Dexter/mini Hereford cross?

[karenp]

There is someome on the KFC board that has mini-Herefords that may be interested in trading a bull calf for my Dexter heifer. The plan would be to let him breed her the eat him. What are your thoughts on that cross? 

[genebo]

Barring sentiment, I'd rather eat the heifer than the bull.

In every taste test contest that included Dexters and Herefords, Dexter beat Hereford.

Plus you save the cost of transportation and eliminate health questions. You save the cost of castrating the bull or risking him impregnating your females.

Mini-Herefords don't necessarily breed true nor do they necessarily produce small calves. A friend of mine used a mini Devon bull to breed his Angus cows and lost 5 out of 38 due to birthing problems (too large calves). That makes it dangerous to have him around your females unless he is immediately expertly castrated then held in isolation for several weeks.

[karenp]

Unfortunately, the heifer doesn't get the cow bred, I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone. Of course I'd rather have a Dexter bull calf, but I haven't had any interest. The birth weight issue conserns me, thanks for the information. She probably won't appeal to many people here as she has polled/Platium blood lines through her maternal grand sire.

[lakeportfarms]

I would advise against it. Mini Herefords have a reputation for difficult calving. Their heads are quite broad, for example. We had somebody nearby that had a herd of registered Mini-Herefords, and one year they lost 8 of 14 calves and several heifers in calving. The following year with a different bull they still had problems. They purchased Dexter Semen from us and the following year they had 100% successful calving.

[Blessings Farms]

Before you do this we have a 17 month old traditional bull headed to the
butcher this fall . He is registered in Legacy L02185TH-14HH .
He is dun / condo and pha neg. A2 / A2
I am not keeping him . I do not raise polled and only want
Traditional or Legacy . I would not have a issue eating a
Hiefer and would if they are not the right cow .
You can always AI . I have a cow due in 2 months done AI . You
can find poeple to do this also .
 Please dont outcross Dexters any more then they already are .
Aron has a modern horned cow and she is nice I . He also has
Traditional . We used the above bull to breed his two 19 mo.
Traditional and the modern to keep them in cycle untill a new
bull is here . At least they are still Dexters and good meat .
Our family raised Herfords for years and had to baby sat each
berth . We have had three Dexter calves and no issues at all .
If you are new to cattle you do not whant a problem birth to
ruin it for you .

[jamshundred]

Karen,  

is your heifer showing horns or is she polled?  I think you will find a market for her for milking since she is A2/A2.  The Amish like A2 as there seem to be milk intolerance issues in their communities.   Since you are handling her she woukd be a good prospectfor milking.  You coukd advertise in the Lancaster Farmer and on Craigslist in both PA, Delaware, ans surrounding areas.  I can get you a trade for her if that is what youmdecide you want to do.

Judy

[karenp]

Judy, no sign of horns. She is solid, built like Christmas except with longer legs. I know you can never be sure what happens to them after they leave, but I would like to find her a good home. Craigslist makes me nervous. Just to be clear, I still hope to have Christmas visit this spring. This is a plan for next year. I'm just putting it out there early if someone has a calf they think is a potential before he is cut.

Blessing Farms, I tried AI first. I could not get a tech to come out so I used the vet which was very expensive, 3 attempts including one with a synchronized heat with no luck. I do believe it may have been operator error as the vet did not inspire confidence. Christmas however is my hero, he did the job the first time.

Either way, you have convinced me to stay away from the mini-herefords. I'll have to let the person know.