[Big Benny Shep]

At last! im hopefully going to see 3 dexters this weekend 


I am soo freaking excited!

[SallyintNorth]

 

 

 

 

 

[Big Benny Shep]

Any advice from you coo gurus for when i go look at them? 

[Backinwellies]

   Have fun ..... you can't beat cows (well I guess you can but they may fight back!).   Worked with (other peoples) cattle most of my life  and hadn't realised how much I missed them over the last 6 cow free years. Now I have twin Dexter heifers and a Shetland cow and un related heifer calf of my own    .   The Dexters are more or less halter trained (thanks Anne) and lovely.
 The Shetland cow has moved into boss position and shoves the others about so it was only yesterday (after them being here about 5 weeks I tried to get the Shetland calf (who is the size of the year old Dexters) into close quarters to she how she reacted............ what  a darling ............. I walked her into a small pen and proceeded to stroke her all over ... she didn't even flinch once.  .....

So my advice find some which have been well handled (probably by a female owner?) but still be wary of all those things listed above............ as for   Dexter or Shetland ..... have BOTH!!   

[SallyintNorth]

Any advice from you coo gurus for when i go look at them? 

Not a guru, but I have a few tips.

Of course you want them healthy - they should be inquisitive, not breathing hard, not rasping when they breathe.  Wet noses but not dripping phlegm.  The usual stuff, lol.

Behaviour-wise, they should be inquisitive but respectful.  They should move away from a direct approach, should not turn and drop their head towards you, much less shake their heads.  They should not lift a back leg as if to kick.  If you stand quietly in an unthreatening posture they should approach and try to sniff and maybe lick.  They should not attempt to butt.

If you can touch them, don't touch their faces as this can be seen as an invitation to play head butting games  .  Most cattle love to be scratched on the back, base of tail, behind shoulders.  Maybe behind ears but not all of them like this.

I'd ask to see them fed some cake, or even to feed it to them myself - you'll soon see how respectful they are, some will be knocking you over as you dish it out  .  If they can't settle to eat while you're there they maybe are a bit wild, so see if you can get them to settle.

Best of luck!

[Big Benny Shep]

Thanks, ill bear in mind all those points, im goin to see 2 different people with dexters for sale tomorrow 

[Big Benny Shep]

Went to see some lovely dexters last night, they all came running in for food, very nicely tempered, you could stroke them all while they fed including the bull. So looks like I'll be getting 2 with calves at foot on Sunday, hopefully they will be in calf as well as they are running with the bull now  which is exactly what I wanted. Will post photos on Sunday. Thanks for all the help guys!

[Backinwellies]

   lovely ..... very jealous of the pregnant bit .... i still waiting to get to that.  But just love cows

[Tim W]

When buying stock the first thing I always think about is health status----and having bought a few cattle before I would recommend that before you buy anything you demand blood tests for BVD/lepto/Johnes/IBR ---the cost is very little and any of these diseases can devastate a herd (future or present)

No one has mentioned TB yet---if I was going to get back into cattle that would be high up on ,my worries---

What's the TB status of farms around you?
What's the TB status of the farm you will source stock from?
What's the TB risk around you?
Are you prepared for the event of getting a positive TB test = compulsory slaughter of cattle

having said all that I love cattle and would trade in my sheep for some nice cows any day of the week--I just can't see any way of making a living at it

[Big Benny Shep]

Cheers Tim, I recently had a random visit from animal health and asked her about tb and suchlike issues with getting cows and she gave me some info that I will re read, I'd forgotten about tb in all the excitement. I'm well prepared if they do have to be slaughtered in the future, if I assume everything will die in the most awkward and expensive way possible anything better is a blessing 

[SallyintNorth]

The key thing to make sure of is that the farm you are buying from is of the same or better TB testing status as your own area.  You can look up TB status by CPH (first two parts - county and parish) here

Best is TB4 - TB tested every 4 years, is TB free to all intents and purposes.  TB3, 2, and 1 are increasingly risky - tested more frequently and with cases in the parish in increasingly recent times.

If buying through an auction you get a display that tells you the TB status of the farm and also the TB status of the animal (which may be less good if it's other than homebred - for instance a TB4 farm may sell a TB3 cow, because she came from a TB3 farm.)

We're TB 4 here and won't buy anything (including sheep) from anywhere that's other than TB free (ie., Scotland) or TB4.

We were shocked and disappointed recently to see a man we'd bought a tup from buying a TB1 calf at an auction.   We will not be buying from him again.