HEREMINIS

Helpful Hints

2012-01-02T14:19:00.235+13:00

These pieces of information are from my own experience and some that others have suggested to me during the cycle of breeding, weaning, training, showing and so on of my Miniature Herefords. They are also applicable to a wide range of other animals. If anyone has something they would like added to this column for others to read please contact me on riverlets@gmail.com and I will put it in. Photos are also welcome.

FILLING A HAY NET

Ever struggled to fill a hay net with the hay refusing to be stuffed in and the net twisting like an octopus? Here are a couple of easy ways to deal with that.

The Plastic Bag method.

Fill a plastic bag with the amount of hay you need then pull the hay net over it upsidedown.

Turn the hay net right side up and slide the plastic bag out leaving the hay in the net.

The Bucket method.

Tuck the hay net into a bucket or something similar (here I have used a feed container) then put the required amount of hay into the net.

Pull the hay net up over the hay and remove from bucket. Now hang up the hay net securely.

For cattle we use a hay net with wider spaces in the netting than those in our horse nets. Cattle need to use their tongues to help pick out the hay whereas horses use their teeth and lips.

INSECT REPELLENT

Horrible little beasties have been invented to plague man and animal alike particularly in the summer months. Biting flies, ants, midges, fleas, sandflies and so on can now be given a taste of their own medicine.

Procure a bottle of Baby Oil and a bottle of Dettol (antiseptic with a strong smell) and mix equal parts together (i.e. 50/50) into another container.

Baby Oil Dettol

You will notice that the oil sinks down while the Dettol floats on top of it. Shake vigorously until the liquids blend into a cloudy mixture. You will need to do this every time you use it.

                 Unmixed solution                                                       Mixed solution


Transfer the mixture to a container with a spray nozzle.   You can then use it on yourself (arms, legs) or the animal.   We ususally spray it on the legs of our cattle or horses and under their bellies.   If horses have a day sheet on that is all that is required otherwise it can be applied anywhere avoiding, of course, eyes and nose.   The oil keeps the solution on the hair and makes it shiny while the smell of the Dettol repels insects.

                                                        Spray container with mixture.

It is wise to label the container with what the mixture is.   If your animal objects to being sprayed simply spray the solution onto a cloth and wipe that over them.

The Twins Grow Up

2011-12-10T13:01:00.002+13:00

December 3rd, 2009. A day after the due date and Grovenorth Abby calved. She was in the same paddock as her friend who had produced an attractive heifer three days earlier. When I saw first one calf and then the other all seemed well until - OH MY GOSH, there's a THIRD calf! I discovered later that these were the first recorded Miniature Hereford twins in the Southern Hemisphere. Apparently there had been another set earlier in New Zealand but they had not been registered. The new little 'un with its mother was a bull so I hoped the other would be as well although I really wanted all heifers. Out of luck - it was a heifer and probably a "freemartin" meaning it would be sterile (see article about this in the earlier story "Against All Odds"). In this case I found two separate placentas in the paddock so am hoping for the best.

TWO not one and mum makes three. Tea, with milk, for two.

I like to name my calves in some way after their mothers so the bull became Riverlets Abbot (yes, I know there should only be one 't') and the heifer Riverlets Abbess. These names were shortened to Abe and Bess. Abe weighed 22 kg and Bess 23.6 kg which was within the normal range for Miniature Hereford calves in my herd. Abby was a good mum with plenty of milk so no supplementary feed was necessary nor did we need to take one calf from her to hand rear unlike the bigger Herefords. Beef cows are really only designed to raise one calf at a time successfully but there are exceptions. We were already at the beginning of a drought which lasted seven months but Abby cared for her babies all through this without any setbacks to them although by the time they were weaned, at around eight months, she had lost some condition and took longer to get in calf again.

When the calves were a couple of months old I had them dehorned. Unfortunately this was summertime so we had to watch them carefully for any infection or flystrike with the hotter weather. Abe did suffer a bit with one side of his head but was easy to handle so came right after a while. It was simply a matter of keeping the wound clean, applying Wound Powder (a charcoal-based compound available from vets or stock firms) and topping off with Flystrike Powder. Bess had no such problems. Abe was very friendly and enjoyed a good scratch or rub but Bess was quite shy. When scampering by their mother, especially in the evening light, they looked like a couple of rabbits with their bobbing, white-tipped tails. They thrived then by May started to grow their winter coats, probably anticipating the wet, cold, muddy conditions to come. With the severe drought there was no grass on which to wean any of the calves so it wasn't until July that the twins could leave Mum for a "greener pasture". By then they looked like 'woolly little mammoths' according to a not very complimentary friend whereas I thought them round, cute and cuddly!

