OK! Now I'm getting serious about purchasing. How can I avoid a regretful purchase?
Quality Miniature Cattle are a significant investment. Included here is a page to help guide YOU through a growing and varied miniature cattle market.
There are several miniature cattle markets.
Pets
Beef
Dairy
Rodeo Stock
All of these have different selection criteria. Many qualities will cross over from one to the other, but it is best to select for your main objective as a base, and build your choice from that starting point.
"Cowmon Sense"
Pets "go to - info links below"
1) Temperament - A good disposition is a must have for the pet market. It is natural for calves to be afraid of people at a young age, but most gain trust as they mature (usually as yearlings). It is a good idea to spend time around your calves while feeding. They learn to trust you, begin to see you as non threatening, and their meal ticket. Bottle raised calves are the exception to this rule, as they learn at a very young age that people are their friends. However sometimes this can go too far as they grow up and want to play with you, as if you were another cow. This can become dangerous due to their weight & size, so you must maintain respect and stay in charge. DO NOT use a "breed" as a sole indicator for temperament, all "breeds" have cattle of varying temperament.
2) Size - The smaller the more unique, less intimidating, and greater value. "Remember ALL cattle start out miniature" To estimate mature height, you must know their age and current height, from here you can use a frame score chart to determine a relatively close estimate of "mature height" (3 years of age).
3) Eye Appeal - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, just be aware someday you may want to sell your "Pet" or offspring thereof. So its best to choose a somewhat commonly accepted "beauty".
Beef
1) Conformation - "Muscle expression" - It takes somewhat of a trained eye to recognize a "winner". I suggest going to some cattle shows to learn what a beef cattle judge sees as "best". Learn to recognize feminine and masculine characteristics, and understand and determine "body condition scoring". A fat bovine is beautiful, but how much concentrated feed does it take to keep them "looking good"? Most beef producers like "easy keepers" (cattle that maintain good body condition under normal pasture conditions). You will be disappointed if you buy a beautiful, thick, round bovine, take them home, put them out on good pasture, and a couple months later can't see your "champion" because he or she lost most of their excess body condition.
2) Size - Unlike the Pet Market, beef production requires a faster growing heavier finishing animal. Frame 0 - 2 (miniature to classic) will be a good target size here for beef production. Cows that wean a calf 60% plus of their body weight will be efficient beef producers. Good Beef cattle should also have a dress out weight of 60% or greater, and a high yield of premium cuts (ribeye).
3) Temperament - Do not overlook this important quality here either. Remember your in this business to enjoy "cattle". It doesn't take very many ill tempered cattle to ruin an otherwise pleasant day.
Dairy
1) Temperament - You will be working very closely on a daily basis with your Milk Cow(s). Therefore it is critical to have a comfortable working relationship, where both of you enjoy milking time. If you purchase an untrained cow or heifer, just remember your animal will need to learn two things from you "respect" & "trust". Always stay in charge and reward their good behavior, and you will get along just fine.
2) Milk Production - Under perfect conditions an excellent standard Dairy Cow can produce 10 gallons of milk per day, and an excellent miniature Dairy Cow around half of that. On average you should expect two to four gallons per day. Diet is critical to higher milk production, high production requires an excellent high protein concentrated feeding program (grain). A good system (if you do not require all this milk) is to milk in the morning, then let the calf out with the cow during the day, and separate them for the night. Also remember that each lactation period is normally 9 - 10 months which gives the cow a rest before their next calf is born and they freshen. Average gestation for cattle is 284 days, so you will be looking to breed the cow by 90 days after calving.
3) Size - If you purchase a short Dairy cow, be aware it maybe necessary to build a milking platform for your cow to stand on for milking. This will save a lot of back ache if you are hand milking. As a short cow with a large utter puts the milking handles very close to the ground.
Rodeo Stock
1) Temperament - Good miniature bucking stock generally "are NOT gentle". Cattle that keep their distance, and have superior endurance, usually make superior rodeo stock.
2) Size - Most miniature rodeo stock buyers are looking for cattle in the zero to two frame category (42" - 48").
3) Appearance - Exotic, unusual color patterns, horned bulls are most popular.
"Value Added"
Once you've decided on a market segment/direction, the next thing to consider, whether your intent is to become a breeder or not, is to maintain value in your new purchase (investment). Like all live animal markets from Dog's to Horse's linage becomes important to future buyers. Registered animals of prize winning pedigree become sought after and command a higher market value. Here at MiniCattle Country the majority of our miniature cattle are descendants from registered prize winning stock. Our crossbred miniatures are registered with Cattle Trax Registry and transferable upon sale to consecutive owners, and their progeny are also registerable. If you are developing your own "new breed" and wish to begin a registration herd book for them, please contact me regarding getting setup with a breed plan and a registry.
Why buy from MiniCattle Country?
We offer "A Fair Deal". You get genuine, sincere advice, and top quality registered cattle from a large reputable company. Offspring from cattle purchased through MiniCattle Country will retain high market value. We list our associates cattle for sale, for free and only charge a flat 10% sales commission on "sold" animals (except our online auction - $25 listing fee from our host, & our 7% sales commission). Our website averages between 100 & 200 visits per day, so you get excellent exposure.
Value, Service & Recognition!
Why buy anywhere else?