Miniature Cattle Info. Please

[wynedot55]

 

[sparkles2307]

The belted ones are Beulingo.

 

[Little Cow]

Here's a link that may help you if you are still considering a Dexter:

http://www.dextercattle.org/

 

[no nonsense]

What is the "Banded (?)" breed? The ones that are black in front and back, but with the white band around the middle. Are these for meat, milk or both?

Are you thinking of the Belted Galloway and/or Dutch Belted (or Lakenvelder)?

Some info found in the article, Stock Answeres for Small Farms by Andrea Curry in The Old Farmer's 2009 Almanac.

MINI MOOS
-Modern mni-bovines are descendants of 18th and 19th century stock, but with many breeds averaging under 600 pounds and standing less than 42 inches tall at the hip, these cows are bred to be smaller than their nacestors.
-For a mini-milker, figure on at least half an acre. She will need a small barn or shed for milking, feeding, and shelter.
-Expect to give her about 25 pounds of hay, 2 pounds of grain, and 6 gallons of water on average per day while milking.
-A mini-moo requires as much work as a standard-breed cow.

Awesome Oxen
-Dexter, Hereford, Longhorn, Jersey, Lowline (mini-Angus), and Zebu are the most popular breeds. A mini-Zebu weighs 200-500 pounds while mini-Dexters and -Herefords come in at about 1,000 pounds.
-A mature ox requires about an acre of pasture in the growing seasons and about 30 pounds of hay per day in winter, plus 3 pounds of mixed feed per working day. Provide a dry shelter for sleep and relief from the cold.
-A team can haul hay, water, firewood, manure, cleared brush, or gathered leaves.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

I'm sorry, but the woman who wrote that article does not know oxen. Dexters, Longhorns and Jerseys are sometimes used as oxen, but they are far from the most popular breeds. Devons, Milking Shorthorns, Holsteins, Chianinas and even Dutch Belts are more popular as oxen. Horned Herefords are popular as oxen in Canada, especially the Atlantic provinces, but not much anywhere else. Many different zebu breeds are used in Africa and Asia, but very few in the US, and Angus are almost never used, anywhere. First off, you'd need too much pasture or feed for such a large framed beef animal, they heat up too much in hot weather for the same reason, when working, and above all, they're polled. You cannot use polled animals for oxen, unles you use a britchen. The horns hold back the yoke, keeping it from slipping off over the animal's head. A yoke can be kept on with a britchen, but seldom is, except when using a single ox. Three pounds of feed per day? Not on most adult oxen, without getting them too fat. Most are fed on pasture or hay only. Relief from the cold? Who does that with any cattle? A place to get out of the elements, maybe, if they'll even use it, but cold? Never.

 

[Cheepsunglasses]

On the Mini-Jersey question: Ours produce between 2 and 3 gallons per day. We have a new bull calf that is foundation pure and registerable with the AMJA. If anyone's interested, we have a pic on our blog at: triskelionfarm.blogspot.com.

 

[Little Cow]

I raise Dexters so I might be able to help explain the author's list there.

Dexters aren't very common so I agree about them not being commonly seen in oxen teams. However, many people, especially up in the Northeast, have Dexter draft animals. I think the relative numbers of oxen compared to relative numbers of Dexters are higher than most breeds and that is why the author mentions them. Dexters are very tractable, smart, and easy to train. Once our son is off the elementary school I'm going to put together an oxen team from our Dexters.

 

[BDial]

I am looking into different breeds of cattle and keep coming back to the Piney woods cattle. Some strains are larger but the majority are smaller. I have talked with a breeder that has had the cows in the family for generations and he says they get about a gallon a day when milking and leaving mom nurse the calf. They are a tri purpose breed that is very hardy and easy to keep. Plus I really like the look. I don't know how hard it will be to find them but here is the website and they have a breeders list that you could look at.


http://www.pcrba.org/