Hoppity, skippity off we go with mum. Weaned and in their winter woollies.

Eventually there came a parting of the ways with Abe going off to join the bigger weaned Hereford bull calves and Bess into the heifer calf mob. They mingled very well with their peers, getting used to a different part of the farm and continuing to grow well. The following October (2010) saw the arrival of two more Miniature Hereford bulls purchased from Ruzak Park Stud, Oamaru, in the South Island. These lads were a couple of months older than the twins and a bit bigger but that didn't faze Abe in the least. He proceeded to try and assert domination over Digger but soon gave up and decided they were no threat to him! I kept the three young bulls together for a while before taking them out to mix with the yearling mob again. The little guys stuck up for themselves and before long they were all grazing happily together. All the Herefords, great and small, get virtually the same management on our farm except during the mating or calving seasons when the Miniatures have separate paddocks. The only difference is that the earlier-maturing minis are calved as two-year-olds while the bigger Herefords wait until they are better matured at three years of age. This works well.

Riverlets Abbott v. Ruzak Park Digger. Three is not a crowd.

It was interesting to contrast the growth of the Miniature Hereford calves with those of their same age group among the conventional Herefords. The shorter legs and necks of the minis meant that they became more compact while the bigger animals went through a leggy stage before filling out from about eighteen months. This applied to both heifers and bulls. Although I prefer not to use my bulls until they are around two years of age one of them went out with a group of cows at seventeen months and got all of them in calf. He is now running with another group and I am looking forward to seeing what his progeny are like. The heifers are left until they are about fifteen months old and they calve with little trouble at two years. The twin heifer was an exception. She was very small as a yearling so I left her for another year.

Abe and big Hereford - yearlings. Bess and big Herefords - yearlings.

A puzzling problem with the minis is their tendency to have very dirty tails and hind quarters. We don't have this to the same extent with the bigger Herefords and are thinking it may be the richness of the grass on our farm. Herefords are able to forage anywhere but maybe they, the minis in particular, do better with more roughage. Our farm is high in ryegrass and clover - very few weeds, no kikuyu or rough pasture and the soil tests have shown it to be well nourished. The answer could be to restrict the minis' access to fresh pasture and feed more hay but that is easier said than done on a farm of this size. They certainly came through both the drought and the horrible winters in better shape than the bigger cattle and what condition they did lose was recovered in a very short space of time.

Rich pasture. No pasture.

Two years have now passed and the twins are moving towards their next adventures. Bess is with the herd running with Ruzak Park Digger in the hope that she will actually have a calf next Spring. The two-year-old bulls Abe was with have all been sold so he has been "demoted" to the next mob of yearlings but he is still smaller than they are! He is possibly going to take a trip to the Deep South to stand as a service bull at aother Miniature Hereford Stud for a couple of years. He won't be sold as his genetics will be needed back home some time in the future. Before that he will be tested for BVD (bovine viral diaorrhea) and vaccinated. His TB clearance is C10 and he has had all other necessary vaccinations. My cattle will only come from or go to herds which have the same protections as I cannot put either my minis or our larger Herefords at risk.

Riverlets Abbott aged two. Riverlets Abbess aged two.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINNIES - IT'S BEEN A DELIGHT TO WATCH YOU GROW UP.

Boomer Creek Miniature Herefords

2011-11-21T11:27:00.000+13:00

Australia and New Zealand are separated by the Tasman Sea, affectionately known as "The Ditch" or "The Pond" although the countries are just over 1400 kms apart at the closest points. Tasmania, a large island off the south-east corner of Australia is where Boomer Creek Farm is found. It takes its name from the common reference to a male kangaroo as a "boomer" owing to a booming noise heard as it bounds across land at speeds of up to 70 kmph. Joy and Colin Walters felt this to be an appropriate name for their farm which comprises 400 hectares on the East Coast of Tasmania with beautiful views over Great Oyster Bay leading out into the Tasman Sea.

Since the early 1970s the Walters have had standard sized polled Herefords then around 1994 their neighbour purchased some Lowline cattle of Angus derivation.   Colin and Joy loved the idea of having smaller sized cattle but being "red and white" breeders did some research and discovered Miniature Herefords.   Their first purchase was a recipient cow which produced Boomer Creek Atom and shortly afterwards they purchased a heifer, KT Real Roberta (imported from the USA).   This was the start of their Miniature Hereford herd.

Having always had polled Herefords it wasn't long before the Walters realised this would be a much better option than horned minis but it was a case of "do-it-yourself" as there were no polled minis outside of the States.   Starting in 1999 they followed the American system of using small standard polled Hereford females with a miniature bull.   After considerable searching they eventually found some with frame scores between 4 and 5 and later another one with a frame score of 2 - actually of Classic size.   So began the "breeding down" programme to produce polled Miniature Herefords.

