How old does a dexter bull need to be

[Lesli]

to breed?

My friend that has Rex (Daisy raised) was talking to her brother and they don't think Rex is old enough to breed because he is so little. He was at least 12 months old in September perhaps August. We had bought him at the auction so really don't know his background. So now he would be at least 15 or 16 months old. I think he is so little because he is a Dexter. He is a very good looking little bull. Actually he looks like a mini black buffalo with the big swollen looking head and broad shoulders. He is just little, but his scrotum is quite large for such a little guy. I want to take Sophie to be bred by him and they said that would be perfectly fine, but they don't think he is "capable yet." They were thinking he really needed to be around 2 years old to breed. His "girls" are monster cows, HUGE Brangus/jersey cross and Sally the Brahman- huge also (Peekaboo {Daisy's baby} and Sally that we raised on Daisy) Their backs come to my shoulders or higher. I am afraid he may never be big enough to breed them. Lana does not care she just loves him and babies him, she has learned to be careful around them, but she would not care if they were never more than pasture ornaments. I would love to see them calve though. I am afraid that they'll get too fat if they are not already to ever breed. They are beautiful though! What are y'all's opinion? Should I take Sophie to the little black buffalo to be bred? I think the only reason she has not bred is because we missed her most fertile day when we took her the second time to be AI'd and she was already pregnant and it caused a miscarriage when they AI'd her the first time . She was coming into what seemed like heat every 21 days so we thought she was open. So I only have 2 more private Pyle straws and don't want to waste them if she does not take. If she will get pregnant with Rex, then next time we will use the Pvt. Pyle semen and AI her.

What age would a Dexter bull calf be at 125 lbs and horns just starting to grow?

[parndt]

He should be fertile. Dexters don't mature as fast as Jerseys but they mature faster than 2 years.
My Dexter heifer is 8 months old and nearly 500 lbs. She's polled though. At 125 lbs with horns nubbins I would guess he is 2 or 3 months old. I would say, the only way to know for sure if he's capable of getting the job done is to take her over there and see if he can.

[Deleted]

I bought a dexter bull that was 6 months old and he bread one of my cows the next day. I have a couple friends that raise dexters and the seperate the bull calves from there moma's at 5 month old because the are afraid the will start breading. I have never known a dexter bull to go over a year old that wasn't ready to bread. I would agree that a 125 pound calf is probablly 2 or 3 months old

[Shawn]

Leslie are you sure he only weighs 125 #?

[Becky]

My bull is half dexter and half jersey (small jersey, *maybe* even mini?) and he was "taking care of business" by 10 months old. He is maybe 52 inches at the shoulders, and that is being generous. At 13 months he managed to breed Sal who is HUGE at 1600 pounds and her back is right at the top of my neck (I'm 5'6"). These ladies that are in heat are very co-operative

Becky

[Lesli]

He weighed 125lbs when we got him, a year ago last September. We thought he was Angus/Brangus or some other generic black calf, just thought he was younger than he apparently was. He is much larger than that now but he is definitely a mini bull. I'd say he is 600-700 lbs now.

How much would I need to worry about the bulldog gene in a situation like this? He of course has not been checked for that since I have only just begun to believe he is a Dexter. We would be breeding him to my smallish 2yr old jersey heifer? I don't remember him being particularly short legged when we got him.

Lesli

[AnnB (NE)]

The bulldog gene wouldn't be an issue at all - both parents have to carry the gene to produce a bulldog calf.

Ann B

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[Lesli]

oh yay!! thanks for that info! ok, now I have no worries. I will call Lana tomorrow! What a cute little baby they shall make!

Lesli

[Janene]

I'm late to answer this: but personally I'd use your AI semen on her.
Why? You have no idea what's in his background for genetics, and for a first-freshener I'd prefer the peace of mind come calving time in *knowing* what she is bred to.
If she was an older cow, I'd have no issues with using him.
My two cents for today.
Janene

[Lesli]

Well, I am not quite sure what you mean. Are you referring to the size of calf he'll throw? He has been vet checked and dehorned, all his shots. Even the vet was quite impressed with him, as he made several comments about not wanting him to go with out his vaccines, "not a bull like him," "...wouldn't risk a bull like him if it were me..." "...such a nice little bull..." "would not steer a bull calf like him" He is not much over waist high and looks like a mini black buffalo, I have never seen a full grown bull smaller than him. Sure some exist, I just have never seen them. And he has such a nice mellow disposition. Even if he throws a bad calf it should not hurt her. I can not believe that a bull as small as he is could throw a calf large enough to cause her trouble. We have had trouble pin-pointing exactly when she needs to make the visit and Richard will have to take off work as we have only seen her come into heat on weekdays, (think time and money) and I only have 2 more straws for pvt. pyle. I don't relish the idea of throwing them away if our timing is off. Given his size what else could he be other than either lowline angus (but he was horned, aren't angus's polled?) or Dexter. Here is a few baby pictures of him... We bought him at 125lbs Sept 25, 2010 and he was not a new born.

