Posted on 09/24/2007 7:40:40 PM PDT by B-Chan
Ranchettes have replaced working ranches in much of California, and now there are pint-sized cows to match.
In the past two years, Bev Boriolo, 72, and her husband, Don, have built a herd of 12 miniature Hereford cattle, all well under 4 feet tall. The couple, who live on a grassy 30-acre parcel near Plymouth, are raising animals for a small but growing niche in the livestock business: little cattle for little ranches.
The smallest of the miniature breeds stand less than 3 feet tall, full grown. They're cute, they keep the weeds down, and, as Boriolo says, "they're as sweet as the dickens" -- something she attributes to their small stature. "They think that since they're looking up at you, they have to do what you tell 'em," she said.
On a recent breezy evening, the herd, with furry red coats and placid white faces, gathered by the fence behind the Boriolos' pool. There was not a moo of complaint.
For now, the money in micro-beef is in breeding: raising adorable cattle and selling them -- for $3,500 and up -- not as meat, but as the parents of another herd-to-be.
As starter livestock on limited acreage, miniature cattle make a lot of sense, said Glenn Nader, a Sacramento Valley livestock adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension. "We try to tell people to pick animals that fit their environment," he said.
Miniature breeds generally weigh one-third to half as much as full-size cattle -- which typically run 1,200 pounds and more than 4 1/2-feet for a full-grown cow and 2,000 pounds and close to 5 feet tall for a bull...
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
See also International Miniature Cattle Breeders Society and Registry®
They’ve had these for years....where else do you think White Castle got their burgers?
Cute and practical!
What’s next? Getting a bunch of midgets together and having a miniature rodeo?
Eat mor chikin.
Yes, but will they produce less gas?
For some reason, this makes me want to watch the all-midget western, “The Terror of Tiny Town.”
My own personal steak! Whoo-hoo!
You know, we had a lesbian couple down the road that bred miniature horses. I can see where that market was mounted, or, shall I say, handled.
The dairy stock, OTOH, would seem to be practical.
Those half-pint cartons of milk, too.
These really have been around for years. Where do you think those little cartons of milk come from.
If you can get people to see them as pets it makes it easier to ban them, and their bigger brothers, as food.
Sheesh..... What do they taste like?!!!
That is the ONLY important question!!
I am just drooling at the thought of a Frenched prime rib from one of these critters (range fed - not corn fed).
A nice little prime rib that can be cooked quickly and serve just a few people. A nice micro greens salad to start. Fingerling potatoes seasoned with fresh flat parsley lightly fried with pearl onions in rendered bacon fat and some candied baby carrots as sides. Creme Brule in small ramekins to finish.
Hmmmmmmm. Sounds a heck of a lot better than the pork loin I grilled tonight.
Those little cows would fit nicely in my smoker. Now I’m hungry.
Pets for the wealthy wannabe ranchers. Still, it’s their money and if it makes them happy, go for it.
I wonder how it would cook up?
ROFLOL
We always called them gut grenades.
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