mini cows

[dacjohns]

Have you looked at the sister site, BackYardCows.com?

 

[enjoy the ride]

A friend had a dexter for awhile but she gave her away when she turned out not to be pregnant. She was about chest high and really stout. There were two main problems with her for my friend- she made her pature very muddy but that is because the ground does not freeze where she lived and finding another dexter to breed with was a problem, so when she wasn't pregnant, it was too difficult to haul her miles and miles for breeding.
I personally love Jerseys too- wonderful milkers for a family and quite plentiful in our area.
Her cow was preety good natured and she had not been handled much- she did need stout fencing though which I would think likely for any cow kept in a smaller area.

 

[captchris]

thanks everyone this has been help[ful to a degree i am not sure i amready fotit yet i must firstgetashelter and fence built hopefily in the spring

 

[hollybird]

i have been researching mini cows for a long time and am familiar with big cows. i am looking for a mini dual purpose cow since i only have 1 acre. i hope to combine guinea jersey and low-line or dexter. ai for dexters are 15 each but the jersey is 75. extra milk is not a waste and a dairy calf can grow faster than a beef breed but will never muscle the same. do remember that the cows can't produce milk from nothing to eat but some cows eat more kinds of forage. i am also considering milking sheep. i need something to mow my orchard and wanted a milker anyway.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

hollybird-that is an extremely high price for breeding a jersey. I think you should look around for a different breeder if that is the lowest they can offer you. I've had jerseys, holsteins, and milking shorthorn crosses and have never paid $75 for a breeding.

As mentioned. There is a sister site called backyardcows.com. We would love to see you there if you are considering cattle.

For those who are going by price alone, home raised beef/milk is much better than that in the store. Many of you have chickens and are on the sister site there and know that about chickens and their eggs/meat. The same holds true for cattle.

 

[Beekissed]

i have been researching mini cows for a long time and am familiar with big cows. i am looking for a mini dual purpose cow since i only have 1 acre. i hope to combine guinea jersey and low-line or dexter. ai for dexters are 15 each but the jersey is 75. extra milk is not a waste and a dairy calf can grow faster than a beef breed but will never muscle the same. do remember that the cows can't produce milk from nothing to eat but some cows eat more kinds of forage. i am also considering milking sheep. i need something to mow my orchard and wanted a milker anyway.

Hollybird, I am going the same route. I am getting two Dorper or Katahdin ewes this spring and will probably milk them to make some soft cheeses. They are not typically dairy sheep but they have large bags and plentiful milk, so I would like to try this as well. Miss Prissy on BYC has a dairy sheep herd of Persians, I believe.

I chose the hair sheep, as I do not wish to shear just two sheep and I haven't got a market for wool. I'm in the middle of sheep country and there are many here who market specialty wool and, with only two sheep, I wouldn't be competitive. The hair sheep shed their wool in the spring and use the nutrition that would have been spent growing wool on meat production instead.

I have an orchard also and plan to protect my trees by wrapping with chicken wire, as a friend who runs sheep told me that they will debark trees sometimes...although not as badly as a goat.

Maybe we can compare notes when we have our sheep in our orchards!