# Mini cow questions



## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

Can anyone help me with some mini cow info? 

We are thinking of selling enough of our Nubian milk goats to buy a mini cow. I still want to have at least 5 milk goats though. Cant let 'em go entirely! Not only do we have some favorites, but we need them for the ag exemption AND we need the goat milk for our children.

We had a Jersey/Guernsey cross cow who was rather on the large side, or maybe it was just her extreme crankiness that made her seem so big!

I had NO problems milking her, and she behaved well at milking time. But, at any other time she was the Wicked Witch of the West and after knocking my big teenage son down and nearly breaking both his knees, we sold her. 

She is now just a nurse cow for orphan calves, living in a huge pasture with other cows. She happily lets ANY calf nurse. 

I sold 3 goats yesterday, so now I have $800 set aside to go towards a cow! Would prefer a mini breed. Any suggestions? We are saving the money, but havent _REALLY _decided for sure to do it, having had on Mean Cow Experience already. How much does a mini cow eat compared to goats? As much as 5 goats? More? Less? 

Thanks for any help or ideas!


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

The $800 you have saved should go a long ways toward getting you a dairy cow at today's prices. It won't get you all the way, but mostly there. 

Now, when you insert the word "mini" into the mix, get out your pocket book. It's a niche market and you'll pay for it. Whether it's jersey, lowline, or dexter; I doubt you'll be able to touch a non-problem handmilking cow for the $800 you have. 

I think the mini jersey market is most expensive right now. This forum has a lot of dexter people that ought to jump in here and help me with some ideas on mature milking dexter cows though. I don't know there current value. 

As far as how much do they eat, it depends on the cow. I think the major change you'll see is how much they poop! I've got a couple mini-jerseys and a half mini jersey/half MS heifer. The minis don't eat but about 1/2 of what my full sized milk cows do. But, they don't produce as much either.


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

Thanks very much francismilker! 

Our land cannot support a full size cow. We have 20 _*dry *_rocky acres and already have a horse here. The goats and the horse all require supplemental feeding and a cow will too. Of course, a dairy animal requires extra anyway, but we certainly dont need all the milk we'd get from a full size cow either!

I've been talking by email to a guy who has a bred Dexter cow "broke to milk" for 1200. He also has another one he has never milked for 900. Both were first fresheners this year. He says he's willing to work with me some on the price. 

I need to do some Dexter Fact Finding! I know one thing - I dont like the horns! LOL Maybe it wouldn't be an issue.


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## Menglish (May 7, 2009)

Ark, I've only had Dexters since last November but I really like them. We were able to get 3 bred cows and a 6 month old Bull calf for $3000.00. All 3 cows had healthy, unassisted birthed calves so now we have 7 total. I'm just now getting set up to milk one of them but I don't think it will be a real problem getting her to milk. I'm hoping for a gallon a day but we'll have to see. Very docile, and enjoyable cows. Just do your homework on the short legged vs. long legged and make sure you are getting good stock...as with any other breed.

In my opinion a bred Dexter broke to milk is a decent deal at $1200.00. That is if she's not too old and doesn't have any other problems.

Mike


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## wstevenl (Mar 26, 2008)

We have a small herd of Dexters and are milking an eight year old. You can read more about that on our website.
We paid from about $825 a piece for a few wild ones to $1400 for 2 of ours that were guaranteed in calf to heifers. (If they had steers we got $200 refunded). One of these was a heifer herself and the other was 7 years old. The 7 yr old is now 8 and I'm getting 2 gallons a day from her. Today is actually my second day of trying to do once a day milking and we did pretty good getting nearly 1 3/4 gallons. 

I don't know if we were just lucky, but the ones that we spent more on are the best cows we have.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

I didn't actually intend to get into the mini business when it happened so I didn't have to pay mini prices. I simply ordered a jersey heifer from a buyer and mine came from the dairy sale at Sulphur Springs, TX with the naval cord still attached. She got raised well and never stunted. She just ended up being extremely small for a jersey and was bred to a regular sized jersey bull at 15months old. 
Well, she must have some kind of "small" gene in the pool because her heifer calf is as small or possibly smaller than she is. (and the heifer was allowed to run in the pasture with her). 

And, the small gene must run pretty deep because that heifer just had a heifer that was an accidental breeding to a MS bull. The baby heifer was 31lbs. at birth and is a month old now. I have a feeling she too will be a mini. 

