The Dexter is an Irish

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of small cattle. It originated in the eighteenth century in

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, in south-western Ireland, and appears to be named after a man named Dexter, who was factor of the estates of Lord Hawarden on

Valentia Island Valentia Island () is one of Republic of Ireland, Ireland's most westerly points. It lies in Dingle Bay off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee ...

. Until the second half of the nineteenth century it was considered a type within the Kerry breed.

History

The Dexter originated in the eighteenth century in

, in south-western Ireland, and was apparently named after a man named Dexter, who was factor of the estates of Lord Hawarden on

. Rotund short-legged Kerry cattle are documented from the late eighteenth century; the Scottish agriculturalist David Low, writing in 1842, describes them as the "Dexter Breed", and writes "When any individual of a Kerry drove appears remarkably round and short legged, it is common for the country people to call it a Dexter". Until the second half of the nineteenth century the Dexter was considered a type within the Kerry breed; from 1863 it was shown in a separate class at the

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

s of the Royal Dublin Society. A joint

herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders wh ...

, ''The Kerry and Dexter Herd Book'', was established in 1890, and a breed society, the Kerry and Dexter Cattle Society of Ireland, was started in 1917; the name was shortened to the Kerry Cattle Society of Ireland in 1919. It was brought to England in 1882. The breed virtually disappeared in Ireland, but was still maintained as a pure breed in a number of small herds in England and the United States. In 2023 it was reported to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for ...

by sixteen countries in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania; the largest populations were in Denmark and the United Kingdom. Its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

worldwide is listed as 'not at risk', while for Ireland it is listed as 'at risk/critical'.

Characteristics

The cattle are small; heights at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

for bulls are usually in the range , for cows about less; the average weight of a cow is approximately .. The coat is usually solid black, but may also be red or dun. The cattle were formerly always horned; in the twenty-first century some polled examples are seen, but the mechanism of introduction of this characteristic has not been identified. Some Dexter cattle carry a gene for chondrodysplasia (a semilethal gene), which is a form of

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...

that results in shorter legs than unaffected cattle. Chondrodysplasia-affected Dexters are typically 6–8 in shorter in height than unaffected ones. Breeding two chondrodysplasia-affected Dexters together results in a 25% chance that the foetus can abort prematurely. A DNA test is available to test for the chondrodysplasia gene, using tail hairs from the animal. The aborted foetus is commonly called a bulldog, a stillborn calf that has a bulging head, compressed nose, protruding lower jaw, and swollen tongue, as well as extremely short limbs. The occurrence of bulldog foetuses is higher in calves born with a black coat than a red coat, because black coat colour is more common. Short-legged Dexter cattle are considered to be heterozygous, while bulldog foetuses are homozygous for chondrodysplasia genes. Dexters can also be affected with pulmonary hypoplasia with anasarca (PHA), which is an incomplete formation of the lungs with accumulation of a serum fluid in various parts of the tissue of the foetus. Unlike chondrodysplasia, which has many physical signs, PHA shows no outward signs and is only detectable through DNA testing. As with Chondrodysplasia, PHA-affected Dexters should not be bred together. Dexter cattle have short legs compared to other breeds; increased shortness is displayed from the knee to the fetlock. Dexter cattle are very hardy, efficient grazers and are able to thrive on poor land.

Use

The Dexter is dual-purpose breed, reared for both milk and beef. Milk yields average about per lactation, although some farms may reach an average of . In flavour and texture the meat is often not as good as that of other breeds, especially if it is from a very short-legged animal.

References

Cattle breeds originating in Ireland Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy {{bots, deny=Citation bot