For the first five years it was a very slow process with having to keep the size down as well as eliminating horns and also keeping the breed line different.   It meant using a horned mini bull across standard polls then using a different horned mini bull to establish another line then back across a standard poll to lose the horns.   This could have taken many more years except that in 2004 another Australian breeder imported polled Miniature Hereford embryos from Straitside Ranch in the States from which two heifers and one bull - all homozygous polled - were born.   Sired by SSR Micah (a small mini bull of the LS Mt Nugget 28 line) and out of SSR Miss Misty (an estimated "large" Frame Score 2 as the cows used by the Johnsons to start their breeding programme were in the frame score 1 to 2 range) the bull, Boomer Creek Felix, with a Frame Score of 1, really sped up the polled breeding programme.   With now over 40 progeny, all polled and of Frame Score 1 or less he has become the "foundation sire" of polled minis "Down Under".

                                    SSR Miss Misty - dam of Boomer Creek Felix, a polled
                                    Hereford thought to be at the top end of Frame Score 2
                                       which is not considered Miniature in the States.

                             SSR Micah - a polled Miniature bull, sire of Boomer Creek Felix
                              with a Frame Score at the bottom end of 1.   Micah's sire was a
                                               very small Largent bull, LS Mt Nugget 28.

                                    Boomer Creek Felix, aged six and winner of the Sire's
                                    Progeny Class in 2010.   He has a Frame Score  of 1
                                    and qualifies as a true Miniature as in the States, where
                                    he originated, miniature means size not background.

Normally the Walters run around 50 breeding cows of which 95% would now be Miniature Herefords, mostly polled.   At least twenty of these are homozygous polled and most of them now have three, four and even five generations of Miniature Herefords on both sides of their parentage.   The demand for polled minis in Australia has really taken off as prospective owners/breeders see the big advantage in having no horns to deal with.   Half of the Boomer Creek herd was sold in the last financial year (including horned) with some animals going across Bass Strait to New South Wales and Victoria.   They could have sold more but ran out of available stock!

A big part of promoting Boomer Creek cattle is through showing and the Walters have been very successful even against standard Herefords and other breeds.   The animals are presented immaculately and well trained.

Joy Walters with Boomer Creek Mack - Junior Champion, Grand Champion
and Interbreed Champion bull in 2010. A grandson of Boomer Creek Felix.

                                     Seven of these polled Miniature Hereford heifers are
                                                          by Boomer Creek Felix.

                                         Good breeding and presentation deserves to win.
                                                Some of Boomer Creek Felix' progeny.

It is thanks to the outlook and perseverance of such Miniature Hereford Studs in the States as Straitside Ranch (Betty and the late John Johnson) and Long Creek (Susan and Ron Himmelberg) plus Boomer Creek (Colin and Joy Walters in Australia) that polled Miniature Herefords have become available for Hereford breed enthusiasts looking for smaller cattle without horns.   For those of us following in their footsteps we can only build on the foundation they have laid - the hard work has already been done.

Against All Odds

2011-11-08T19:49:00.011+13:00

In the five years we have been on our new farm the winters of 2007 and 2008 have been the worst we've experienced so far. A wet autumn led into an even wetter winter and conditions for both man and beast were horrendous. At one stage the other half sat up in bed and cried out, "@#%&* all I can see is a sea of mud." He was still asleep!

After a particularly difficult day out on the farm he exclaimed, "Every one of those big hoofprints must hold a litre of water and there is probably now three million litres of water all over the farm." This led to my 'tongue-in-cheek' remark, "Perhaps we should look at running some Miniature Herefords and see how they and the farm cope." A long silence greeted this audacious uttering followed by, "That's not such a silly idea." Thus began my investigation into what Miniature Herefords really were.

Miniature Hereford hoofprint                                             Regular Hereford hoofprint

We have since found that the minis have less impact with their hooves on soft or muddy ground thus causing less pasture damage.   During the wettest times we have fenced off particularly susceptible areas then once conditions improve the minis go into these paddocks first to eat the pasture down.   By the time the ground has dried somewhat and the grass has freshened the bigger cattle can go into these areas without sinking to their bellies as they used to do.

During the 2008 winter we had several sets of twins born on the farm, among them heifer/bull combinations which usually means the female is a sterile "freemartin".   On August 19th we discovered a cow with a very small calf beside her and wondered whether there was another calf somewhere.   We were on top of a steep, slippery hill leading down to a swamp area and it was sheer chance that we noticed movement in the mud below.   Slithering down we discovered another even smaller calf which was so young and deeply buried in the quagmire it could not extricate itself.   A long, hard pull up the hill and we had one hypothermic little bull snuggled into hay on the trailer.   The mother was not interested in him and we then realised the calf with her was a heifer so thought, here's another passenger!