If I understand correctly, the only criteria for being a mini jersey is to be under a certain height. I'm 5'11" and both of these girls' backs are at waist level to me. (pretty short huh?) And, if they aren't officially minis I will still call them that. 
Although they may be mini in size, they still have a very well developed udder and I can get 3-4 gallons per day out of each of them if I choose to. I've been a little lazy this year and have just grafted an extra calf on them. Work has kept me busy and I don't have the time to do a lot of extra milking right now. 5 per day is enough while working a full time job, being an associate pastor of a church, keeping up with two active kids, and keeping the Mrs. happy! lol!


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

I am continually 'thinking' of switching out our dairy goats for a single small family milker. Still not sure I'll ever do it.... but so far these are my impressions.

*very hard to find a dexter that anyone has ever really milked, by hand, for an entire lactation. All the sellers I've talked to will quote statistics but no one has ever milked the specific cow being sold. I've gotten to the point where I won't buy a goat without being able to verify that they come from great milking lines and that I can reasonably expect to get a good milker - why should buying a cow be any different?
* off-breed crosses seem to offer the best deals/bargains. Seriously considered a dexter-holstein cow (no milking history, had raised a calf, $500) and a dexter-belted galloway (small!, $500). Both seemed reasonably priced and offer good potential in terms of milk but again no history. Just talked with a woman tonight who has a lowline angus-holstein cross, 48" at the hip, milking 46 lb/day. Wants $1200 bred, great gentle personality, hand milked. Too much milk for me! But attractive because the milk production and tamed to hand milking are known.

have fun and good luck!

edited to add: I'm sure there are dexters for sale with known milking histories! this has been my experience in my area, off of craigslist, within a 200 mile radius. Hardly comprehensive.


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

wstevenl said:


> We have a small herd of Dexters and are milking an eight year old. You can read more about that on our website.
> We paid from about $825 a piece for a few wild ones to $1400 for 2 of ours that were guaranteed in calf to heifers. (If they had steers we got $200 refunded). One of these was a heifer herself and the other was 7 years old. The 7 yr old is now 8 and I'm getting 2 gallons a day from her. Today is actually my second day of trying to do once a day milking and we did pretty good getting nearly 1 3/4 gallons.
> 
> I don't know if we were just lucky, but the ones that we spent more on are the best cows we have.


I enjoyed your website!


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## wstevenl (Mar 26, 2008)

Thanks Ark.


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

francismilker said:


> I didn't actually intend to get into the mini business when it happened so I didn't have to pay mini prices. I simply ordered a jersey heifer from a buyer and mine came from the dairy sale at Sulphur Springs, TX with the naval cord still attached. She got raised well and never stunted. She just ended up being extremely small for a jersey and was bred to a regular sized jersey bull at 15months old.
> Well, she must have some kind of "small" gene in the pool because her heifer calf is as small or possibly smaller than she is. (and the heifer was allowed to run in the pasture with her).
> 
> And, the small gene must run pretty deep because that heifer just had a heifer that was an accidental breeding to a MS bull. The baby heifer was 31lbs. at birth and is a month old now. I have a feeling she too will be a mini.
> ...


Wow, that's a pretty neat accident! :cow:


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

cathleenc said:


> I am continually 'thinking' of switching out our dairy goats for a single small family milker. Still not sure I'll ever do it.... but so far these are my impressions.
> 
> *very hard to find a dexter that anyone has ever really milked, by hand, for an entire lactation. All the sellers I've talked to will quote statistics but no one has ever milked the specific cow being sold. I've gotten to the point where I won't buy a goat without being able to verify that they come from great milking lines and that I can reasonably expect to get a good milker - why should buying a cow be any different?
> * off-breed crosses seem to offer the best deals/bargains. Seriously considered a dexter-holstein cow (no milking history, had raised a calf, $500) and a dexter-belted galloway (small!, $500). Both seemed reasonably priced and offer good potential in terms of milk but again no history. Just talked with a woman tonight who has a lowline angus-holstein cross, 48" at the hip, milking 46 lb/day. Wants $1200 bred, great gentle personality, hand milked. Too much milk for me! But attractive because the milk production and tamed to hand milking are known.
> ...


We would definitely consider a cross breed. Just a matter of finding one! 

I absolutely DONT want to get rid of all the goats. I just sold the 3 milkers and now am only milking 2 goats. I'm in shock. LOL It feels so weird, and I miss my milkers. However, it's too expensive to keep on feeding more goats than we need to. I have 3 doe kids and one milker who is raising a kid right now... I milk her occasionally just so she will stay in the milkstand habit, but I really dont need her milk. That means I have 6 Nubian does still!! And a buck... *sigh*. :shrug:


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## matt_man (Feb 11, 2006)

We also have some very small jerseys. One we bought spring 2008 and the man was selling her cheaper than her sister just because she was so small. Well, that is exactly what we wanted and we got a really good price for her. Right now my 12 yr old son is milking them for me, but I have trained them to behave while they are in the stanchion.

