# miniature hereford X jersey



## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

Well still trying to get our Jersey bred. I should say my husband is wanting to.:catfight: 

So, we were thinking of trying to get her with a bull. Problem is that is she a 800lb jersey and all that are round here are big beefy meat cattle. So, talking with the local vet there is a person with a miniature hereford herd not too far from us. 
Just curious as to anyone trying to cross the two? Just need something to get this girl pregnant and our fences are good enough for a mini bull but not a full sized mean one.


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## collegeboundgal (Jul 17, 2005)

sounds like it would work. you get her bred. you get her bred to a small calving bull. you get her bred to a small calving bull that will throw a beefy calf you can either eat, or keep breeding for smaller cattle. next yr she (your jersey) might be big enough for a full sized bull or bred back to a jersey. win-win.


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

She is already full sized 8yr old jersey. She has given us a couple calves,vet says insides are all fine but we have tried to AI 5 times over a year and no luck.


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## karenp (Jun 7, 2013)

Sounds like a great plan to me, I'd do it in a heart beat. Post pictures


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## karenp (Jun 7, 2013)

of the baby not the breeding


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## collegeboundgal (Jul 17, 2005)

karenp said:


> of the baby not the breeding


Lmbo!


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## ridgerunner1965 (Apr 13, 2013)

AI breeding takes some skill. even the best guys will tell you its far from 100%. from what ive seen even useing the shots and seeders to bring them in heat, 65% would be good. most AI guys record the dates of breeding and also use a live clean up bull.

by recording the dates of when you chemically induced the heat cycle you will know if your calf is from your AI sire or around 30 days later from your clean up bull.

i would think a mini hereford would be fine for your jersey.do they have any recorded birth weights from this bull?

with a 800lb mature jersey you prob want to be in the 40 to 70 lb birth weight.

years ago we lost many jersey cows by trying to breed them to our beef bulls.mind you these were full size beef bulls.angus and hereford.but they were the only bulls we had to breed our house cows.

we did not have access to jersey or mini bulls at that time and resorted to breeding them to longhorn or corriente bulls. that worked well but no telling what kind of wild color you would get. didnt really matter tho as we ate them all.


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## blessingsfarms (May 15, 2014)

Depending were you live find a experienced AI person. We have jersey steers but
these will be the last jerseys. Check the fatness of cow at 8 years old and if over feed
could be. If I were you I would find a Dexter you will not be disappointed. If you do your 
resource you can find the temperament good, beef qualities, milk qualities, small calving
weight, and they thrive on a third of the pasture of jerseys. Our new Dexter calf was 23 lbs. at birth and a simple birthing. We just love them.


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

She is not on the fatty side (short ribs showing a little bit)at all we have been milking her strait for almost two years now and she is still giving 3 gallons a milking <morning only>. 

I have found some beef Dexter's contacted them but not heard anything, neither from the mini Hereford owners. So, it may be she just goes to auction when her milk dries up. Which is a shame, she is a good milker and mom. I thinking we are just going to start keeping milking goats so we can keep a billy on-site.


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## imd14u (Oct 13, 2014)

I have two cows that I believe are in season how do I know for sure? They both keep jumping on each other and rubbing up against.


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## imd14u (Oct 13, 2014)

They are mini dexter and one mini jersey ?


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## imd14u (Oct 13, 2014)

I'm new to this and will ask a lot of questions and I have read a lot. I'm also new to this forum. Please help. I do have two mini Bulls but they don't seem to be interested. What could be the problem?


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## collegeboundgal (Jul 17, 2005)

imd14u said:


> I'm new to this and will ask a lot of questions and I have read a lot. I'm also new to this forum. Please help. I do have two mini Bulls but they don't seem to be interested. What could be the problem?


try starting a new thread asking these questions. You might ge answers.


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

imd14u said:


> I'm new to this and will ask a lot of questions and I have read a lot. I'm also new to this forum. Please help. I do have two mini Bulls but they don't seem to be interested. What could be the problem?



You have two bulls..ya need a girl.


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## imd14u (Oct 13, 2014)

Ziptie said:


> You have two bulls..ya need a girl.



I have 5 girls


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

I was just teasing you.:banana:


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## tommyanunnaki (Apr 30, 2014)

Since you're breeding her primarily to keep her milking and to have some beef to put in the freezer, I have a great suggestion for you. Find someone who is late cutting his steers this year. Since you're just going to be putting the calf in your freezer I'm sure that any Angus, Hereford, Charolais, Simmental, or cross there of would be a fine choice as the sire. You put her anywhere near a 1000 pound intact bull calf when she's in estrus I have to believe that he will get the job done. 

I wouldn't be picky about it unless I was trying to get a heifer to keep as a second milk cow. If that was the case I would probably AI. In fact, I would probably try to get sexed semen from a milking shorthorn if I could. That's another story entirely. 

As far as Hereford x Jersey cross calves go, they're delicious. My uncle raised full sized Herefords and had a Jersey milk cow. The bull bred her every year and momma, baby, and everybody was just fine. These were just veal calves for us because we had other beef cattle, but I am certain that it would grow out into a fine little beef calf if you keep his belly full. 

So, the moral of the story is that you have more options than you think you do. I know that if one of my neighbors had a milk cow that she wanted bred to my beef bull, one gallon of homemade ice cream would certainly seal the deal for me. In fact, every time you wanted that cow bred you just need to hit me up with the ice cream. Haha. That would never get old for me. 

Also, if its JUST your cow at your place I'm not sure that I would worry a great deal about the fencing being strong enough to hold in a full sized bull. I doubt that he would want to go anywhere besides right behind that little cow the whole time he was there. Bad fences are usually a problem with bulls when you're trying to keep them out of the girls...not when you're trying to keep them together. Haha.


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