STRUCTURAL GUIDELINES FOR THE IDEAL DEXTER HOMESTEAD COW
The Dexter is a dual-purpose animal with both beef and dairy qualities. In judging, both these qualities are essential. A harmonious combination of beef and dairy qualities gives the dexter a third, and more unique quality; that of draft. A well-balanced dexter makes for a powerful ox and is a valuable asset on a small homestead. They are the poor man's cow; bred to serve a family efficiently, at low cost, supplying a reasonable amount of milk for a household's use, calves with a high yielding beef carcass of a manageable size, and a willing worker where needed. As a homestead style cow they should be of a size and disposition that a mother and children are comfortable managing.
DISPOSITION
Stable, mellow, and even-tempered, reliable, simple, yet responsive, alert, and sufficiently wary. Easily adapts to human interaction. Accepts training with the reasonable simple-minded stubbornness that God's creatures are born with. Food-motivated, and quickly adapts to new elements.
HEAD
Broad between the eyes, tapering gracefully towards a broad muzzle. Forehead neatly dished, muzzle straight and clean. Forehead whorl well defined and centered low on the face. Poll pointed and well-defined on polled cows. Horns should be moderately thick, with an inward, slightly upward curve. Bulls horns should be straighter and thicker. Strong jaws with an even bite. Eyes bright, alert, and prominent. Nose rough textured and squared off. Nostrils wide and well flared. Size of head proportionate to the body.
NECK
Blending well into the shoulders, moderately thick and of equal length to the chine, level and straight, clean throat without excess skin and flab. Head carried above the spine, giving her an alert posture and an even, graceful, forward-reaching gait.
SHOULDERS
Firmly set against the chest, well tucked into the ribs, and strongly connected withers. Neck and shoulder muscles blending smoothly giving a clean appearance. Shoulder width should be equal to rump length, allowing for heart and lung capacity. Brisket deep, wide, clean cut with little excess skin and flab. Legs set wide and straight, neat tight skinned joints, forelegs shorter in proportion than standard-sized cattle. Hooves short toed and deep heeled, with a straight inside line, and smooth texture that shines easily.
HEART GIRTH AND BARREL
Heart girth should be equal to the total topline, or greater. Large heart girth is critical for proper function of the vital organs. The larger the heart girth the more efficient and vigorous the cow will be. The ideal dexter should be even deeper bodied than standard cattle thus making them more hardy and thrifty as it allows for more efficient gut function. Deep large heart girth allows for proper gut carriage making for overall better performance. Flank circumference should be larger than heart girth by 2-6 inches in females, 0-2 inches in bulls. Ribs fine-boned and widely spaced gives the gut strong yet flexible support, and a straight level underline.
TOPLINE
Neck, chine, and hips should divide into equal 1/3rds. Level with no dents or lumps, strong, broad, and well-muscled. Hips riding slightly below the level of the spine. Poor structure, and inadequate length, of the vertebral column, lead to incorrect posture and ungainly movement making for an overall unsightly animal. A good topline is the foundation for fluid motion, an attractive posture, and in general a more thrifty animal. It gives the shoulders and hips freedom to swing smoothly, with a long reach, and casually adjust weight as each quarter makes its play. Aesthetics matter even if you just want beef.
SKIN AND HAIR
Skin loose, soft, and pliable with good elasticity. Wrinkles in neck, and when skin is tented, fine, and close together indicating fine-grained tender meat. Hair short, fine, with good shine, and sleek in the summer, longer and thicker in the winter. Whorls on head, neck, back, and shoulders well defined with deep rich colour and sheen. Mottled light and dark shades in the coat indicate fully functioning gland system, immune system, and high fertility, resulting in disease-hardy, thrifty, productive animals.
UDDER
Oblong front to back, high and wide rear attachment, moderately deep, with a smooth level floor riding well above the hocks. Well balanced and even in all four quarters. Fore-udder extending well forward and strongly attached, blending smoothly into the belly. Strong medial suspensory ligament. Hair on udder should be short and fine, tending towards bald rather than overly wooly. Teats cylindrical in shape, of medium size, placed squarely, well apart and plumb, uniform in size and shape, short and plump with large orifices. Texture soft and pliable with good spring. Rudimentary teats can be removed at birth. Collapses completely after milking (and shocking you at how much milk came out of such a small bag!) Again, aesthetics matter even if you just want beef. Udder structure and milk quality directly affect calf growth rate and proficiency, as well as the cows productive lifespan.
