Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

I'm pleased that I'm not the only one using more mineral than usual. According to the label, one bucket of forage booster should last 20 cattle for 10 days. 10 Dexters polished it off in a week - then somehow threw the empty bucket out of the pen to make sure I got the message that they wanted more.

If your fields are close together, can you apply for the holding numbers to be linked? I rent adjoining fields from two different owners, and so I can move cattle from one to the other without pre-movement tests. But its only a matter of opening a gate, no roads to cross.

There are several websites where TB is under active discussion. Its an extremely emotive subject and many cattle farmers are very angry about the situation. Unfortunately, the "so called" wildlife supporters have the upper hand and most farmers are very disappointed by the apparent lack of...

I was talking to a butcher who buys Wagyu beef from a producer in Suffolk. He's selling Rump steak for £75/kg, mince for £16.80/kg and even the fat for £10/kg. The cattle are reared on grass to 30 months, then brought inside and finished to 36 months on a maize based feed that is claimed to promote ...

As Rob says, cows come into heat at all sorts of inconvenient times. Unfortunately that tends to make AI quite difficult to manage for those of us who are not full time stockmen. The problem is that cows can be in heat for as short a period as 6 hours, so by the time the cow has been recognised as b...

The majority of animals being offered for sale were shorts as the sellers are active showmen & women. I felt the high standard of presentation was a credit to the sellers and the breed. Prices were pretty varied and ranged from 260 gns for 1st calver with steer at foot to 1100gns for 3rd calver ...

I see that a couple of shops are selling what they claim is Wagu beef. As far as I can see, Wagu is just Japanese for beef, so it is probably not as special as they claim. But they quote a scoring system for marbling which just appears to be comparing a steak with a series of photographs - that sugg...

I don't mean to insult you Duncan, but I've stopped using my vet for disbudding as he made a terrible mess. I have one horned cows and half horned animals from his efforts. I now use a hoof and horn contractor who does a much tidier and successful job. Probably horses for courses, but dehorning isn'...

I've also tried to buy Suckler Rolls, but my local feed merchant claims they have never heard of them. I've also tried to get a stand to lift mineral licks up to deter badgers, but the only ones I've found are 1 metre high which isn't a lot of use for Dexters.

If you need to drill stanchions, you might try hiring a magnetic stand drill or better still a rotabroach. They hold everything steady and make the whole job easier.

Slaughtering your own for sale is going to open a whole truckload of red-tape and for only a handful of animals each year is unlikely to be worthwhile. You have quite a number of licensed abattoirs in your area, so why not contact them to compare costs and ease of use.

My brother used to have a wrapper for small square bales from McHale using 250mm wrap. It worked well. I built a hydraulic power unit so that it could be driven from a small diesel engine rather than tying up a tractor. Some time later, McHale offered a similar unit. There is also a similar McHale w...

A major problem with second hand small square balers and to some extent with most farm machinery is that it's getting harder and harder to find machines that are in decent condition. There are so few small square balers being made now that many machines on the second hand market are getting to the e...

I had a heifer calve late Saturday/Sunday night in the middle of a downpour with the temperature at about 5°C. I give her great credit because instead of calving in the hedge bottom as normally happens, she went into the shed. So everyone – including me – kept fairly warm and dry. Must be the traini...

I plan to send a Dexter bull to Ireland next week. The haulier is based in Ireland but picks up and delivers cattle in UK and Europe on a weekly basis. M.D. Workman Ltd, Monaghan, Ireland
tel: 003534781463 Contact is Hilary Workman