3: Dexters as the Multi-Purpose Smallholder’s Cattle Breed

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Traditionally Dexters are viewed as a dual-purpose breed, with the ability to produce high quality milk and beef. They are renowned as one of the best converters of feed for both meat and milk. Dexters thrive in a wide range of difficult conditions, from the dry heat of Australia and South Africa to the cold of Canada and the damp temperateness of England and New Zealand. Hence they have been called "Beefy Little Milkers".
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Dexter milk can be used for humans – the UK has had a number of Dexter dairy herds in the past and a small number still survive there and elsewhere. Dexter milk can also be used to raise calves – Dexter cows can easily suckle two calves a year and have been known to suckle up to three or four, or even more!
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A graded Dexter cow (Jersey-Dexter cross) suckling her own calf and one other (Photo: JLP, 2004).

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Dexter cattle can be good beef producers. They hold their condition over winter and during dry spells much better than other breeds. Dexter beef can be produced for the household or sold to a niche market – people looking for high quality meat from a known source.
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However Dexters have also been referred to as a triple-purpose breed, adding their use as a draft animal, a task they performed in ancient times. In the UK, Dexters have been used to simulate Neolithic ploughing in an experimental Iron Age farm. Using Dexters as draft animals draws on their ability to learn quickly, their sturdiness and their stout hearts. One writer on breeds of oxen has referred to Dexters as "Rugged animals with plenty of zip" (www.ruralheritage.com/ox_paddock/oxbreeds2.htm#dexter).
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Irish Dexter team Rex and Dun with their teamster Myles Matteson of Suncook, New Hampshire (photo by Drew Conroy - www.ruralheritage.com/ox_paddock/dexter.htm).

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But there’s no need to restrict Dexters to just three purposes! For example, they are well known as friends and companions to people, young and old. They are also kept by many breeders for ecological conservation purposes, because their impact on the land is much less than larger cattle.
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Around the world, Dexters are often the choice of smallholders, who are only part-time or hobby farmers. The majority of Dexter breeders in the UK own between 20 and 80 acres. In New Zealand, in 2003, more than half of the Dexter breeders had six Dexters or less, with only 10% of breeders having over 15 Dexters. Smallholders look for a rewarding animal to raise, something unusual, interesting, a little bit different. Dexters meet these criteria. Dexters are a genuinely multi-purpose breed.
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