RARE BREEDS TRUST OF AUSTRALIA
powered by TidyHQCATTLE: Dexter
CATTLE: Dexter
Country of Origin
Ireland
Australian Status
International Status
Safe
Uses
Milk and Meat
Breeds Traits
A miniature or small breed under 120 cm. Although some cattle breeds now have a miniature version, the Dexter is a breed with no bigger version - a true breed of miniature size, just as the Nadudana is a true miniature Zebu breed without a bigger version.
The size made them easy to keep for small holders or even those with no land. A triple purpose animal, bred for milk, beef and draught; primarily a house cow originally, these days primarily beef. They are a hardy breed that able to forage well.
Height: cows 91cm - 112 cm., bulls between 97 -117cm. Allowed colours are black, red and dun with little to no white. Some cattle are naturally polled while others have small curved horns. As they have well shaped udders, they give a large amount of milk from for their size with good cream percentage.
Some lines carry chondrodysplasia, a genetic condition characterized by disproportionate limb shortening, resulting in a smaller stature compared to normal cattle. All Australian Dexter cattle are tested for this condition prior to registration.
History
The Dexter was developed in south-west Ireland, and taken to England about 1882.
History in Australia
Brought to Australia originally in 1892 as a dairy cow by the mid 1900s they had disappeared, and were re-introduced in the 1980s.
David Syme imported the first Dexter-Kerries into Victoria in 1892 - two bulls, seven cows and one calf arriving on the ship Thermopolae. One bull was described as a Kerry, the other as Dexter-Kerry; the cows were Kerry - all were from the Denham Court and Willey Park studs in England.
In 1898 the NSW Dept of Agriculture imported some dairy cattle including several Kerry cows and bulls, and one Dexter cow which was sent to Hawkesbury College farm. Some here said a Dexter was a very inbred Kerry as it was smaller, but it was probably just different lines. The Kerry is extinct in Australia now.
In 1905 the state Agriculture Department imported some English and Irish Dexter cattle to Western Australia, arriving on the steamer Aboukir. There were already Dexters in the state brought over from the eastern states in 1901, but it was deemed judicious to get more bloodlines. Three bulls and three in-calf heifers, all unrelated to each other; they were sent to the Narrogin and Chapmen Experimental Farms.
At Royal Melbourne Show in 1913, twenty seven Dexters-Kerries were showed including an imported bull. In 1921 only five were exhibited.
Breed Organisation
Dexter Cattle Australia Inc. An excellent and comprehensive website with Australian history of the breed and much more.
Additional Notes
Both the Dexter and the Kerry were recorded in the same studbook in both Ireland and the UK until separate studbooks were formed.
Australian Population
2022: under 750 cows.
Photo Credits
Top: Dexter Bull image with permission Dexter Cattle Australia Inc.
Bottom: A Dexter or Kerry at a show in NSW, no date. State Library NSW.
Page by Janet Lane
