Well, about 1,100 miles later we finally have our new bull, Tama Sundance, home safe and sound. Except for some storms on Tuesday morning our trip was fairly uneventful as far as things go when you are hauling a bull half way across the country. Sundance was a good passenger who didn't make any noise and drank plenty of water along the way. It was also a relief to see him walk right out of the trailer and have some grass, drink some clean water, and eat a little all within the first five minutes on the farm.As you can see from the picture above he truly does look like a bull, which is something that we were really looking for. But, beyond looking like a bull we think he will add a lot to our herd. He has great feet and seems to pass that on to his progeny (good feet are an issue in the Dexter breed). Also, the folks we bought him from feel like he improved the udders of his offspring as well.
Another plus for him is that he is red and homozygous from the dun color. That was a nice addition for us because we have a growing number of dun cows and heifers in our herd and I just plain like that color. Also, the red is nice to have becasue we do have a red heifer now and I wouldn't mind adding more so that we can have a representation of all the colors (black, dun, red).
All in all I'm glad to have him here on Stoneyfield Farm. He seems like he is a gentle guy and I think will be a great fit for the farm. Right now he is haning out by himself and getting acclamated to the farm, but we can't wait to get him out with some of the herd.
8 comments:
I really like red-hided cattle, especially the bulls.
I have even been considering getting a Red Angus bull to breed to our black angus cows so I can have a red-hided bull in the pasture to look at.
I'm curious about his height and how much he weighs, he looks much bigger in the picture than I imagine a Dexter would be.
Around here, fwiw, red hides have lower value.
I'm not saying that makes sense. It probably doesn't, but it seems to be the case.
I am curious too. What is this bulls Hip Height and how old is he??
He does look like a very good bull, and quiet too for having been on such a long ride.
Yeoman,
You're right. In most places anything other than black is docked at the sale barn but for people who aren't interested in selling at the sale barn, it's a different story. In both Dexters and Lowlines red is a rare color and some say they handle the heat better so they tend to be worth more. For Lowlines, they are worth much much more.
Oh he is a handsome fella indeed. Nice choice.
Impressive fellow!
Nice bull. I wonder, though, when feet became an issue. We have had Dexters for well over a decade and haven't heard about poor feet.
Daryl Frank www.natures-paradise.net
We have a hand full of Dexters and one, Ivy, has really long feet.
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