# Looking for miniature cattle



## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

My husband is interested in raising miniature cattle. Do any of you raise those on here? If so, what kind and what do you think of them?

thanks kirsten


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## Jay (Feb 5, 2008)

I like them, but what are you specifically looking for? Milk, meat or both? Dairy types or beef types?
More info on what you need would help.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

I raise Dexter cattle, and really love them. They are not mini's in the sence that they have been breed down from full size cattle, they are a naturally small sized animal. When cows or horses are bred down, you usually have a dwarf factor that can cause problems with them, like their internal organs are full size, but the animal is dwarfed. this factor will cause an awful death in the animal as it matures. Now, all you mini breeders don't jump on me, it's not a common factor, but it happens. There are a lot of small breeds, Highlands, Duch Belted (I think) Belfair (Dexter Jersey crosses) and they are all small with out the mini problems thrown in. 
You will find that the smaller animals will be easier to handle, easier on your fences and will not eat nearly as much as a full size animal. My reason for having Dexters is that we didn't need a full size beef for the freezer, so Dexters were the way to go for me, and I sell beef to other people when I have extra.
Research the archives in Mother Earth News, they have done several articles on small cattle vs. large breeds.
P.J.


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## Menglish (May 7, 2009)

Fairly new at it but I have to second the Dexters.

Mike


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## Razorback21 (May 13, 2003)

I accidently received five Lowline Angus as part of a lot of mixed calves last January. Boy did I ever like their disposition, being able to learn to rotate pastures on a MIG system and ability to put on weight with grass only. They followed me everywhere in the pasture. We kept two of them over and are finishing them for customers, so I have no data on gain/day, dress out percentage, etc. If you want to PM in October, I could provide you with that information.


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## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

Let's see... probably meat but wouldn't mind little jerseys either.
They have to be true mini cattle. But copperhead! You have my dog! That's crazy! Mine is a male named Rory, about 65 pounds.
I am curious if mini herefords have as many health problems as large herefords? Stuff like that.


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## SusyTX (Sep 9, 2008)

We also have Dexters and they are wonderful! They're not minis, though, just naturally the smallest breed of cattle. Our 10 yr old cow had a heifer calf two weeks ago, and she freshened with a very large udder. Plenty of milk to go around, and that will be our focus going forward. 

We do have one cow who is a carrier, and she is the smallest. Still, not a mini in the true sense of the word. There are a number of mini breeders out there, but they are pricey!

Good luck with your search!


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## 65284 (Sep 17, 2003)

I hope you don't fall into the mini designer cattle trap. Most of these so-called mini cattle are nothing more than crossbred mutts, based on the Dexter breed, that have been given fancy names. And the "registries" are a joke, anyone can start one. 

Virtually all of them are grossly overpriced and come with a load of hype and little else to recommend them. The mini cattle fad is what I call a sucker hustle. Think Emu and Pot Bellied Pig here. About the only money to be made is to find more suckers to sell breeding stock to, and folks are already getting wise to this scam. 

There is no commercial use for them, meat yields are small and it takes just as long to raise one to slaughter size as it does a full size animal. Many folks that bought into the hype gave a load for seed stock then couldn&#8217;t sell what they raised or their original animals. I&#8217;ve seen a few go through sale barns and most don&#8217;t get a serious, if any, bids. 

If you want to raise yard ornaments or pasture pets go for it, otherwise?????

There are exceptions to my rant, Zebu, small Jerseys, and Dexters are all recognized as legitimate breeds. All have been around for a long time and aren't a cobbled up "breed".


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

We've been doing a lot of research into Lowline Angus. 
Again, another example of not really a "mini" breed so much as breeding centered around the small end of the gene pool...

But we want smaller animals, and still want black. (Since that's what sells!)


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## Razorback21 (May 13, 2003)

ErinP said:


> We've been doing a lot of research into Lowline Angus.
> 
> (Since that's what sells!)


Your speaking my language!! Buy what sells!! The lifestyle and farm raised food is great, but I still want to make some money at the end of the day!


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## Levonsa (Dec 17, 2008)

There are as many different opinions as there are animals out there. We have purchased some crossbred miniature cattle. Our goal is to be able to raise our own beef, without buying a new steer each time. The smaller cattle do take just as long to mature, but they will not take as much room or need as much feed. If you shop around, and are willing to drive a little distance you can find some at reasonable prices. We can't afford registered lowlines, or miniature herefords and if we could, I don't think we could eat them with so much invested. Find the cattle that fit your budget, your property, your needs and your goals. Then enjoy them as much as you can.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

For us, we're probably going to go with the standard Angus heifers that we already have, and just AI them to Lowline bulls. 
Cheap and easy. :shrug:


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

My neighbor has a devoted clientele who buy his 'Dangus' beef. That is beef from the calves of Angus mothers and a Dexter bull.

Dexter beef has won a lot of contests for taste. In the ALBC test it beat Angus by a wide margin. My neighbor combines the production of Angus with the flavor and tenderness of a Dexter.

His calves are about 3/4 size and are always polled and black. If he needs money, he can run his calves to the auction, where they sell as "certified Angus". Their smaller size is actually an asset there, as smaller calves fetch higher prices per pound.

They grade well for the auction, too. The Dexter is more efficient at converting grass to beef. Cattle fed on grass have fuller, rounder bellies. They look fatter than they actually are. Even though the Dangus calves are leaner, they look like they have a lot of fat. Buyers like that.

Genebo
Paradise farm


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## furholler (Feb 1, 2005)

I may have a fine dexter bull for sale in the near future-non registered. You can see pics of him at our blog, use the link below.


