Meat and Milk Production
Meat
Dexter meat is lean, with light marbling, high quality and good flavor. Dexters have less tallow and fat layers than most beef breeds. This means a greater percentage of useable beef, usually dressing out at approximately 55-65% of live weight. The quantity of meat from one animal can easily be stored in a home freezer. Beef animals mature in 18 months and result in small cuts of high quality lean meat, graded choice, with little waste. The Dexter is known to have a 15% larger rib eye area for its weight than larger beef breeds.
Milk
Milk production of a Dexter cow depends on her condition, her genetics, her feed ration and general health, as with other breeds. Dexter milk is known for smaller fat globules, making it more digestible. The milk is rich, averaging 4 to 5% butterfat which separates within 24 hours. The cream can be skimmed off and used for butter and ice cream. The milk is sweet and rich even after the cream is removed and can be used to make excellent cheese or cottage cheese. The daily yield averages 1.5 to 2.5 gallons per day, resulting in more milk production for its weight than any other breed.
