Does anyone have miniature cows?

[TheLands]

My DH is interested and I wanna see what I can find out. I have goats now and about to add chickens to our little farm. Just wanna make sure I have some facts before a decision is made. It is gonna be a while before we are ready for that anyway. Hehe. Just excited.

[Levonsa]

We have a few miniature cattle. They are unregistered crosses, but I like them and can afford to eat one, when we get that far along. We had registered miniature zebu several years ago. They were very hardy, but slow growing and smaller than what we have now. Several of our crosses are part zebu. The Herefords, Lowlines and Jersey's are nice animals, but not economical for our goals. Good luck on your search. Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

[wstevenl]

You would probably call ours miniatures but most aren't as small as Zebus. We have mostly Dexters and a Lowline Angus bull. I've got one really small Dexter heifer but I think it's because her mama was always sick and didn't have much milk. Most are waist high or a little taller and probably around 700 lbs. Our bull is probably 48" or so and I'm guessing.... 1,100 lbs. His dad was 49" and 1500 lbs. His daddy is Doc Holiday.

[genebo]

I have Dexters and really enjoy them. I've also bred many crosses with Dexter bulls and they were nice, too.

I like the smaller size and the gentle temperament. I like the fact that Dexters make really good milk and excellent beef. If you haven't tasted Dexter beef, you owe it to yourself to try it.

They're not toys. They're good, solid, working cattle. Just small. Good for milk, beef, oxen or what have you. They're also good for drawing visitors to your farm. Everywhere I go, I'm "the guy with the little cows". I've even been in our local paper twice.

They're fun.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[hobbyfarmer]

We bought some zebus last fall and it was absolutely a waste of time and money for us. They were wild and the cow was the most aggressive animal we have ever owned. After she nearly broke my 16 yr old daughter's arm (from across the fence), we put them up for sale and got back half of what we paid because there just wasn't any interest what-so-ever in them.

We decided to switch to angus cows and a dexter bull sometime in the near future.

[65284]

Stay away from the over-hyped miniature cattle some con artists are peddling to suckers at insane prices. Even if they are sold as "registered", anyone can easily establish a "registry".

Most miniature cattle are nothing more than small mutts with a fancy name that are usually based on Dexter/Zebu/Small Jersey breedings and are bred for a certain look, color, or color pattern.

Some unfortunate folks have lost many thousands of dollars, ($18,000 in one case I know of) after falling prey to a smooth talking swindler who promised them they could get rich in the mini-cattle business. The only way to make money on the crossbred miniature cattle is to find another fool with more money than sense to sell them to.

My advice is to stick to an established breed. If you want something small, Dexers, small Jerseys, and Lowlines are all good choices and a whole lot cheaper.

[linn]

I have Dexters also. I love my little milk cow. She is a high producer for a Dexter. If you are interested in a family milk cow check the ancestry of the Dexters before buying, some lines milk much better than others. Dexters make good beef also and are usually easy to handle.

[TheLands]

Thank you all so much for your input.

65284 - I appreciate the input. We are looking to the "mini" cattle because of the size of our farm. We don't have a lot of room. We will not pay a super large amount for them. We want a pair to breed for family use, meat and milk.

I am looking for any information that anyone can give us as to a good small or "mini" breed that has good meat as well as milk production. We are not looking to make money on cattle. I have goats that I will eventually be selling babies/milk products for extra "farm cash".

One more question, how do the smaller cattle do fenced with goats, does anyone know?

Thanks again.
Have a GREAT day!!
~Lynda

[Callieslamb]

If I were you, I would find an AI tech and see what kind of mini-semen he can get for you. Then you wouldn't need to keep a bull around on a small property. I love the mini's but for what you pay for 1 - you could have 2-3 regular-sized cows. I find that a bit hard to swallow.

My neighbor has dexters. He has been trying to sell them for $1200 - a loss over what he paid, and he can't do it. He says the eat as much as his full-sized cows.

[TheLands]

Wow.

Thanks Callieslamb! That is good information to have. I am not sure if I can put a full size on our property. But wow that is expensive for what I want them for. Hmmm.... Guess I need to do some more research into cost.

[lasergrl]

In texas there are many exotic animal auctions. thats the place to buy. I got a mini angus for $150 when she was about 6 months old 9unregistered) and a zebu bull for $350. I could have bought many more but only have 3 acres fenced off for them, and also have a highland.
The angus is a little more refined, more dexter looking then registered lowlines, but the registered one are $1500 here. I'll take the $150 one thanks!

