ARIZONA DEXTERS

 What are Dexter cows?

Dexter cows are a minority breed of cattle and until fairly recently, were in fact considered as a rare breed. They are the smallest native breed, and originated in the South of Ireland in the 1800s as an ideal "cottagers cow", producing plenty of milk for the house and a calf to be reared for beef each year. The animals vary in size, but are about half the size of a traditional Hereford and probably one third the size of something like a black and white Friesian milking cow.

Dexters are a dual-purpose breed, providing dairy and beef. They are a slower maturing beef breed and best reared on a purely grass diet to about 3 years of age.

The beef produced by Dexters is a "traditional" type, with a greater level of fat "marbling" than is seen in modern supermarket type of beef. It also tends to be darker, partially as result of the breed and partly as the carcass is usually properly hung to produce a tender and better flavoured meat. Some say Dexter beef is "sweeter" than other beef. 

Dexters produce a rich milk relatively high in butterfat (3.5% to 4%) and the quality of the milk overall is similar to that of the Jersey. Some claim the milk is more naturally homogenised than other milk due to the smaller fat globules. Dexters can reasonably be expected to produce 2 to 2.5 gallons (7.6 to 9.5 liters) per day.

The cows are exceptionally good mothers, hiding their calves almost from birth if there is any cover to hide them in. They will produce enough milk to feed 2-3 calves. They are an easy calving breed as their breeding has not been tweaked about as much as some cattle breeds. The birthing ease of the breed has produced a small but growing market in the States for Dexter bulls to breed to first calf heifers among the larger beef breeds to eliminate problems at parturition.

We are located in beautiful, sunny Arizona, on 13 acres  of mostly clay soil, which we grandly call Ridgeview Farm.

We started with just one Dexter cow, named Tasha by our 4 year-old daughter,  and after a couple of months, delighted by Tasha's docile, sweet nature and ease of care,  we decided to purchase 18 more heads, and a bull.

It was a big surprise to us to see how these sweet, gentle cows could turn fiercely protective and even a little aggressive after giving birth, except for Tasha. We know that the reason is simple: Tasha had grown to know us and trust us during the 2 months that she was the only one of her kind living with us. Our daughter used to hand-feed her and pet her daily. As a result, Tasha has allowed us to approach and handle her calf  with no anxiety, a very good thing as we had to hand-feed her calf for 2 days after his birth.

Our cows are grass-fed  exclusively, and free to roam the 5 acres we devoted to them.

We will soon begin offering "shares" of our cows, a program enabling our customers to purchase as little as a half-cow worth of meat.
We also will sell some of the calves.

Please contact us for more information. 

What's New?

7 calves have been born since April 2007.

 

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