[Lesli]

He was around 8-10 months old when the vet checked him all out and dehorned him.

[Janene]

I should of made my self more clear-(sorry!)-yes, I'd be worried about birthweight on a FF. Since he's not bred anything before, it's unknown what he will throw (size).
Janene

[Lesli]

Hmmm do dexter's usually throw huge calves? Ever? I thought that he would be a better risk. I'll give what you have said some thought. Perhaps I will even talk to the vet and see if they might have semen they'd sale for inseminating her. But as small as he is and was when we bought him, I have a hard time seeing him throwing anything but a tiny calf.
One of my dad's bulls never threw just one size calf, he was Peekaboo's father and the weight tape when she was 2 days old said 131 lbs, now I doubt that was what she really weighed, but I expect she was well over a hundred pounds, and the same bull threw Dusty (Loretta's bull calf), who was even smaller than little miss Tessa. She was probably 40lbs and he could not have been even 35lbs. He was a tiny little guy. But he grew super fast and he was a large calf after just a little while.

I do think the cow makes just a bit of difference too. But there you go again, who knows what Sophie will have since she is a heifer, who is getting older by the day and that has me worrying. That is why I wanted to put a bull over her. Darn why didn't I take a picture the last time we were there?
Lesli

[tomboy (LegendRockRanch)]

Lesli, IF your little guy is a Dexter from what I can tell from the pictures he seems to be about 2 1/2-3 months old.
Also from the length of his legs he doesn't appear to be a chondro carrier. Of coarse the only way to know for sure is to test him.
When breeding a chondro carrier to a non-carrier you won't have any problems, however the resulting calf from that breeding stands a 50% chance of being a carrier or 50% of being a non-carrier.
Do you have current pictures of him that you could post?

Barb

[tomboy (LegendRockRanch)]

Well heck Lesli your only 1 1/2 hours away from me
Come on over and see what a Dexter looks like up close and personal. Plus I have 9 calves on the ground that are less than a month old, 1 is a day old.
Ya wanna see cute

Barb

[Lesli]

No, I don't

I want to see if I can get some or have my friend send me some. I don't know why I did not take the pictures last time we were there.
Tomboy said:
"Lesli, IF your little guy is a Dexter from what I can tell from the pictures he seems to be about 2 1/2-3 months old."

That would mean that he is about 18 months old now.

[Lesli]

Yeah, I wanna see cute! I wanna see it right now!! post pictures! (purty please with sugar on top?)
Does Rex's baby pictures resemble a dexter?

[Lesli]

Hmmm, I have heard of Spring Branch, there was something just recently going on near Spring Branch, that is not where the fires were is it?

[tomboy (LegendRockRanch)]

Lesli, the more I think about you little guy the more I wonder if he could be a Corriente bull calf. There are lots of them here in Texas and they have a tendency to be on the small side also. Most folks use them for roping.
I'll try and get pics of my babies tomorrow for ya.

Barb

[Lesli]

he looks like this- only with out horns, he has been de-horned. His fluffy hair is not quite as shaggy, and he has a very sweet baby face. He is pretty stout and stocky, and very slow, I don't think he is corriente. Like I said, he looks like a mini black buffalo. He is very good natured still and is Lana's baby.

For some who don't know me, I am no stranger to cows, I have seen a few different kinds in my days . My dad raised Brangus, Limousine, my aunt raises beef master. We had neighbors that raised Santa Gertrudis. We have Brahmans, Black baldies, Angus, Herefords, Simmental, Charolais. Longhorns, tigerstripe F1 Brahman x Hereford and other crosses all around us. We have raised Brahman, Jersey, Brangus, Hereford, Charolais. I know what Corrientes look like-- Up close and personal-- my brothers and father used to rope them all the time. My brother even got his front teeth broke when one put his horns through his teeth. Whole 'nuther animal. My friend is supposed to take pictures of Rex. This is my OTHER friend's bull. This is their site... www.buydextercattlesite.com/header_cattle.html

I find it fascinating that some think it is neigh impossible for him to be a Dexter. ;D His current owner's brother who inspects cattle daily at auction for the fda, thinks he is Brangus and "when he grows up" he'll be much larger, errr uh he is 18 months old. His testicles hang pretty low already, like a very mature bull. I think he will fill out a bit more but I don't think he will get to be the size of a Brangus! LOL They (Dexter) are not that rare, and every birth has at least 50% chance of being a bull calf that some one might need to get rid of... You don't see 'em at auction very often and no I was not thinking of the possibility of Dexter till he got a little older/larger. We did think he was younger than he obviously was. He is certainly not stunted, he was raised on Daisy milk (jersey delicious, high fat) and good feed/hay.

PS Dh and both ds's just drove through/near Spring Branch, on their way to Johnson City. They are deer hunting this weekend.

Lesli