The Dexter cattle bred for their beef within the United States have been found to generally mature within 18 months, thus providing a high grade of lean marbled meat which tends to be slightly darker in color and having a small amount of waste. The breed has been used for additional purposes including plowing, transportation in hauling wagons or carts and even for powering machines suited for grinding grain. The Dexter cattle breed are a versatile bred cattle which has allowed the breed to be used as oxen by many breeders in several countries today such as North America, Australia, Europe and South Africa. The Dexter cattle are typically bred with a dual purpose as herders and cattle men have often found the breed to produce not only an excellent quality of beef but also rich dairy milk. The horns are smaller and thicker in size when compared to other breeds and tend to grow in an outward direction with a type of forward shaped curve seen with the bulls and an upward shape on the cows.Īlthough the Dexter breed cattle are generally horned, breeders using the dominant polled gene developed a polled variation of the breed in the 1990’s. The Dexter cattle breed is a solid built cattle with a slightly white marking found on its udder. They are mainly found to have a black single layered coat however there are instances where the breed will be found to display a dun or slightly dark red colored coat. The Dexter bred cattle as a smaller breed will generally observe a mature Dexter cow weighing anywhere between 600 to 700 pounds and a fully mature bull as having a weight of no more than 1000 pounds.ĭue to their small size, their bodies tend to be quite wide and having a deep form occasionally with an adequately rounded hindquarter. However a few cattle men and ranchers still maintained a small number of herds within England as pure breeds. This resulted in the breed being almost non-existent within Ireland.
In 1882 the Dexter bred cattle were imported from the southwest regions of Ireland to England. The Dexter bred cattle which were once considered a rare cattle breed and today have been noted by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy as an actively recovering breed. They are found to be almost half in size to the established Hereford bred cattle and no more than a third of the size of the traditional Friesian or Holstein dairy cow. Originating from Ireland Dexter cattle breed are often seen as the smallest of the European bred cattle.