Does anyone out there have miniature Holsteins? Can you milk them? How much milk do they give? How much do they cost?

-- Faith Battels (rainbowbf@yahoo.com), October 15, 2000

Answers

I don't know about Holsteins, but when I checked out miniature Jerseys, I was dismayed to learn that they are VERY expensive. So, since normal Jerseys are pretty small, and there are smaller ones yet born every now and then, I think that's what I'll go with when I get a cow. Or maybe a Kerry or Dexter, both of which are small as well. The miniatures I have heard about are priced like exotics, way out of range for a practical, productive animal.

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), October 18, 2000.

I would love to have a miniature milk cow, I had a holstein/black baldy, but we lost her when she had her calf. Her back only came up to my waist and she was very tame. How would you get those miniatures bred back, is the question. AI dosen't always work.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), October 18, 2000.

Folks- as cute as some of these are (or the idea of them), my advice on "miniatures" of ANY of the standard breeds, is avoid them at all costs. At this point, I don't know of a single breed which does not carry a genetic dwarfism trait, although very rare, and it invariably is intermeshed with other health problems. Even the occasional healthy dwarf, when it is bred, is very likely to die attempting to calve, as finding a healthy dwarf bull is unlikely, at best. If you want small stock, look at Jerseys (and they do come in all sizes- the show breeders and folks who want high production breed for larger animals), Devons, Dexters, or some of the other breeds which have been bred for generations to be small. We've had a couple of dwarf calves born from purebred Ayrshires, and also a Jersey, and as cute as they are at birth, they tend to change- crooked legs, deformed "bulldog" heads, pot bellies and other problems- as they get older. NOT worth putting the time and feed into as anything other than a curiosity, IMHO, anyway Linda Graves

-- Linda Graves (gravesfarm@madbbs.com), October 22, 2000.

Folks have been raising mini jerseys for 21 yrs. never had a drawf. seen'em go for a little as a hundred dollars and as much as serveral thousands dollars. need a cow easy to handle and gives milk for a family mini is good choice. also have mini guernseys. but the turth is a good cow is one that fills your needs or bucket. she don't have to be special to anyone but you.

-- Nathan Harris Sr. (bardyard_mini@yahoo.com), April 29, 2001.