Miniature Herefords

[Betty]

I am interested in these cattle. I'm getting older, my sons have moved away, and our herd was
knocked out of the angus seedstock business (we were never very big!) by AM, NH and now CA -100% of my cows are potential carriers, kind of sick of it, thought I might think of something else.

Are there any miniature hereford fanciers on this board? The PR suggests they are just the original small framed herefords of the 50s. I thought that sounded pretty interesting. I always liked herefords.

 

[Betty]

Come on you guys, lots of you have looked at my question.
Don't be shy, what do you think?
Our market these days is direct sales/grass fed beef. Some show calves.
Thinking maybe some folks would like a smaller package,in fact I know that they would.
But the seedstock is SO expensive.

Comments?

 

[ga.prime]

Bad idea, Betty. Unless you're selling miniature herfs to other people that think miniature herfs are good to have.

 

[Julian]

One option is to buy conventionally bad EPD'ed cattle (of whatever breed you prefer) that are phenotypically close to your ideal and run them as commercial cattle. Throw their papers away. You may be able to get them at a discount if the area sold with a large crowd of mainstream, conventional "seedstock" producers present. Just buy and breed good cattle without the hype. Just a thought.

 

[Betty]

Not interested in a herd of "scrubs", that's for sure. My angus are beauties, gentle, deep, their babies get sold at < 1 yr fed on mostly nice hay.
I'll probably just stick with what I know, and just sell meat.
Thought it might be fun to try something totally different, but I don't want to be a dummy like the llama deal of years ago. Already feeling like a dummy having concentrated on GAR 1680 and Bando 598.

 

[MO_cows]

Scrubs, huh? The commercial cattle that feed the nation are scrubs? OK, then.

The Hereford association registers the mini's too so you might want to look at their web site at least and see if there is a breeders list posted. I have only seen them a few times "in the flesh", showing at Denver and the American Royal, and the kindest thing I can say is I was not impressed with anything other than the prices.

 

[Julian]

Not interested in a herd of "scrubs", that's for sure. My angus are beauties, gentle, deep, their babies get sold at < 1 yr fed on mostly nice hay.
I'll probably just stick with what I know, and just sell meat.
Thought it might be fun to try something totally different, but I don't want to be a dummy like the llama deal of years ago. Already feeling like a dummy having concentrated on GAR 1680 and Bando 598.

What if you could buy a group of good Angus cows that had YW EPD'S of 45 when everybody else at the sale goes crazy for cows with YW EPD'S. Of 90+?
I know there are quite a few that could make money AND have respectable calves with scrubs like that. Sorry for my lack of clarity earlier.

 

[3waycross]

Not interested in a herd of "scrubs", that's for sure. My angus are beauties, gentle, deep, their babies get sold at < 1 yr fed on mostly nice hay.
I'll probably just stick with what I know, and just sell meat.
Thought it might be fun to try something totally different, but I don't want to be a dummy like the llama deal of years ago. Already feeling like a dummy having concentrated on GAR 1680 and Bando 598.

What if you could buy a group of good Angus cows that had YW EPD'S of 45 when everybody else at the sale goes crazy for cows with YW EPD'S. Of 90+?
I know there are quite a few that could make money AND have respectable calves with scrubs like that. Sorry for my lack of clarity earlier.

and then breed them to Horned Hereford bulls and laugh all the way to the bank.

 

[Julian]

Not interested in a herd of "scrubs", that's for sure. My angus are beauties, gentle, deep, their babies get sold at < 1 yr fed on mostly nice hay.
I'll probably just stick with what I know, and just sell meat.
Thought it might be fun to try something totally different, but I don't want to be a dummy like the llama deal of years ago. Already feeling like a dummy having concentrated on GAR 1680 and Bando 598.

What if you could buy a group of good Angus cows that had YW EPD'S of 45 when everybody else at the sale goes crazy for cows with YW EPD'S. Of 90+?
I know there are quite a few that could make money AND have respectable calves with scrubs like that. Sorry for my lack of clarity earlier.

and then breed them to Horned Hereford bulls and laugh all the way to the bank.

If everyone is real quiet you can almost hear a joyous cash register in the distance..."Cha Ching!"

 

[alexfarms]

I am interested in these cattle. I'm getting older, my sons have moved away, and our herd was
knocked out of the angus seedstock business (we were never very big!) by AM, NH and now CA -100% of my cows are potential carriers, kind of sick of it, thought I might think of something else.

Are there any miniature hereford fanciers on this board? The PR suggests they are just the original small framed herefords of the 50s. I thought that sounded pretty interesting. I always liked herefords.