The little heifer grew up with mum while we hand reared her twin bull brother.   Even though we knew the odds were against her being fertile we always give our freemartin heifers a chance to get in calf by running them with a bull alongside their peer group.   Apparently if the placental membranes of the twins are not co-joined in utero within the first month from conception it is likely the heifer will be fertile.   If they are then the blood travelling to both twins carries male hormones which affects the sexual development of the female twin.   A theory is also posed that if the heifer is heavier than the bull then she could be fertile.   It is about a 10 percent chance either way.   In this case the heifer was 26 kgs while her brother was 24 kgs so fingers were crossed.   The following photo was taken of how a bovine chromosomal freemartin is produced in utero where both bull and heifer calves are sharing the placental membranes connecting them with their mother.

Photo reprinted with permission from Dr Robert A. Foster, Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada.

The following year the heifer fell victim to a particularly bad attack of facial eczema. She had been out the back of the farm with the rest of the yearling heifers and we had not been able to get near them for weeks owing to the atrocious conditions which had washed out some crossings. When they were accessible it was only because this heifer failed to come out of the trees that we realised something was amiss. Unfortunately it was several more days before we could get her up to our yards and by then she was a mess. A zinc bolus and a balling gun for administering it was obtained from the local vet and the heifer treated. It took a long time for her to recover and she ended up with a bald nose which wasn't the best situation for our summers. Then she started to grow hair over the patches and eventually developed a moustache which covered part of her nose. We had no idea what internal damage the eczema might have done but kept an eye on her over the following months. She was always on the small side but already came from a small line of Herefords so we were a bit dubious about running her with a bull at two years of age although we doubted she would either cycle or get in calf.

                                               Riverlands Princess with moustache.

At the beginning of winter, 2011 to our amazement we noticed "Freebie", as we called her, was looking quite rotund and developing a noticeable udder.   On September 15th she calved with no trouble producing a 34 kg bull.   A reprieve for her and relief for us as we don't really like sending young heifers to the Works.   The little guy is doing well as mum has quite a good udder for a heifer and she certainly loves her little boy.

Princess' little prince.

She will now join the little herd of conventional but small polled Herefords which will be mated to a Miniature Hereford bull as one of the foundation 'matrons' for a polled Miniature Hereford stud. Hats off to you Riverlands Princess 979 for your courage and determination to make it against all odds.

Small Bull Power

2011-09-18T18:58:00.009+12:00

The move from using Hereford bulls over all dairy cows to bringing in Angus and Jersey to use with the heifers has thrown up some interesting observations. This is because some Herefords are becoming too big for the servicing of dairy heifers with resulting calving difficulties. Farmers still wanted a dairy/beef calf so turned to using Angus but once again there were calving difficulties with heifers.   The bull of choice then became the Jersey.   This is an advantage if the calves are heifers, especially Friesian/Jersey cross.   Often completely black in colour this dairy cross has been named the "Kiwi" cow and can be a successful addition to the dairy herd.   On the other hand a bull calf sired by a Jersey is a different proposition.   It is usually destined to be a "bobby" calf and has little value unless sold to a calf rearer who plans to on-sell it for use over dairy heifers.

The breeding of Hereford bulls for the dairy industry is our main "bread and butter" income.   The bulls are sold as two-year-olds to be used over mostly Friesian dairy cows which will then produce the white-faced calf so popular for the beef market.   Occasionally we have leased yearling Herefords for dairy heifers but lately have found they are being superseded by Jerseys with the comment that 'Herefords cause calving problems.'   This should be ringing alarm bells for all Hereford breeders.   The cattle in our herd tend to be slightly smaller on average than those found on most Hereford studs - we like to think of them as more "traditional" in type.   To date there have been no calving problems reported by any dairy farmers using our bulls but the concern remains where heifers are involved.

With all this in mind I began to think out a strategy which could benefit our dairy farmer clientele as well as us.   We normally transport the bulls ourselves so as we visited the different dairy farms I took along a folder of photographs of my Miniature Herefords and started talking.   My first question was, "What breed of bull are you using over your heifers?"   Every response was, "A Jersey."   Second question was "Do you think you get a reasonable return on the progeny of this cross?"   Answers were generally "No" unless heifers were being kept for the herd.   My third question was "Would you prefer a dairy/beef calf if there were no calving problems?"   Answers this time were in the affirmative so this is where I produced my folder of photos.

                      Miniature Hereford bull with yearling Jersey and Friesian/Jersey heifers.

