Does anyone have Mini Herefords?

GBov · #1 02/27/12, 06:34 PM

Someone near us is selling a few and I am at the planning stage of getting my cow/steer/heifer for meat. Having now filled my freezers to the bursting point with pork and still have a pig leftover eating his head off, a full sized beef beast is out of the question. It will just be too much meat all at once so I am looking at smaller breeds.

I really like what I read about Dexters but they arent the only small cow in the pasture lol.

Does anyone have Mini Herefords and can tell me about them? Flighty? Docile? Mean? Lovely? Easy/hard keepers?

kycrawler · #2 02/27/12, 06:56 PM

I have a mini herford heifer she is about 500 lbs she is docile not mean at all almost curious . If someone in the indiana /kentucky area would be interested in her she will be for sale reasonable as she doesnt fit in my herd well as i dont have any other mini's

65284 · #3 02/27/12, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GBov

Having now filled my freezers to the bursting point with pork and still have a pig leftover eating his head off, a full sized beef beast is out of the question.

I hope you realize that after about a year or less most pork starts to become rancid and almost unfit to eat.

kycrawler · #4 02/27/12, 07:19 PM

your pork will not "go rancid " in a year you may get some freezer burn but it will not turn bad in a proper temp deep freezer

back on topic if the mini herfords your looking at are tempered like the one i have and priced reasonable i would go for it if you only need a small beef , may be more cost effective to feed out a jersey steer and butcher him younger though if you have to pay alot for the herford

lakeportfarms · #5 02/27/12, 07:22 PM

We have one mini Hereford in a herd of 25 Dexters. She is flighty compared to them and we've never been able to tame her down. It's hard to find them selling for the same or less than an average Dexter, they are usually more expensive.

GBov · #6 02/27/12, 08:07 PM

I seller hasn't gotten back to me yet - e-mail and phone message left - but they have a 10 month old and a 9 month old heifer for sale for $250 each and a twin set heifer/bull 6 month old for $450 the pair. Is it true that the heifer will be sterile as a female half of a twin set?

Not being all the way ready for one I haven't chased them up but by weeks end I should be ready and will be actively hunting my beef.

The only Dexters I have found for sale lately have been over a grand so well out of my budget

And we have vacuum packed our pork so it should stay good for a year or more. That is one of the reasons why I like to butcher my animals myself. I can vacuum pack them instead of getting them back in butcher paper. Well, that and I am SURE my animal is hte one in my freezer!

mitchell3006 · #7 02/27/12, 09:28 PM

Yes in all likelyhood on the sterile heifer on the twin set. I forget the term for her but she will be to eat only.

myersfarm · #8 02/27/12, 09:53 PM

Freemartin. Heifer with bull calf as twin will be sterile 93 % of the time. I just cull

lakeportfarms · #9 02/28/12, 06:29 AM

Yikes! That's pretty cheap, most of the mini-herefords I've seen listed (registered though) have been North of $1500.00 each.

The twins are terminal though...freezer only.

Lazy J · #10 02/28/12, 06:30 AM

I get a kick out of these threads. Hereford breeders spent decades trying to elimnate dwarfism in the breed, now we have mini-Herefords. Boy times do change.

BarbadosSheep · #11 02/28/12, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myersfarm

Freemartin. Heifer with bull calf as twin will be sterile 93 % of the time. I just cull

Wow! Learn something new every day. I had no idea this happened. What about twin heifers....they are OK? That is very interesting.

kycrawler · #12 02/28/12, 07:09 AM

twin heifers are a ok $250 a head for calves that old is a steal you could buy the 2 good heifers to keep and buy the other twins to go to freezer camp with beef prices this year that is probably the best deal you will find

GBov · #13 02/28/12, 07:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kycrawler

twin heifers are a ok $250 a head for calves that old is a steal you could buy the 2 good heifers to keep and buy the other twins to go to freezer camp with beef prices this year that is probably the best deal you will find

You read my mind wooooOOOOooooooo lol.

