Mini Cattle!

[Rebecka]

So, I dont know if you all have heard of these but they are bread ( not genetically engineered ) cattle to be about the size ( height ) of a large dog. Even the milking breeds could produce enough beef for a small family for a year on less than a dollar a day for care! They thrive well on grazing and do well with hay over the winter. We are very limited on space and are looking to get a bull and about three heifers. We can supposedly keep them on less than an acre
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[mamagoose]

Intetesting... they did do it with horses. Hehehe I just pictured mini cows running around, so cute!

 

[Rebecka]

I hope its okay to post this.. http://minimoofarm.org/ but check out the pics! OMG! so cute and under 300 lbs!

 

[ksalvagno]

If you can keep them on less than an acre than you are looking at feeding a lot of hay. Alpacas are around 150-200 lbs and it is suggested not to have more than 5 to an acre and I'm betting that these guys need more grass/hay than an alpaca would. Plus they would probably quickly beat up a pasture and then there is the manure everywhere. I would look into that a little further. I don't think they will end up being as cheap to feed as you think.

 

[deb4o]

This is very interesting, about a month ago we were at the auction and a small cow came though, we all laughed, as we had never heard of such a thing. Now this info---wish I could of talked hubby into buying it, the price was very low, as all the cattle guys weren't interested in it.Sure would of looked cute out in the pasture

 

[Wifezilla]

There are several breeds of small, heritage cattle. I SO WANT some Irish Dexters!!!!

http://fulloflifefarm.blogspot.com/2009/02/dexter-cattle.html

 

[patandchickens]

By "keep" 3-cows-and-a-bull-on 1 acre, do you mean "feed entirely during the growing season", or just "they can live there but we will feed a lot of hay even in summer"? And, is that meant to include raising up their offspring?

All I can say is, it would require careful management and smart rotational grazing to keep four SHEEP and their offspring on just the grazing from a single acre even if it is good pasture (especially if it is just one acre, not like 40 sheep and their offspring on 10 acres, which is a much easier situation to deal with even though the stocking density is the same)... and these critters are bigger'n sheep

Plus if a slaughter-age steer was maybe 220 lbs, that's probably what maybe 100 lbs of meat, ish? That would be less than 2 lbs of beef per week, not much for most families these days. (Well, multiplied by however many animals you do per year, obviously)

I dunno, I am not quite seeing the math angle here.

They are *cute* of course. And really I'd be sort of interested in learning more about them as *milkers*, the other miniature breeds I've seen are still a big big and high-production for me but maybe I've not looked into it enough.

Pat

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hey Rebecka!

i would LOVE mini cows! the only real drawback i see is that they are wildly expensive (around here). with what you are paying you might as well get a full sized gal...or a big truckload of goats



i'd be interested to see what you find out - from what i see they would be a great solution for us. or like WZ says - there are some heritage breeds that are on the smallish size.

and of course there is Daisy, who loves me more than Bourbon Red.
;-)

the folks over on the herds site tend to bash on the mini cows so dont be surprised at the reaction if you ask over there. i still dont know what all the hatin' in about.

me, if i had pasture and a wheelbarrow full of money, i'd buy up a big slew of them and make a ton of money selling them.

 

[miss_thenorth]

There si a Mother Earth News article on dexters--I have researched them alot. I believe pasture requirements for one are 1/2 to one acre per head, supplemented with hay in the winter. There is no way you could have 4 on one acre. I have an acre dedicated to my 7 sheep (which are much smaller than a cow) and I still have to rotate them to the front yard and part of the horse pasture to make sure they have enough graze.

 

[Blackbird]

Sorry to be a Negative Nate, but since when has 'cute' meant saving money? LOL.

Two dairy goats could produce as much milk as one mini cow, if not more, and still have a cheaper feed bill.
If you have the money and don't mind the expenses, I say go for it, but many other animals are more economical.