Reactions to the photos ranged from laughter to intrigue but not once were they ridiculed.   We then discussed the benefits of using a Miniature Hereford bull over dairy heifers including the fact that, especially with Friesians, the calves would be white-faced, just smaller but also chunkier and of greater value than a bobby calf.   There are now several dairy farmers considering leasing a mini bull next season to see whether they are a worthwhile option.   The bulls will, of course, be BVD (bovine viral diarrhoea) tested and vaccinated.

        Jersey cow with own calf sired by Mini Hereford bull (left) and Jersey foster bull calf.

I did not, however, intend using these farmers as "guinea-pigs" so my idea was first carried out on my own small herd of dairy cows.   When weaned, the first dairy/beef calf from a mature Jersey cow was a solid, not-so-little steer which will be ready for the freezer at 18 months of age.

                                     Five months old Miniature Hereford/Jersey steer.

Two of my dairy heifers have calved this Spring to a mini bull.   Once is a full Jersey and she produced a bull calf weighing 29 kgs.

                   Two-year-old Jersey heifer with bull calf sired by Miniature Hereford.

The other is a Friesian/Jersey (Kiwi cow) and she produced a heifer calf weighing 31 kgs.

            Two-year-old Friesian/Jersey heifer with heifer calf sired by Miniature Hereford.

From first noting the heifers were a bit uneasy prior to calving to when the calf was born, washed, on its feet and feeding was within two hours!   This coming season I have an Ayshire/Jersey heifer which will run with a mini bull and a farmer with Friesians is considering leasing a mini bull for his heifers providing I take the calves once they are a week old as he does not wish to rear them.   That will open up another chapter in my strategic planning.

Snowonder

2011-08-23T11:36:00.001+12:00

Snow in Northland? Yes, well it has happened before, in fact, when my Dad was a lad some eighty years ago he told me it snowed at Cape Reinga which is near the northern tip of the North Island. I wonder which is better - freezing cold winds and snow or freezing cold winds and rain. Whichever, the Miniature Herefords take it in their short strides. It's no wonder the little guys started growing very shaggy coats in early autumn. Perhaps they knew something we didn't.

Plenty in the New Zealand media reports about the "Polar blast" but hey - over in South Australia they were having their own snowstorms.    There's something about a snowy picture on a fine day which leads to the comment "picture postcard" but even on days where the sun is hidden things can look "picturesque" and any of the photos in this story could be that.

The three woolly weaners in this photo belong to a Miniature Hereford  Stud near Oamaru in the South Island of New Zealand.......


while in the other very wintry scene, just north-east of Bathhurst, South Australia the minis are almost invisible under a snow duvet.

The bleak side is one which has a wind chill factor which drives down temperatures remorselessly. Blizzards, like the one in this photo, can really make life uncomfortable for man and beast.

BUT, providing quality feed and good shelter is available the animals can weather almost anything.

If the pundits are right then we are in for an early Spring and some are even saying an early Summer. Let's

hope there is an in-between time of warmth and gentle rain which allows plenty of grass growth because

another severe drought on top of all that has happened recently won't earn Mother Nature many friends!

All Herefords Great and Small

2011-07-28T08:19:00.415+12:00

Following the past season's A & P Shows and an article in a magazine about my Miniature Herefords there has been a steady flow of interest from all walks of life. Contacts have been made via e-mail, telephone or directly and several have then visited our farm to get a close-up view of the small cattle. As we also have a conventional Polled Hereford Stud this adds to the enjoyment as there is an obvious comparison of sizes to view.

With our big Herefords we have what we call a more "traditional" sized herd, the average size being slightly smaller than most which particularly suits our dairy farming clientele. Among these animals are a few which in America would be classed as "Classics" with Frame Scores of 3 and a couple may well be only FS 2 when mature. A comment often made about the minis is "They look just like the big Herefords." Of course they do. A Miniature Hereford should simply be a small replica of the larger animal but they're all full blood Herefords no matter what their size and, in the case of our herds, pedigreed, registered cattle.

Miniature Herefords are classified by a measurement across the backbone at the hips converted into Frame Score. The breeding programme to produce miniature sized Herefords was started in the USA in the 1970s and the generally accepted size for these small cattle on reaching maturity at three years of age is 114.30 cm (45 inches) for cows and 121.92 cm (48 inches) for bulls. That upper limit is known as a Frame Score of 1 but the miniatures can go well down the scale, some having been recorded as FS 0000 - 93.98 cm (37 inches) for cows and 101.60 cm (40 inches) for bulls. Above the upper height for FS 1 they are classed as "Classics" in the States but on reaching 129.54 cm (51 inches) or more they become known as the Modern, Standard, Regular or Conventional Hereford with frame scores between 4 and 10, the last being extremely tall. New Zealand does allow slightly larger sized cattle to be classed as miniature but, however great or small, they are all Herefords, not different breeds. It is only their size which distinguishes the varieties of the one breed.