Having read about the breed over the last few days and talked to you guys, I am DEFF. going to give getting these ones a try. I find buying off Craigs list to be 50 50 for actually getting what one wants.

BarbadosSheep · #14 02/28/12, 07:27 AM

For that price, I'd buy them all if you have room. If the bull calf is unrelated, hold off steering him until he has had a chance to breed the heifers. Even if he is their half-brother, use him as a terminal sire. Once they are bred, then send him to freezer camp as ground meat and roasts. In understand young bulls are fine and dandy to eat, although maybe a little tougher than a steer would have been.

pancho · #15 02/28/12, 09:33 AM

Lots of people are buying dwarf and mini cattle nowdays.
If people will keep accurate records of the cost of these animals these type of cattle would become much less popular except to those who want lawn ornaments.

GBov · #16 02/28/12, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pancho

Lots of people are buying dwarf and mini cattle nowdays.
If people will keep accurate records of the cost of these animals these type of cattle would become much less popular except to those who want lawn ornaments.

Why is that? From what I read they eat less and cause less damage to your land. With teh plus that they will fit into a freezer.

So what is the down side to minil or dwarf cattle?

myersfarm · #17 02/28/12, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GBov

Why is that?

From what I read they eat less

that is EAT LESS EACH DAY.... a normal size animal will eat more but give more meat or normal will have a better ADG

So a small will take longer to grow to size to butcher but a normal will get there faster...if you butcher both at 700 pounds or any size you want JUST TO FIT IN FREEZER

If you have grass and start both on grass in March till Oct. you would have the normal in freezer but small will need to go though the winter to get to same size as the normal..

.will that cost more for the small to keep longer YES

and cause less damage to your land....if you grow grass like you should I do not see how but if you over graze a small parcil as in 2 acre to both the normal will be over grazing yes

but if you over graze both both will damage your land.

.I see no difference in a 700 lb normal or a 700 pound small walking around on your land..do you ?

With teh plus that they will fit into a freezer. a elephant will fit in the freezer if you slaughter them young enough

So what is the down side to minil or dwarf cattle?

the PRICE PER POUND ...you start out in the hole..$1500 for a 500 pound animal.....or a normal at 900 lbs for a average of $1.43 right now $1287 at that price I can give away all that does not fit in freezer

if you buy as calf small will be $600 and a normal will be $200 at the same age lose one of those and YOU WILL lose a animal if you have a animal

If you butcher the killing and gut disposal and butcher prices usully run the same no matter what the weight so figure that in to the pounds of meat you bring home NORMAL WINS EASY but if you slaught at same size even

YOU Can never sale at sale barn if YOU NEED MONEY TODAY..you have to deal with people one on one and run ads

this is my outlook on small and normal size notice I never said DEXTER OR MINATURE HEREFROD OR ANY BREED JUST SMALL

pancho · #18 02/28/12, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GBov

Why is that? From what I read they eat less and cause less damage to your land. With teh plus that they will fit into a freezer.

So what is the down side to minil or dwarf cattle?

Look at the price most people charge for the minis. Figure that out to per pound of meat in the freezer. Then you still have the same type of cost that comes with any cow. Add the total cost up and you will see quite a bit of difference in the cost of the meat.
If you do not overcrowd the land a cow isn't going to do any real damage to the land. They eat less because they produce less.

oregon woodsmok · #19 02/28/12, 09:02 PM

If you want a mini, that's fine. But if freezer space is the issue, you can raise a full size steer and sell a side on the rail.

GBov · #20 02/29/12, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oregon woodsmok

If you want a mini, that's fine. But if freezer space is the issue, you can raise a full size steer and sell a side on the rail.

As I butcher my animals myself, size is DEFF! an issue lol.

But yet again my attempt at land has fallen through, turns out our 4H club cant rent me an unused corner of the land because I am not a non-profit organization. So I am back to haunting CL. With so much land around, why is it being so hard to find some