🐄 Starting a Herd? Here’s What We’d Do Differently

Hey y’all,

We’ve talked about grazing, fencing, and preparing to sell beef — but today I want to get real about what we would do differently if we were starting our Dexter cattle journey all over again.

We’ve learned a lot by just doing — and sometimes messing up — so if you’re thinking about starting your own herd, here are a few lessons you might want to hear first.

1. ✅ We’d Buy Fewer — and Better

At the start, we were focused on getting a few heads fast. Looking back, we’d rather have waited for quality — cattle with good structure, calm temperament, and a solid history of calving and grazing well.

It’s tempting to go for what’s available, but patience pays off. Good genetics will save you time, money, and frustration down the road.

2. 📋 We’d Keep Better Records from Day One

At first, we thought we’d remember everything… but that didn’t last long.

Now we track:

• Calving dates

• Cow/calf pairs

• Grazing rotations

• Health treatments

• Breeding exposures

A cheap notebook or Google Sheet works fine — the key is just writing it down.

3. 🚫 We Wouldn’t Mix Ages Early On

Trying to manage young calves, heifers, and mature cows together? Not fun.

Different ages have different needs, and combining them made feeding and handling harder than it had to be. We now separate groups better and it’s made everything smoother.

4. 🚜 We’d Invest in Infrastructure Sooner

A few more gates, a small handling alley, and better water access early on would have saved hours of frustration. You don’t need a fancy setup — just smart placement and good flow.

5. 🤝 We’d Connect with Other Farmers Sooner

One of the best things we’ve done lately is start talking to folks who are a few steps ahead of us. A quick call, a farm visit, or even a DM on Instagram can give you advice that saves a lot of guesswork.

If you're reading this and ever want to talk cattle, I’m always open to chat.

We’re still learning as we go, and that’s part of the fun. But if you’re just starting out — or planning to — hopefully some of this helps you start a little smarter than we did.

Next Week:
Next week, we’re switching gears and talking egg-laying chickens — one of the easiest (and most fun) ways to start your homestead journey. Whether you’re planning your first coop or just want better eggs, we’ll walk through what’s worked for us and what we’d do differently.

Until then, stay steady and keep growing.

– Tim Parker
Start My Homestead
@startmyhomestead | @heritage_springs_farm