Both the move toward larger Herefords and smaller Herefords began around the same time. Eventually it was apparent the really big animals were not coping as well with adverse conditions so overseas there has been a turnaround to downsize them a bit. The Miniature Herefords have their own problem when becoming too small as there is no longer any meat value and some of them begin to look quite stunted, losing the conformation of the bigger animals. For me, the ideal size of a Miniature Hereford is between a Frame Score of 00 and 1. This is where there is the potential of being able to produce a compact, meaty animal, easily managed and less damaging to pasture and facilities.

A problem facing any variety of a breed which is in small numbers is that without a steady source of new bloodlines breeders are restricted to a limited gene pool. Miniature Herefords face this in that they are a relatively new variety of the Hereford breed stemming from a small selection of foundation animals. Originally bred by using the smallest regular sized Herefords available then progressively downsizing to what is now recognised as miniature size the herds now rely on introducing new bloodlines by occasionally going back to larger varieties - usually the Classic sizes - then continuing to downsize the progeny. This is not crossbreeding - it is simply utilising different sizes to achieve the desired end result of miniature size. All the animals used in such a programme are full blood Herefords and should be registerable as such.

Up to now Miniature Herefords in New Zealand have all been horned although for many breeders the polled variety is preferable. Owing to the very slow processes involved in importing polled Miniature Herefords New Zealand breeders have to look at how their counterparts in the States and Australia developed their herds and follow suit. At this stage it basically means using a horned miniature bull over polled standard Hereford heifers which have been selected for their small size and lack of any horns or scurs in their backgrounds. Unless suitable polled mini bulls can be acquired this is a long term breeding programme over many years but the results are worth it. All the progeny, regardless of how much miniature or regular genetics they have, are still Herefords with the trademark features.

The category of "miniature" can be applied once progeny reach a particular size - this can be sooner or later depending on the type of Herefords (big and small) used. Once that size has been reached then it is a matter of selecting bulls and cows with similar sizes in their ancestry and progressing from there. Whether they have other varieties of Hereford in their pedigree is irrelevant, unless breeding for the polled factor, as they have all contributed to the eventual miniature size. The photos in this story are a mixture of regular, Miniature and regular/miniature Herefords. Great and small, they are the one Hereford breed.

A Mini Mynah

2011-07-02T15:58:00.003+12:00

It flew a curving line up into the clear cold sky. Without a backward glance. As free as the bird it is - gone, gone, GONE! So much for all my nurturing over the previous months.

Earlier in the year my daughter had come running down from the hayshed calling out that there were some baby birds lying injured on the ground. Ever a sucker for animals in distress I went to investigate. Three wee blind, featherless chicks of indeterminate breed. One was dead, one had a twisted leg and the other had crawled several metres out by the driveway. Back to the house they came and were put into a small box lined with soft cloth and hay.

Looking at their beaks I realised they were probably meat eaters so mashed up some cat meat with gravy and starting feeding them every half hour. At night they were put in the hot water cupboard. In the morning the chirping began as soon as they saw light. This went on for just over a week before the weaker one with the bad leg died - fortunately perhaps as I didn't think I could mend it. But as for the other - it thrived. A tiny bit of Farex was added to its diet then crushed cat biscuits softened with water. It thrived. The eyes opened, down appeared on its little body and it would nestle quietly in my hand while feeding. It thrived. Feeding times became more spaced out and a bigger box was needed to allow it more room for its gangling legs. By now it was obvious it was a mynah.

Time passed, the bird grew and real feathers started to appear. Now it wanted to flap them so it was moved to a large bird cage during the day. This was put in a spare bedroom so that it could experiment with its wings outside the cage. As it became more mobile a couple of branches were put in the cage to encourage it to perch. It began to perch on my hand, then my shoulder and with the full development of its wing and tail feathers it would flutter short distances around the room.The cage was moved back to the garage and came the day that it jumped out and flapped its way clumsily to one of the rafters. This became a daily exercise for it. It also delighted in splashing around in a sink of shallow water.

Finally it was time to let my fully feathered friend discover the great outdoors. By now it would keep flying back to me so I was confident this would continue outside. Maybe it could help me in the garden by cleaning up all those lovely bugs. Taking a big breath and with bird on my shoulder I opened the side door to the garage. A rush of air as it took off and within seconds it had disappeared from sight! For two days the little bird was nowhere to be seen or heard and I just hoped it had not met with some horrible fate in the form of a hawk, wild cat or even the magpies which frequent the garden. Then one morning I saw a Mynah fly into a tree up behind our house. I called it and although it did not respond nor did it fly away. The next morning the same thing happened but this time I whistled and the bird came down to a tree near me.

