Miniature Milk Cows

[Grumpy Old Man]

Dexter cattle aren't a true mini breed but rather a cross between Kerrys and probably Devons. They typically are less than 4' tall at the shoulder and weigh less than 1000 lbs. They were an all round cow from southern Ireland that small farmers would raise. On a 750 lb cow I would expect to get 350-375 lbs hanging weight. Milk I would expect about 2 gallons/day. BTW they have about 4% milk fat which is pretty close to a Jersey.

[mitunnelrat]

Lady, I was pretty sure you were gonna say you weren't interested/ worried about it providing meat because you asked specifically about dairy cows.

You and BWRR are pretty good about making informed choices when deciding exactly what you want, so I only threw the "multi-purpose" breed out there on the off chance it hadn't been considered.

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[ladyhk13]

MTR..gotcha! Problem has been that there is info out there (as seen even on this thread) about breeds but no one really knows anything about really buying them. I can't find any place who actually sells them, has them, has had them, knows someone who has had them...get the picture? There are people out there who I guess "collect" them for their own farms and I did find one place up in Penn that may sell them but would not give out a price on their website. Saw where one Jersey is valued at $1200. but none for sale in that article (think it was a Mother Earth News one). This looks like it's going to be a very difficult task.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Here you go Lady. Ask and ye shall receive.

Angus Cattle for Sale | Dairy Cattles | Miniature Cattle for Sale

ETA There is a Dexter breeder in Cleveland Tennessee.

[ladyhk13]

Thanks Grumpy!!! There is also one listed that is even closer to where our property is so I just sent them an email with some questions. I noticed that a lot of the listings were already outdated but at least the info for the companies were still up so I have contact emails and phone numbers to I can pick their brains so we can make an informed decision. I didn't realize how rare these animals were when I thought about getting one! Amazing! Some of them are just so darn cute though! They still creating new breeds and if anyone is interested in starting one you can do it, the info is out there how to go about it...all very controlled but totally cool.

[ladyhk13]

Update.....have already had several emails back and forth with the breeder that is close to me and he is very open to helping me learn and having us go over there and visit their farm. They have Dexters...says they chose them mainly because they are good meat/milk but most importantly they are very easy breeders and have no problems giving birth on their own. That is very important.
Thanks again Grumpy!

[Evolver]

It looks like you found a great contact. Craigslist is an option also, I was looking in the Farm/Garden section and saw that there is allot of live stock listed. here's just one.
chattanooga farm & garden - all classifieds "Dexters" - craigslist