Rachel


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## ~Tomboy~ (Oct 13, 2005)

Ark, Where in the Texas Hill Country do you live? I am a Dexter breeder, sorry no heifers or cows for sale but could put you in touch with others who might be able to help you. I live in the Hill Country also.

Barb


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## Ark (Oct 5, 2004)

We are just west of Fredericksburg, and NW of Kerrville. 

We would consider any small breed really.

Thanks so much for offering to help, Barb.

Hey Rachel, that's pretty cool about your small Jersey. I hope we can find a deal like that!


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## milkgoatsnmore (Jul 7, 2008)

We are also thinking of expanding from dairy goats to mini dairy cows. My question is: How much does it cost to feed them each month? Do you fertilize pastures or plant certain grasses in them? Or do you feed them grain/concentrates? Are they cheaper than goats? Thanks in advance.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

milkgoats, 
I wouldn't say mini cows are cheaper than goats by no means simply due to body size to maintain and feed intake. While I realize the quality of milk one receives is a direct token of the quality of forage, cattle are generally not as efficient browsers of brushy type pastures that goats are. 
I'm personally a fan of cows over goats for two reasons: 
1) I don't dislike goats milk. I just prefer cow's milk.
2) I like the cow's milk because it's easier to separate the cream.

Depending on the type of ground and foliage you have should play a major part in your decision to purchase a mini cow. Just from my experience, if you don't have a least a couple open, grass growing acres to offer to your cow it's going to be more expensive than raising goats. 
I will say that cows and goats on the homestead to a great job of co-grazing and if you do have that small paddock to keep them in together the goats do a good job of cleaning the weedy less desireable grass for cows out and leaving the thin bladed grasses for the cow. 

As far as your question on cost. All of my homestead cows that I milk and raise calves off of are for the most part doing there job on grazing alone during the growing season with the exception of one. The one that I'm feeding pretty heavy right now is a mini-jersey. She's my daughter's current 4-H show cow and I use her for my family's own personal milk usage. 

We like milk with a lot of cream and to be rather sweet tasting. This little girl gives us about 3 gallons per day milk (plus feeding her calf) with 2-3 inches of cream on top of the jar after milking. I have to feed the hound out of her to keep her in good enough body condition to milk this heavy and still be a show calf. That being said, if she was just a home milk cow I probably couldn't consider it economically feasible to pour this much feed in to her.

I share her milk with her bull calf and feed her twice per day. I'm feeding her approximately 20-25lbs. per day sweet feed that is 14% protein, 3.5% fat, and 3% fiber along with freechoice bermuda grass hay. I'm buying bagged feed from a local coop that is costing me $7 per bag. So, I feel like I've got $4-5 per day into feeding her. (That's $150 per month!) Keep in mind her body condition is pretty good but it's costing me to get this out of her and use her as a show cow at the same time. If I wasn't feeding her this heavy she would look like an Ethiopian back in the 80's. 

One thing that would help in feeding a homemilk cow is if you're in dairy country and could get some good quality mixed dairy feed. I'm not in dairy country anymore due to the fact that they've all closed down and can't get the support from my coop on special mixed dairy ration. The feed that I'm feeding is very expensive, not very consistent on ingredients, and inconvenient due to having to buy sacked feed. It's much easier for me if I can go pick it up bulk in a one-ton bag. The coop won't mix me any dairy ration unless I buy at least 4 tons! So, for now I'm stuck until I get to the point that I can make my own feed. (BTW, I'm working on that as we speak)


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## milkgoatsnmore (Jul 7, 2008)

Thanks for the info! We have about 10 acres of pasture for cattle and I am wondering, how much milk can you get out of a mini cow on hay and pasture-without looking "like an Ethiopian back in the 80s"? Do you have to supplement if you milk them? Also, can you run mini-cows in with full sized cows?


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

You don't have to supplement when you milk them as long as you have good quality forage. If your 10 acres is mostly native grasses and weeds I'd say you're going to need to give them some grain. 

As far as how much milk can you expect; it depends on the cow. All of them are different. I've only had experience with my small jerseys. 

Can you run them with full sized cows? Sure you can! The only problem I've seen with it is if you are feeding them together in a community trough they tend to loose the battle over pecking order at the feed trough.


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