Mini Breeds?

[Spinner]

I was reading about microcattle at http://newton.nap.edu/books/030904295X/html/17.html and started wondering if anyone on the forum raises any small breeds. I'd like to find out all I can about any that are available here in the CONUS. If you raise any tiny breeds, please tell me what breed, the size of them, and some of the benefits and drawbacks of them.

[jeff caldwell]

we raise miniature cattle we did have a herd of regular cattle up till last year so out of them cause the mini's where making more clear money for us. we also buck some of our bulls for kids to ride at rodeo's. we have several mini's for sale and most of our cows are like pets they want to follow you and be scratch on. our web site is
www.doubleccattle.com

[jnap31]

Spinner the Micro breeds in the book are different from the ones that folks are selling as miniatures in the USA, I did a search for the two chineese breeds (yellow cattle and Cheju hanwoo) in the book and could not find them in the USA, They are comprable to Dexter though they are adapted to the tropics. Minatures have problems with calving and other issues lots of folks think they are a bubble like the other new livestock species over the years emu's and the like if you pay big money for a little animal eventually you may regret it when you run out of buyers with lots of $.

[Spinner]

Originally Posted by jnap31

if you pay big money for a little animals eventually you may regret it when you run out of buyers with lots of $.

I'm not interested in the expensive "show" animals that sell for thousands of dollars. I'm interested in raising my own meat, I could never put a super expensive animal in the freezer. After reading about microlivestock, I think they would be great for the homestead. They eat less and are easier to handle. I wouldn't have a problem butchering every few months instead of once a year.

I do have several emu's in my freezer along with lots of emu oil, shampoo, etc. A neighbor of mine had several hundred of them and he decided to just turn them loose. I made a deal with a processor and got 50 of them. The processor picked them up and give me all the products in exchange for them. Worked out real good. I like the meat and the oil. If emu products weren't so expensive I'd use lots of them.

[jeff caldwell]

our miniature cattle is not dwarfs they are bred down in size that we have been breeding for. our cattle are dexters , zebus , lowline , mini longhorn , longhorn, mini hereford and our favorite is the piney wood cattle check our web site out and click on the piney wood bull and go to the history of them. we cross these cattle out and end up with some good mothers that give plenty of milk for thier calf. i think the mini are here to stay and as far as price our start at 500.00 for bulls and our heifers at 600.00 unless we have one that stands out in color and body conformation. we usually don't even keep the calf till weaning age cause people want them and a lot of them are just family pets. they are the ideal size for one family or 2 families to split for the freezer. our mini's are very beefy with a lot of muscle on them. they are easy keepers and don't take as much feed for them right now we are running 3 to acre where regular cattle is 1 per acre.

[jeff caldwell]

our web site is
www.doubleccattle.com

[jnap31]

They look like great Cows Jeff,I checked out your site.