Dairy
Dexter
C tier
Dexter is a small Irish dual-purpose breed popular with homesteaders. Cows give modest volumes of relatively rich milk—enough for a family, yoghurt, and small cheese makes without the scale of commercial dairy breeds. Flavour is creamy and pleasant when animals are well fed on mixed forage. Dexter milk is a smallholder favourite: manageable output, good household creaminess. It is not an industrial carton milk. Expect farm-gate jars and home dairying rather than supermarket branding.
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
History
Dexter type developed as a small dual-purpose Irish cattle.
Dexters spread to British smallholdings as house cows.
Breed kept by hobby and small farms through industrial dairy growth.
Homestead dairying revived demand for Dexter house-cow milk.