country freedom
Chillin' with the herd
Anyone bred Miniature Dairy bulls over Miniature Beef cows?
Any pics?
Any pics?
Miniature Dual purposed - Breeding Dairy bull to Beef Cows
- Thread starter country freedom
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DoubleSSRanch
Exploring the pasture
Closest thing of a mini dairy cow Ive heard of is a Dexter. They were originally grown as family milk cows. And there are miniature herfords (super cute) Google miniature herfords, theres all sorts of info on them
I think you might have some issues with crosses because the breeds are not very "fixed" yet. Some crosses are only on the second and third generations, lots of random genetics in there. Dairy over beef is probably the SAFEST method, but you may still get a big calf.
Dexters are an OLD breed, over 100 years. The Registry is working real hard with DNA typing required now, so the owner of animals KNOWS if the dwarfing gene is in their breeding, colors in background, polled or not. The tall and short legged varieties both have their supporters. And the cattle are DARN cute in either height. You the owner, breeder, need to do your homework with that information for safe breeding of your heifer or cow. Not real hard if you have the details of both animals.
Jersey bull is a popular cross on the long-legged Dexter, gives a better milking cow with a bigger udder, but usually not a larger animal. The crosses I saw were about 48 inches tall instead of a more common 42-44 inch of the purebred, long-legged Dexter.
I am not real familiar with the other mini types, but there are a lot of dwarf crosses. Those dwarfs may breed full sized calves, not more dwarfs. They also may have structure problems. Be quite picky in selecting breeding stock to use, bad build is not healthy for your future animals. I have also heard of stunting growth from poor feeding. Any offspring from them will be normal sized with reasonable feed, genetics is like that!
Dexters are an OLD breed, over 100 years. The Registry is working real hard with DNA typing required now, so the owner of animals KNOWS if the dwarfing gene is in their breeding, colors in background, polled or not. The tall and short legged varieties both have their supporters. And the cattle are DARN cute in either height. You the owner, breeder, need to do your homework with that information for safe breeding of your heifer or cow. Not real hard if you have the details of both animals.
Jersey bull is a popular cross on the long-legged Dexter, gives a better milking cow with a bigger udder, but usually not a larger animal. The crosses I saw were about 48 inches tall instead of a more common 42-44 inch of the purebred, long-legged Dexter.
I am not real familiar with the other mini types, but there are a lot of dwarf crosses. Those dwarfs may breed full sized calves, not more dwarfs. They also may have structure problems. Be quite picky in selecting breeding stock to use, bad build is not healthy for your future animals. I have also heard of stunting growth from poor feeding. Any offspring from them will be normal sized with reasonable feed, genetics is like that!
- Thread starter
- #4
country freedom
Chillin' with the herd
Finally - some replies LOL!goodhors said:
Yes, I've been looking, and I know that a pure dairy breed wouldn't work for me.
What I'd like to have, would be a dual purposed - and colorful - beefy, give milk, breed of miniature cattle.
I really do wish these two breeds were in miniature size:
Montbe'liard
Normandy
Heavenly Springs Farm
Ridin' The Range
I am looking at some Dexter cows for sale right now. I am looking for a dual cow that is smaller. Does anyone know how long is takes a dexter steer to get ready to eat on just grass and hay?
michickenwrangler
Loving the herd life
Though this isn't a miniature, I worked at a small ranch that used to breed Holstein cows to Angus bulls. They claimed it was the best combo because the dam would have enough milk for the calf and for them (if needed). They didn't like the Holstein bull to Angus cows because they claimed that the Angus cows didn't make enough milk to raise them up the way they liked.
On another note, they had a mini-Corriente who was just adorable. She wasn't meant to be born, but a Corriente bull got in with some young heifers and got a year old one pregnant and her offspring was born small and only got about the size of a large goat.
They raised the above cross for meat and cutting and used the corrientes for roping.
