# Mini Jersey vs Standard for a homestead cow?



## TheBanditQueen (Jun 2, 2013)

Hi, I would love to hear opinions/advice/people's experiences on whether a Mini Jersey or a Standard is better for a small homestead.

Background: We have 10 acres in the Chihuahuan Desert of SW Texas. Last few years have seen a pretty bad drought, but the monsoon finally came last week, and for long-term we have a very good well. We are setting up our homestead bit by bit, starting with the garden, and then our little herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats for brush control and milking. (They are very cost effective; we don't have to feed them at all since the brush is abundant.)

The cows: We have an adult cow (somewhere around 6 years old), 1/2 Standard Jersey and 1/2 Miniature Hereford. My husband has worked on ranches all his life and says she has the nicest personality of any cow he's ever seen. (Her mom was their previous dairy cow and they raised this one from a calf.) Then we have her 8 month old heifer calf, whose sire is a Standard Jersey from a nearby small farmer's market-type dairy. So baby has the potential to be a very good milk cow. (My husband says she also seems very intelligent as cows go.)

We are discussing A) selling them both, investing more in the beginning steps of the homestead, and saving up to buy a Mini Jersey in a few years; or B) keeping the heifer, which might be more affordable since Minis are so incredibly expensive.

(For crazy unfortunate reasons we weren't able to spend time working with Pixie (the heifer) very much until now. She is pretty skittish. Any advice on that?)

Tinkerbell, the mama, is quite small, and the Jerseys at the dairy Pixie's dad came from are not big either. I read that a Midsize Jersey can be up to 46" tall; that's only a bit smaller than Tink is. If the size difference is not that much, maybe having a Mini isn't such a big deal? I read that the smaller they are, the harder it is to milk them. And the smaller they are, I imagine, the higher the price? Affordability is a major factor for us.

I really liked the idea of a very small cow, because of space, feed, and me being afraid of the critters. But are they actually a better return on investment, or would the heifer we have be a more practical homestead cow? (For the record, using abundant dairy products won't be a problem. We live for cheese, butter, cream products, etc. LOL)

There you have it! I am a newbie, eager to hear any suggestions, comments, advice, experiences, etc.


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## MARYDVM (Jun 7, 2004)

I have a Mini Jersey X Dexter that is 40" tall. Her peak milk production is 2 1/2 gallons a day, and I have to milk her on my knees since she is so short. I have a "mid mini" AJCA registered petite standard Jersey that is 45" tall. She peaked at 6 gallons a day as a first calf heifer and I milk her comfortably sitting on a 5 gallon pail.

I much prefer the purebred small Jersey for production and affordability. The Mini Jersey is a niche market that is beginning to get saturated. The well known Mini Jersey breeders who advertize can still ask $3500 for a weaned heifer, but the number of buyers who are willing to pay that is shrinking. Here in AZ I see CL ads from people who have stock from the big breeders unable to move their cows for 1/2 the price they paid for them. If the market in your area won't support inflated calf prices then you will not get sufficient return on your investment just from your Mini Jersey's milk production.

If you want to downsize your cows, you can always breed them with Mini semen for smaller offspring.


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## TheBanditQueen (Jun 2, 2013)

Wow, that is interesting. Makes a lot of sense that the market would be getting saturated.

I hadn't thought much yet about selling calves, just using them for the freezer. I guess it would make sense to sell the heifer calves though. I think there would be buyers, but I kind of doubt people in our area would pay thousands of dollars for a baby calf (excepting extraordinary circumstances, but maybe I'm wrong), so selling the calves would, I imagine, be merely a supplemental sort of thing.


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## TheBanditQueen (Jun 2, 2013)

Correction of information! Asked my husband again about the Jerseys at the place near us, and he said they are all quite small. The bull he borrowed was a good 6 inches shorter than Tinkerbell (I didn't see them together; only met Tink). They could be Midsize, or even Mini. Maybe Pixie will be smaller than I thought she would be!


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## peteyfoozer (Nov 23, 2012)

I've no experience with a mini Jersey although they do interest me! I just don't think I could afford one. I bred my reg. Jersey to a beef cow and have a crossbred heifer I am hoping will give us reasonable cream on lower maintenance. The extra grain my Jersey needs to produce all that milk is killing us, and we don't need 7 gallons a day :huh:


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

In my area there would be next to no way to breed a mini jersey. So here we have just standards.


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## arnie (Apr 26, 2012)

I like a standard cow because crossing her with a beef bull gets you a better beef for the frezor . again the standard bulls are more redily available when needed .the only real plus I can see with a mini is if you hae to buy feed they eat a lot less and your housing needs also go down . I tried to find a hand milkable jersey when I was looking for a milker .I found a brown swiss a gentle giant .this is the main thing with a home milkcow having a peacefull quiet time not fearing getting kicked while milking is great having her come in from pasture for milking is better .tieing rastleing chaseing is a nightmare


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## TheBanditQueen (Jun 2, 2013)

Yes, safety is definitely at the top of my list. As docile a cow as possible. Wrestling with it...not for me. O.O If I can spend time taming Pixie before milking her, that will make me more comfortable I know. Thankfully I have gotten the hang of milking with my mini goat this month. Something small enough to pick up and put where she needs to be is so much less threatening to learn with. LOL.

One reason we were considering the mini cows is if they are significantly smaller, that is a more manageable carcass size since there are only two of us. Although we can always give some to the beef-loving extended family.


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