1: Former Home Page

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The following made up the main information on the Home Page of www.dex-info.net:

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Dexter cattle are an ancient dual-purpose Irish breed, the smallest of the British breeds. They originated as a hardy breed of small mountain cattle run on small family holdings. At the turn of the 20th century, Dexters became the show cattle of the English gentry (the photo below, from "Livestock Journal" 1899, is of Dexter bull Simple Simon, owned by Mr E. Sydney, Upminster in Essex, England - A frequent Show Champion. Photo courtesy of Ted Neal, from his book "Life and Times of Dexters").
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As the 20th century progressed, Dexter numbers declined. In the 1970s, they were designated as rare and endangered. Throughout the 1990s, their attractiveness to small landholders saw a significant increase in their numbers globally. As a result, the Dexter is the best example of a domestic cattle breed saved from extinction. (Photo below: Rob Wendorf of Sutton Bonington in Leicestershire, England, with Sherry Kindred, another local Dexter breeder, and her two grand-daughters, with Dexter cows from Rob's Riverside herd. Photo: JLP, 12 April 2003. )

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From this origin and history can be traced the breed’s main attributes:
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Small -- Hardy -- Efficient -- Versatile -- Intelligent -- Full of Personality

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(Photo below: NZ Dexter breeder, Heather Cunningham, with one of Diana Lusty's red Dexter cows, near Staplehurst in Kent, England. Photo: JLP, 30 April 2003.)

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The contemporary Dexter fulfils a very wide variety of functions in a diversity of ecological and economic settings. The following Posts in this Blog provide more information about these attributes of this unique cattle breed:
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*Small Breed (see Post 2)

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*Multi-Purpose Smallholder's Cattle

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*Commercial Dairy Breed

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*Market-Niche Natural Beef

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*Ideal House/Nurse Cow

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*Family Pet and Companion

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*Show Animal

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*Environmentally-Responsible Grazer

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*Rare Breed

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*Ancient Breed

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*Women and Dexters "

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*Role in Mainstream Agriculture

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(Photo above: Black Dexter cow with dun calf, just outside the village of Tyn-Y-Groes near Conwy in Gwynedd, Wales, from Morna Arkle's Bryn-Y-Pyn herd. Photo: JLP, 20 April 2003.)

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