Tiny Cattle for Tiny Farms

AllPosters.com

Have you ever heard of miniature cows?  While you may think that miniature cows are just the latest trend in designer pets (along the lines of the pot belly pig craze or teacup kitten craze), these tiny cows are actually much more useful than that.

While there are many breeds of miniature cattle that have been bred down to a miniature size, the foundation breeds are actually older primitive breeds of cows that were never bred-up by human beef production options.  That's right, cows were naturally much smaller than the 1 ton animals that you see out in the pasture.  Over time, cattle ranchers have been using selective breeding to grow bigger and bigger cattle.

The return to smaller, more primitive cattle sizes began with a small group of individuals in the 1970's who were looking for ways to make cattle farming more efficient. After 30 years, these individuals have succeeded in producing 26 different breeds of miniature cattle adept in all the traditional uses of cattle.

Miniature cattle provide the benefit of being able to fit more cattle per acre of land, allowing smaller acerage farms to raise beef.  Miniature cows have also become a popular addition to hobby farms and small homesteads.  Dairy breeds of miniature cows are able to produce 2-5 gallons of milk per day, which is enough to feed a family and share with the neighbors.  In addition to tradition livestock production, there are many farms making a go of it as a breeding operation.

These smaller varieties of cows are in demand because, well let's face it, they are too stinkin' cute! And aside from being cute, they are more economical than their full-size counterparts.  They cost less to feed and require less acerage.  But, that is not all.  Miniature cattle also tend to yield more useable beef per pound of body weight than their full-size counterparts. That mean's that they are a more efficient option for beef production.  While you would ultimately need more small cows to produce the same amount of beef, each cow will produce a higher yield of beef per cow.