With a bit more cajoling in the form of whistles and talking quietly it eventually alighted on my shoulder. No mistake. This was my bird! Since then, the Mynah has made its home in the garage which it can fly into or out of as it likes. Although it can fend for itself there is a small dish in the garage which has a daily piece of dog roll meat, some fish-flavoured chook pellets and cat biscuits softened with a bit of water - just as a top up. Known as Dickeybird or The Vandal, depending on what it is doing the Mynah's curious nature is evident in the way it likes to "get involved" with whatever we are doing. Nuts and screws get picked up and dropped further away in the workshop, pieces of paper are snatched off a bench and anything hanging loose is fair game. Visitors are warned that they may find a small passenger suddenly perched on their shoulder or head.

The bird also likes exploring the various vehicles on the farm..........

and trying to come into the house.

We find ourselves going through a range of emotions with this small addition to the "family" from entertainment to frustration depending on its antics. Would I do it again - raise an orphan? Of course.

As they say - a bird in/on/near the hand is worth two/three/or more in the bush.

Know Your Genes

2011-06-27T21:18:00.000+12:00

For everyone interested in genetics Southern Beef Technology Services in Australia is running a series of Webinars over six weeks which are free to take part in. These started on Monday, June 20th, 2011 - New Zealand time 10 pm.

Topics being covered are:

1. DNA Technology - Understanding the Basics
2. Utilising DNA for Parentage Verification
3. Managing Genetic Conditions with DNA
4. Utilising DNA to Change Type Traits
5. Improving Production Traits with DNA
6. Assessing the Cost-Benefit of DNA Technology

The fourth webinar should be of particular interest and use to anyone wanting to breed polled Miniature Herefords.

You can register by going to http://sbts.une.edu.au/ and clicking onto the Webinar section.

Having already taken part in previous webinars I can recommend these as being well worth attending.

Results of First Virtual Cattle Show For Miniature Herefords - June 2011

2011-06-26T17:20:00.340+12:00

With eleven competitors from Australia, the United States and New Zealand and a total of sixty-three entries across the twelve classes this has been a small but successful start to a new type of showing. There has been enough positive feed back to warrant holding it again next year and it seems the month of June is probably the best time but this will be confirmed. The programme will be much the same but with a few adjustments to bring it in line with more serious competitions. There will also be an effort to find sponsors from each of the competing countries who could supply real prizes to the place getters.

A common comment was the appreciation of being able to view Miniature Herefords of similar ages in the different countries. This gives current and aspiring breeders new ideas for developing and improving their own breeding programmes. A sharing of experiences is always helpful.

Results of the twelve classes are:

Class 1 - Senior Cow 3 yrs and over with calf/calves at foot

2nd - SS Miss Elizabeth and calf.

1st AMH Babette and calf.

3rd - Grovenorth Abby and calf

1st - AMH Babette and calf. Julie Stott, New South Wales, Australia.
2^nd – SS Miss Elizabeth and calf. Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA
3^rd – Grovenorth Abby and calf. Janet Poole, Northland, New Zealand

Class 2 - Junior Cow 2 yrs with/without calf/calves at foot

1st - WW Golden June 2nd - AMH Doretta

3rd - Boomer Creek Katie and calf

1st - WW Golden June. Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA
2^nd – AMH Doretta. Julie Stott, New South Wales, Australia
3^rd - Boomer Creek Katie and calf - Joy Walters, Tasmania, Australia

Class 3 – Yearling Heifer

                1st - Boomer Creek Marilyn                                         2nd - Riverlets Sparkler



                                                          3rd - O5's B=Day Joy

1^st - Boomer Creek Marilyn - Joy Walters, Tasmania, Australia

2^nd – Riverlets Sparkler – Janet Poole, Northland, New Zealand

3^rd - 05’s B=Day Joy – Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA

Class 4 – Heifer Calf

1st - WW Tinker Bell

2nd - Ruzak Park Kraka

3rd - Grovenorth Delilah

1^st – WW Tinker Bell – Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA

2^nd – Ruzak Park Kraka - Carole Steele, Oamaru, New Zealand

3^rd – Grovenorth Delilah – Alistair Hargrove, Northland, New Zealand

Class 5 – Senior Bull 3 yrs and over

1st - Baringup Billy the Kid                                                        2nd - Boomer Creek Jonno





