Although the first
written record of their existence dates from
1776, the Dexter
breed was almost surely
bred a few centuries earlier. Unfortunately, their
history prior to
1776 is entirely
anecdotal, and not terribly reliable.
It is known that they come from southern Ireland, and have traditionally been used for both milk and meat purposes.
Their most distinctive attribute, however, is their size: they are unbelievably small, closer in size to a large dog than to a normal cow. They are actually rather adorable, although they still produce a respectable quantity of meat and milk.
This node is part of Tem42's list of cattle breeds, entitled, simply, cattle.