[Levonsa]

The crosses that we have were bought for between $500 and $1000. At times our cattle are with the mini horses, guinea hogs, nigerians and babydoll sheep. They all seem to get along. There were several ads that I saw last year for zebu x mini herefords for sale in Texas. I would like to have a few heifers like that. If you want milk and meat, I would look for a Jersey or Jersey cross cow and then a more beef type bull to bred her to, or as the others have suggested, have her AIed to a beefier breed. You really have to look at the cost, and what it is worth to have milk and meat on the table that you have no concerns about what is in it, as well as the satification you get from raising them.

[Maria]

One more question, how do the smaller cattle do fenced with goats, does anyone know?

When we got sheep, we pastured them with our mini cattle thinking the cows would chase predators away. Well maybe they did, I never saw, but the heifers also chased the sheep so much one aborted. I had to move the sheep out of the cow pasture and get a LGD for them. The littlest heifer was the worst, too. It's like she finally had someone small enough for her to pick on for a change. Didn't work out at all. I don't know if goats would be different or not.

[TheLands]

Hmm... I have a LGD so the predators are not a problem plus our area we don't have many.

I am not sure the differences between sheep and goats. They might end up playing. Be afraid the goats might knock out a small cow head-butting it. Man they hurt when they hit ya sometimes. Hehe.

[Maria]

It all depends on whether the goat's instinct is to fight or flee, I think. Our rams have a decent set of horns on them, and when the two of them start butting heads it sounds like a couple of 2x4s cracking together. The older ram could have put some hurt on those young hoodlum heifers, but I never saw him try. The sheep all just fled. All the sheep will butt my rat terriers or even my G. Pyrenees dog if they feel like it- but they just ran from the cattle.

[65284]

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

If I were you, I would find an AI tech and see what kind of mini-semen he can get for you. Then you wouldn't need to keep a bull around on a small property. I love the mini's but for what you pay for 1 - you could have 2-3 regular-sized cows. I find that a bit hard to swallow.

My neighbor has dexters. He has been trying to sell them for $1200 - a loss over what he paid, and he can't do it. He says the eat as much as his full-sized cows.

Callieslamb, I find what your neighbor said about Dexters eating as much as full sized cows more than a bit hard to swallow.

I've had Dexters for about 20 years as well as other cattle, my 500-600 pound Dexter cows don't come close to eating as much as my full size cattle, even my standard Jerseys eat more.

Common sense dictates that a cow twice as big as another requires more feed to thrive, even survive, than the smaller cow does.

It sounds to me like your neighbor paid too much for his Dexters and is more than a little sour about it

[genebo]

I keep Dexters and help out on an Angus farm next door. Similar pasture types. We find that the Dexters eat just a little less per pound of body weight than the Angus.

A 600 lb. Dexter cow eats about 1/2 what a 1200 lb. Angus cow eats. From what I can read, Dairy cows eat even more that a beef cow, so Dexters should really shine when compared to Holsteins.

Around here, a registered weanling Dexter heifer with no outstanding characteristics will sell for about $900. A registered Jersey heifer of the same age costs a lot more. Holsteins are even pricier.

A non-descript 6 month old Dexter bull calf will bring about $600. An Angus steer of the same age will bring about the same price.

If you are buying trained milk cows or breeding quality bulls, the price is quite variable but almost certainly higher.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[copperhead46]

I know that I can keep 12 Dexters and three horses on about 15 acres and they are fat and healthy, and raising calves ,can't do that with big cows. I fed 12 head last winter and they went through a big bale about every 5 days, I also had 3 horses eating off of that same bale. We had a brutal winter last year and they all did great. You sure can't do that with big cattle.
P.J.

[deineria]

Wow, Copperhead46! That is doing amazingly well on that amount of hay!

I've kept our 10 month old Jersey heifer in with our huge Nubian buck, our llama and our Arab stallion, and she has done very well and bonded with all of the above animals. She has never been hurt by the buck or stallion. She was smaller than the buck when we first put them in together.

[linn]

Dexters are not really miniature cows, but they are still great little cattle. Usually very mild mannered and easy to train. As with every animal there are differences in personality, so you may get a Dexter once-in-a-while that is not so tame. Handling is everything. Make sure whatever breed you get that they are tame from the start and work with them every day by feeding a little grain or mineral to keep them that way.