I had a neighbor back in Nebraska who was into miniature Herefords. I saw some sell through the sale barn. The mature bulls were barely 1000#. From that I would guess the mature cows might be around 700#. I think they would be tough economically for freezer beef. I think there are some good old line Herefords that would fit your goals better. There are several herds that have concentrated on some of the old lamplighter pedigrees that would be more economical for what you are looking for, I would think. Or...check out the thread bellow titled "Hathcock bull". That is a real practical sized bull.

 

[1914 Hereford]

The Rust Largents at Ft. Davis, Texas have worked on Miniature Herefords for years. I think that their children or maybe grandchildren have continued with the herd. Also, there is a neighbor of ours who runs some low-line Angus. This year he has a Miniature Hereford bull ET calf that he is raising for some breeder around Denver, Colo. I see no reason to advise you NOT to go this route. They are just really small Herefords, that would take less pasture. I would think that they would be great freezer beef--if you didn't need too much. Jane Largent told me, maybe 10 years ago, that they had restaurants who would take all the small T-bones and other steak cuts that they could come up with. I think at that time, their heifer market was fantastic.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

The Rust Largents at Ft. Davis, Texas have worked on Miniature Herefords for years. I think that their children or maybe grandchildren have continued with the herd. Also, there is a neighbor of ours who runs some low-line Angus. This year he has a Miniature Hereford bull ET calf that he is raising for some breeder around Denver, Colo. I see no reason to advise you NOT to go this route. They are just really small Herefords, that would take less pasture. I would think that they would be great freezer beef--if you didn't need too much. Jane Largent told me, maybe 10 years ago, that they had restaurants who would take all the small T-bones and other steak cuts that they could come up with. I think at that time, their heifer market was fantastic.

Someone local killed a grass fed square meater steer a while ago. Really practical sized cuts and good quality. Sold it all for AUD$10/kg so I reckon they got a pretty good return :nod:

 

[Idaman]

Just remember that however much you pay above $/lb. market price is how much you are exposed to losing.

 

[CKC1586]

I have no opinion for or against the minis....but will share that it was sure entertaining a couple of years ago at the NAILE watching several folks trying to get a Mini Hereford bull into a grooming chute and work on him... he could bounce all four feet up in the air and had that chute bouncing and rattling all over the place with them folks scrambling about trying to keep him in it.... Darnedest thing to watch, that little guy could jump!

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Largent's website for Point of Rocks Ranch (wow, check out those prices!)

http://www.minihereford.com/


And a fella from around Bay City, Texas that used to post as "SF" here on CT:

http://www.mini-hereford.com

 

[djinwa]

Seedstock for miniatures is expensive, but you can always do AI. Perhaps get some good regular hereford heifers and AI to miniature bull. Obviously easy calving for heifers. Keep breeding down to where you want to be.

Some of the miniatures are too freaky small, but crossed with regular can be okay for grass fed beef.

 

[Idaman]

Here you go. They're not all ridiculously priced.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/grd/1933369382.html

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/grd/1933356206.html

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/grd/1933341746.html

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/grd/1933310834.html

 

[countflair]

One thing to understand is 90% of the Miniature Hereford people are hobbyist. There may be a select few that are raising them in a commercial setting for beef but the price makes that aspect a bit impractical. Marketing may be tough if you have never had to play to a niche audience before.

(If you are not willing to pay the premium money for "miniature" stock do some research and find some old style Hereford breeders.) Lowlines are another way to go if you are looking to for smaller framed cattle.

 

[txag]

from an ad in the Showbox: KP Ranch Miniature Hereford Cattle "Private Treaty Retirement Sale"

http://www.miniaturehereford.com/

 

[Brandonm22]

Not interested in a herd of "scrubs", that's for sure. My angus are beauties, gentle, deep, their babies get sold at < 1 yr fed on mostly nice hay.
I'll probably just stick with what I know, and just sell meat.
Thought it might be fun to try something totally different, but I don't want to be a dummy like the llama deal of years ago. Already feeling like a dummy having concentrated on GAR 1680 and Bando 598.

If you have a herd of registered Angus cows that you like, just breed them to tested defect free bulls and test the heifers. Keep and register the defect free heifers, sell the carriers as meat or commercial heifers (with full disclosure of course) and in 7-12 years you can have a known defect free herd with just as much quality (or more) as you have now. It takes a little time and patience; but with time the whole Precision/598 thing can just be one of those little bumps in the road (and it won't be the last in this industry)