On another note, they had a mini-Corriente who was just adorable. She wasn't meant to be born, but a Corriente bull got in with some young heifers and got a year old one pregnant and her offspring was born small and only got about the size of a large goat.
They raised the above cross for meat and cutting and used the corrientes for roping.
I bought my Dexter heifer last Jan, and they had a 3/4 Dexter x 1/4 Jersey steer there about the same age. She was a Feb calf, he was MUCH more mature, looked ready for the show ring!! Had the meat well muscled, big neck, an EXCELLENT looking animal. Probably close to 600 pounds then, at not quite a year old. Steer was headed for the breeder's freezer pretty quick.
Heifer and steer were pastured together, were on GOOD hay, small helpings of grain, out in pasture with plenty of exercise. Steer really used his feed for meat production, heifer was a lot smaller, not meaty then.
Talking to other folks, their Dexter steers are ready in about a year, with mostly hay or grazing. They add some grain to get the fat in the meat, otherwise meat can be dry, according to them. I have not eaten Dexter beef, couldn't say.
I wormed my heifer twice after she came, using pour-on wormer 4 weeks apart, and she got a lot more effective at turning food into meat. She gained well after the wormings, out on good pasture, handful of grain each day. She would rather graze than eat hay, so winter feeding was pretty economical. I fed what hay she would clean up each day, then she went out to eat frozen grass.
I would look at having my Dexter steers on good grazing or hay, some grain, until about one year old. See what you have then, might need to keep them a bit longer or not. Your finished product is NEVER going to be huge. So waiting a year and a half like other breeds, could be time/feed money wasted, for little extra meat gain. Dexters seem to top out about 600-700 pound range, and then you take them in.
Heifer and steer were pastured together, were on GOOD hay, small helpings of grain, out in pasture with plenty of exercise. Steer really used his feed for meat production, heifer was a lot smaller, not meaty then.
Talking to other folks, their Dexter steers are ready in about a year, with mostly hay or grazing. They add some grain to get the fat in the meat, otherwise meat can be dry, according to them. I have not eaten Dexter beef, couldn't say.
I wormed my heifer twice after she came, using pour-on wormer 4 weeks apart, and she got a lot more effective at turning food into meat. She gained well after the wormings, out on good pasture, handful of grain each day. She would rather graze than eat hay, so winter feeding was pretty economical. I fed what hay she would clean up each day, then she went out to eat frozen grass.
I would look at having my Dexter steers on good grazing or hay, some grain, until about one year old. See what you have then, might need to keep them a bit longer or not. Your finished product is NEVER going to be huge. So waiting a year and a half like other breeds, could be time/feed money wasted, for little extra meat gain. Dexters seem to top out about 600-700 pound range, and then you take them in.
CDSMINIS.COM
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J-Lows (jersey x lowline angus) are gaining popularity these days. They end up with a similar build and production to the Dexter. I would suggest just finding good Dexter breeding stock. Find a breeder or several breeders that are knowledgeable and then go after the genetics you want.
Dexter steers are ready to slaughter as early as 12 months of age. A friend of mine raises about 30 head a year for beef and he prefers to slaughter at 21 months.
-Dave
Dexter steers are ready to slaughter as early as 12 months of age. A friend of mine raises about 30 head a year for beef and he prefers to slaughter at 21 months.
-Dave
- Thread starter
- #9
country freedom
Chillin' with the herd
I am NOT interested in meat bull over dairy cows - I don't want/need all of that extra milk.country freedom said:
I AM interested in *dairy bull* OVER * beef cows !
Just my personal want. :bun
I also LOVE different colors, with and without white.
dmiravalle
Chillin' with the herd
I was always taught the milking gene comes from the bulls, that is why you are supposed to check out a bulls dam for milk production?????country freedom said:
We have small belties (close to mini) for dual purpose cows. Our cow that we milked this summer gave us a gallon a day, which was plenty for our family and to feed the baby.
JMO
