What body styles did the breeder select?
What face shapes appealed to the breeder?
What colors did the breeder prefer?
What hair textures did the breeder prefer?
Did the breeder milk his dexters?
Did the breeder use modern chemicals?
Did the breeder vaccinate?
What was the climate like in the breeders locations? Rainy? Snowy? Temperatures?
Were the animals kept in a barn in winter?
Did the breeder provide supplements?
All these factors and more went into creating and maintaining the particular "Line". When the breeder died, or retired, the line died with them, and their remaining animals gradually get absorbed back into the breed in general.
Someone who claims to be "preserving" old traditional lines is NOT preserving anything unless they can exactly replicate EVERYTHING the original breeder was doing and duplicate the original breeder's environment..... and that's nearly impossible.
While it's impossible to "preserve" old lines, it is possible create your own new line, based on traits that YOU choose and based on YOUR farm's environment and YOUR management decisions. Your new line may be reminiscent of some of the older lines, but you can't preserve those actual old lines.
Most people misuse and overuse the word "Lines". For example, when someone says "Polled Lines", it's a nonsense statement. There is no such thing as "Polled lines".... It would be like saying "Black Lines" or "Red Lines". The polled gene and black and red genes, are single genes that can exist in ANY lines of cattle, if the creator of the line utilized those genes.
Today, very few people are creating/maintaining true "Lines" which requires a mostly closed herd. Most folks continually bring in outside genetics. They may be terrific breeders, and they may be producing terrific animals, but they aren't creating (nor maintaining) a true "Line" of Dexters.
"Lines" of Dexters (or other livestock) are created when a long-time breeder maintains a mostly closed herd, and selects for certain traits, generation after generation after generation in a certain environment with certain environmental factors. It probably takes close to 20 years before a recognizable "line" STARTS to develop and likely takes 30 or 40 years or more to fully develop.
Every choice the long-time breeder makes and every environmental factor on that breeder's farm, goes into creating that line:
What were the cows fed?
What sort of soil were the cows kept on?
What sort of plants grew in the area?
What behaviors did the breeder enjoy?
What body styles did the breeder select?
What face shapes appealed to the breeder?
What colors did the breeder prefer?
What hair textures did the breeder prefer?
Did the breeder milk his dexters?
Did the breeder use modern chemicals?
Did the breeder vaccinate?
What was the climate like in the breeders locations? Rainy? Snowy? Temperatures?
Were the animals kept in a barn in winter?
Did the breeder provide supplements?
All these factors and more went into creating and maintaining the particular "Line". When the breeder died, or retired, the line died with them, and their remaining animals gradually get absorbed back into the breed in general.
Someone who claims to be "preserving" old traditional lines is NOT preserving anything unless they can exactly replicate EVERYTHING the original breeder was doing and duplicate the original breeder's environment..... and that's nearly impossible.
While it's impossible to "preserve" old lines, it is possible create your own new line, based on traits that YOU choose and based on YOUR farm's environment and YOUR management decisions. Your new line may be reminiscent of some of the older lines, but you can't preserve those actual old lines.
Most people misuse and overuse the word "Lines". For example, when someone says "Polled Lines", it's a nonsense statement. There is no such thing as "Polled lines".... It would be like saying "Black Lines" or "Red Lines". The polled gene and black and red genes, are single genes that can exist in ANY lines of cattle, if the creator of the line utilized those genes.
Today, very few people are creating/maintaining true "Lines" which requires a mostly closed herd. Most folks continually bring in outside genetics. They may be terrific breeders, and they may be producing terrific animals, but they aren't creating (nor maintaining) a true "Line" of Dexters.