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## farmerdan (Aug 17, 2004)

I have several unregistered Lowline along with registered Lowline. They are costly but are well worth the extra price. Do some research on them and you'll find that they have less waste when butchered then other beef breeds and that they fatten nicely on grass/pasture. I don't registered most of mine because they are usually heading to freezer camp in the future. You can't beat their disposition. I am surprised when people say they don't want to spend $500 - $700 on a Lowline calf when they readily shell out $300 - $400 for a goat. Pound for pound you're getting a lot more for your money with the Lowline. Any questions/arguments, feel free to PM me!

Dan


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## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

Well, my husband wants mini-cattle. He is talking to a woman with mini-herefords now.
We have sheep and not the equipment to work large cattle on our small place here. His parents have a cattle ranch and this is just what he wants to do right now. If we lose money, we lose money. All livestock raising is a risk. Sheep are selling better than cattle these days. But besides that, we know some others with mini-cattle and the guy said you never tasted anything better or more tender.


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

In a competition in England, a group of great chefs cooked recipes using a different type of beef each week. Then they were asked to rate their favorite type of beef. Dexter won, Angus was second and Japanese Kobe beef was third.

In several such competitions, Dexter beef won. You can find the recipes they used on the web.

The ALBC had a cook-off of eight rare breeds and two standard breeds. Randall Lineback, a native of New England got 19 first place votes. Galloway got 11 votes. Dexter finished third with 10 votes. Highland got 6 votes. Angus got 5 votes. Shorthorn got 3 votes.

See the report at:

http://www.ayrshirefarm.com/tasting/beef/

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## furholler (Feb 1, 2005)

genebo said:


> In a competition in England, a group of great chefs cooked recipes using a different type of beef each week. Then they were asked to rate their favorite type of beef. Dexter won, Angus was second and Japanese Kobe beef was third.
> 
> In several such competitions, Dexter beef won. You can find the recipes they used on the web.
> 
> ...


That is very interesting.


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## IndyGardenGal (Apr 5, 2009)

Genebo,

I want dexters (I do want to milk mine), and my husband wants angus (because it sells). We have plenty of time before this even comes up as being something to do, but do dexter angus crosses sell as much as a lowline would?

If we only ended up with a few Dexters, how easy is it to sell dexter calves?


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## kmorisett (Mar 6, 2009)

I am having my first cow experience ever with a couple of Dexters, and I love it. I bought two bred cows about 3 months ago. They are gentle, and learn quickly, and have a lot of spunk and personality. I have one heifer calf on the ground and another calf to drop any day. I am milking the cow that already freshened, and the milk is awesome. I've never even milked a cow before, and I don't know if she has ever been milked more than a month in her past, but it's going well. We are hoping this next calf will be a bull because we would love to taste Dexter beef too!


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

IndyGardenGal said:


> Genebo,
> 
> I want dexters (I do want to milk mine), and my husband wants angus (because it sells). We have plenty of time before this even comes up as being something to do, but do dexter angus crosses sell as much as a lowline would?
> 
> If we only ended up with a few Dexters, how easy is it to sell dexter calves?


If they're black, they'll sell. If you call them _Angus_ cross, they'll sell.

A friend of mine and I were laughing about this once. Most people will never be able to tell the difference between breeds when they're eating them. The difference between grass finished and corn finished? Sure. But not actual breed.

But Angus is what everyone wants. It's marketing, pure and simple. And the Angus folks have been marketing their brand as the one to buy for enough years now that folks _believe_ them! 
That's why cattlemen will tell you black sells. 

BTW, there's no doubt in my mind that a good beef producer will be able to convince folks to buy other breeds. 
But the brand recognition is _already there_ for Angus. :shrug:


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## IndyGardenGal (Apr 5, 2009)

Erin,

Thanks for the input. I wonder if I could convince him to breed a dexter to a lowline and let me keep dexter heifers....


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

Read my earlier post about "Dangus" calves in this thread.

Any cattle that have black skins, or the black and white "black baldy' coloring, and are 1/2 Angus, qualify as "Certified Angus".

It doesn't matter what the other half is. Even a horned Dexter won't put horns on the calves, since all Angus (including Lowline Angus) are homozygous polled. The calves are guaranteed to get a polled gene from the Angus parent, and polled is domonant over horned. Voila, the calves are all horned.

Now, when you take them to the auction, no one will be able to tell them from everybody else's "Certified Angus" cattle. So they'll bring the same prices as the others. With one exception: Being smaller (about 3/4 size) the Dangus calves will appear to be younger than they actually are. Their lower weight will sell for higher prices per pound than heavier calves.

One last factor is the grading that is done at a lot of auctions before the sale. The Dexter in the Dangus calves will make them more efficient at converting grass to beef, so they'll hold better condition than pure Angus and subsequently grade higher. Angus have been developed to fatten quickly on grain, not grass. On grass, a Dexter will be much more efficient.

Don't try to take purebred Dexters to the auction. As soon as the buyers see the horns, the price plummets. If it's obviously mature, but small, then it's considered a runt, or malnourished. The price plummets. Everything we like about Dexters for our small farms goes against the wants of the beef buyers at the auctions.

For selling cattle at the auction, nothing beats black Angus. The market is there, and the Angus marketing is constantly at work to keep it there.

But, ... for providing a family with only a few acres with milk and tasty beef, Dexter rules. Angus ain't even close. They're two different worlds.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Angus is also the way to go for selling beef direct to consumers. 
Like I said, immediate brand recognition. Particularly when one is trying to create a new market.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Longhorn beef does taste slightly different with a different texture. I only had it once in Austin at the Burger Hut on 6th street. Want to try it again and compared the taste. It did taste good though.


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