Well they sure are cute! But cute doesn't cut it around our place, we've got plenty of free loading cute critters the way it is, including but not limited to: a cantankerous pygmy wether goat, a miniature mule, and multiple cats that seem to be too lazy to even mouse. So when Britt started researching miniature cattle and found that the majority of the different breed's claim to fame was that they are cute it was refreshing to find a miniature breed that was all about beef! That breed was of course Miniature Herefords. Being descendants of "real herefords"(they are not dwarves, all Registered Miniature Herefords are genetically dwarfism free) they have all of those great traits that has made that white face famous including:
- early maturing
-high fertility
-excellent mothering ability
-excellent feed converters
On top of all of that they are only about 42" tall at the hip, are easy to handle and easy to work around. Miniature Herefords are registered through the American Hereford Association, just like their larger counterparts. They come in horned and polled varieties just like their bigger cousins as well. Miniature Herefords surpass their bigger relatives in several areas though. Miniature Herefords have a larger ribeye area per hundred weight, less butcher waste then Modern Herefords, and a higher cow calf weaning ration. Miniature Herefords produce a slaughter beef that is more in line with what the average family can actually consume before the meat becomes damaged from the freezer. The cuts of beef are also more in line with what the public consumes.
We read when we were researching the breed that generally 2-3 Miniature Herefords could be kept in the place of one commerical mother cow. We were pleasantly surprised to find that yes in fact we could keep three Miniature Herefords on what it would take to keep one commerical beef mother cow. In Wyoming's on going drought conditions these little gals are ideal! We have been nothing but pleased with our cattle and that they continue to surpass our expectations of the breed. We are very excited about this breed and our involvement in it. We look forward to what the future holds for Whitt Livestock and also the Miniature Hereford Breed. |