BULL EQUIPMENT
Well hung testicles of even size, scrotum hanging well away from the body, yet able to retract, football shaped, with the epididymis centered at the very bottom. Rudimentary teats squarely placed and forward of the scrotum, small and neatly shaped. Sheath clean-cut and snug against body with no saggy excess skin. A bull with lazy, sloppy, poorly formed equipment will sire daughters with weak sloppy udder structure that can't hold up to the test of time.
HIPS
Equal in length to the chine. Hooks set slightly below the level of the spine, pins wide-set and firmly tied in, stifle moderately low-set forming a large full thurl, and a deep pelvic. Rump width should be 43% of hip height or greater. Hip muscles long, heavy, and well rounded out carrying rump width through the thighs and hocks. Hocks wide apart and low-set, providing for adequate udder cleft. Skin around hock and achilles tendon pulled tight and firm with no excess connective tissue or puffiness. The place where meat hooks are pierced through should be skin on skin. When standing squarely at ease the hocks are aligned directly below the pins, not behind or tipped in. Shanks shorter in proportion to the body than in standard-sized cattle. Hooves short-toed with a deep heel for good balance and longevity. Long toes force the cow to stand and walk with its feet set forward of where they would naturally land. While in motion back hooves track inline with the forehooves. Dewclaws short, trim, and evenly spaced.
TAIL
Tailhead level with topline. A very slight downward slope is acceptable. Tail firmly planted between the pins, thick at the base, tapering to a fine tip and a full switch, hanging straight and relaxed with an easy swing. White in the switch is acceptable.
CONDITIONING/ BEEF YIELD
Depth of heart girth, balance of hind and forequarters, rump width, refinement of bone structure, all enhance gainability, feed efficiency, and reproductive proficiency. Breeding females should have a condition score between 5 and 6 for optimum rebreeding performance, and to be able to produce milk at their full potential. Cows that lose condition too quickly after calving should be culled. Over conditioned females are notorious for calving problems. Fat cows tend to be lazy and less able to flex, and in labor fail to adjust the calf into correct calving position, fail to stimulate the calf, are too sluggish for calf safety, and are prone to heat stress. Excess internal fat inhibits function of vitals, reduces conception rates, and is very troublesome when vet-checking. Over conditioned beeves have poor muscle tone, and lower beef yield. Under conditioned cows will be overtaxed growing a baby, have low milk yield resulting in poor calf weight gain, and poor rebreeding rates. A first time heifer that is underweight at breeding will always be underweight and high maintenance. An under conditioned beef can't be aged for very long, and is difficult to cook.
MILK AND BEEF QUALITY
As a family homestead cow it is essential that the milk has the components necessary for cheese making. Milk that is low in components and quality may fail to form a curd, lack flavor, be too impotent for aging, or be too easily overpowered by foreign cultures in the aging process. A1/A1 beta casein is a modern variant and is very disagreeable in a heritage breed of cattle. A2/A2 being the older and finer quality should be preserved as it is an essential element of the heritage family cow. The meat should be fine grained, rich flavored, finely marbled if harvested at prime condition and age, tender with little connective tissue, which should melt easily in the cooking process. As a homestead style breed, it is oftentimes not feasible to grain finish beeves. Beeves are expected to be prime for harvesting at 20 months of age on grass and minerals alone. Milk and meat genetics are inseparable -- if one is lacking you can be sure the other will be poor as well.
COLOUR
Solid black, red, and dun. All colours being of equal merit. A small amount of white is allowed on the underline, udder area, organs of generation, and the tassel of the tail. White forward of the naval should be strongly discouraged, but in no way detracts from the animals' breeding value. So long as cattle are proven to be purebred, colour should never be prioritized over structural soundness and productivity. "A good cow is never a bad colour."
WEIGHT AND SIZE
Cows: At four years of age, cows should not exceed 850 pounds. Height should be between 36" and 44" at the hip. Bulls: At four years of age, bulls should not exceed 1,100 pounds. Height should be between 38" and 46" at the hip. Overly large and tall animals or extremely small, short animals are to be strongly discouraged as suitable breeding stock.
By Hope Thompson
8/1/2021