Hobby-type meat cows...

lupinfarm

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I should post this on Backyardcows I suppose but I'm at school and cannot sign up on anything at school so I'll ask all you competant people!

Mum is interested in getting some beef cows, but we want something small... preferably a miniature. She realizes that you won't get a lot of meat off a miniature and we won't make money, this is solely for our own use but what breeds am I looking at here?
 

me&thegals

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I can't help you with miniature, but I can help you with easy :) We had belted Galloways. They were GREAT foragers and cold hardy. Good luck!
 

FarmerChick

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A belted Galloway is a "smaller" type sized beef too....so you don't have to go "minature" to get a good breed...............there are tons of smaller cattle out there. And their personality is good also.

Research away!

We raise Black Angus and yes they get HUGE!

And dollar for dollar a "mini" is no cheaper to raise than a regular beef. You feed the same truly......smaller means less feed but less meat. And the larger ones are "not that much larger" if you keep to a smaller type breed.

Also "mini" can mean more expense on purchase. Anything "mini-sized" could mean more cost at buying. Your standard beef could be cheaper on the hoof-----so basically check your local papers and see your prices!

let us know what you get! :)
 

miss_thenorth

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Lupin--check out kijiji. In our area, I have seen alot of cattle being offered, some for good prices. Find out what is being offered, and research the breeds to see if they might be a good fit. Even if you get a larger breed, see if you can find soemone that you know who would be willing to buy some burger off you. I truly wish we had enough land for cattle.
 

patandchickens

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Yeah, just get 2 of whatever calves you can get for cheap and call it good. You would waste a whole lot of money shelling out for dexters or whatever, if your point is steaks in the freezer. You can always sell or barter away any surplus.

Pat
 

Beekissed

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Or you could finish out at a smaller weight....like baby beef. I recently read an article about folks who let calves stay with the cow until they wean naturally....which is considerably bigger and older than a calf that one usually sees as a weaned calf on a typical farm. Then they butcher at that weight about 300 to 500 lbs. They say its more tender, better flavor and easier to butcher if you are doing it yourself.

The Galloways are smaller beef cattle(as previously mentioned), as are the Scottish Highlands~ but, unless they are common in your area, you may find them a little pricier than the average beef cattle.

Is she wanting smaller because of being a woman and having to work with them? Or smaller because of small acreage? If its the acreage, I would agree with the other folks....just a regular beef breed would work just as well.

If she just wants mini...they have miniature Belted Galloways, Mini-Dexters, Mini-Jerseys, Low-line Angus, etc.
 

lupinfarm

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I've been researching dexters because of their size and because they're verstile ... Any thoughts on Dexters? We know somewhere locally we can get them.

AHAHAH I just read Pats comment thoroughly. Yeah now that I think about it perhaps a versatile breed might be better.. Dexters produce a good amount of milk and we're also interested in milking cows. Theres an auction locally that takes Dexters calves and we'd be going with calves obviously.
 

lupinfarm

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Beekissed said:
Or you could finish out at a smaller weight....like baby beef. I recently read an article about folks who let calves stay with the cow until they wean naturally....which is considerably bigger and older than a calf that one usually sees as a weaned calf on a typical farm. Then they butcher at that weight about 300 to 500 lbs. They say its more tender, better flavor and easier to butcher if you are doing it yourself.

The Galloways are smaller beef cattle(as previously mentioned), as are the Scottish Highlands~ but, unless they are common in your area, you may find them a little pricier than the average beef cattle.

Is she wanting smaller because of being a woman and having to work with them? Or smaller because of small acreage? If its the acreage, I would agree with the other folks....just a regular beef breed would work just as well.

If she just wants mini...they have miniature Belted Galloways, Mini-Dexters, Mini-Jerseys, Low-line Angus, etc.
Its the woman thing and we only have 8.5 acres.
 

Mackay

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My neighbor use to have a few head of cattle for meat. He switched this past year to raise goats for meat...they are a different variety than the ones you use for milk. He says the meat is real good and they are not the ecological disaster that cattle are. They are also cheaper to feed and more fun. He gave me some meat to try but haven't got to it yet.
 
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