                                                              3rd - Boomer Creek Jumbo

1st - Baringup Billy the Kid - Jennie Menzies, NSW, Australia

2^nd – Boomer Creek Jonno – Joy Walters, Tasmania, Australia

3^rd – Boomer Creek Jumbo – Julie Stott, NSW, Australia

Class 6 – Junior Bull 2 yrs

1st - WW Sam's Gold E 2nd - Ensedemash Energy

1^st – WW Sam’s Gold E – Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA

2^nd – Ensedemash Energy – Janet Poole, Northland, New Zealand

Class 7 – Yearling Bull

2nd - WW Tom Thumb

1st - Boomer Creek Lyle

3rd - Ruzak Park Digger

1^st – Boomer Creek Lyle – Joy Walters, Tasmania, Australia

2^nd – WW Tom Thumb – Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA

3^rd – Ruzak Park Digger – Janet Poole, Northland, New Zealand

Class 8 – Bull Calf

1st - Boomer Creek Impact 2nd - WW Prince William

3rd - Riverlets Patrick

1^st – Boomer Creek Impact – Joy Walters, Tasmania, Australia

2^nd – WW Prince William – Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA

3^rd – Riverlets Patrick – Janet Poole, Northland, New Zealand

Class 9 – Group Entry

                  2nd - Group of Bulls and Heifers

1st - Family Trio

3rd - Frodo and Friends

1^st – Family Trio – Julie Stott, NSW, Australia

2^nd – Group of Bulls and Heifers – Jennie Menzies, NSW, Australia

3^rd – Frodo and Friends – Joy Walters, Tasmania, Australia

Class 10 – Scenic Photo including Miniature Herefords



                                                     1st - Cattle in Bushland





                                              2nd - Cattle near the seaside

3rd - Cattle in Hill Country

1^st – Cattle in Bushland – Jennie Menzies, NSW, Australia

2^nd – Cattle near the seaside – Joy Walters, Tasmania, Australia

3^rd – Cattle in the Hill country – Janet Poole, Northland, New Zealand

Class 11 – Entertainment with Miniature Herefords

1st - "Go ahead, make my day!"

2nd - "Wonder how much bull power this has?" 3rd - "Watch my tail!"

1st - "Go ahead, make my day!" - Ruth Blaikie, Northland, New Zealand

2^nd – “Wonder how much bull power this has?” – Julie Stott, NSW, Australia

3^rd – “Watch my tail!” – Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA

Class 12 – Viewers’ Choice

1st - Miniature Hereford Enthusiasts 2nd - Never too young to start

3rd equal - Four Young Ladies Mother and Child

Evening Supper

1^st – Miniature Hereford Enthusiasts – Kirstie Kasch, Texas, USA

2^nd – Never too young to start – Charlotte and Steve Williams, Texas, USA

3^rd Equal – Four Young Ladies – Alistair Hargrove, Northland, New Zealand

Mother and Child – Julie Stott, NSW, Australia

Evening Supper – Jennie Menzies, NSW, Australia

A big thank you to all who took part, all who helped organize and run the event, the Judges and all who gave us useful feedback for another show. For those of you who would like to compete next year start taking photos now. A hint from the Judges was that three photos comprising side view, front and rear made their job easier as they had a more ‘complete’ picture of the animal. The schedule of classes can be seen on www.amhbn.com with minor alterations shortly. If the numbers grow we may have to look at running Regional, National and then a final International Virtual Show with place getters from each going on to the next competition.

Remember, it is open to anyone who is a Miniature Hereford enthusiast providing you meet the entry criteria for the classes.

First Virtual Cattle Show Small But Successful

2011-06-20T09:24:00.031+12:00

The months of preparation paid off with eleven competitors from around the world taking part and sixty-three entries over all the twelve classes.   From various avenues of feedback it looks like it is to become a fixture with more people wanting to take part next year.

Great photos were sent in and all were published on the Australian Miniature Hereford Breeders Network website in their respective classes.   The effort made to present the cattle as well as possible showed and this led to interesting discussions regarding the similarities or differences of same age animals.

      Senior Bull from New Zealand                   Senior Bull from Australia

Two Judges from New Zealand and two from Australia had the task of making choices along with the Viewers' Choice poll which was an effective way of selecting place getters.   Although no prizes were available for this first internet show it is hoped to find sponsors in the countries to which competitors belong who will provide some form of awards next year.   The complete list of this year's place getters will be seen on the AMHBN website at http://www.amhbn.com/ .

The Scenic class had some beautiful photos which showed the type of country some of the Miniature Herefords are in.   For next year maybe photos at different times of the year will reinforce the claim that the Hereford breed is capable of surviving almost anywhere.

                  Minis in the NSW bush                                       Minis browsing in Tasmania

Photos in the Entertainment class evoked much laughter.   The easy temperament of the Hereford was obvious here as the animals seemed quite unfazed with their situations.   A great recommendation for owning this smaller version of the Hereford breed especially for lifestyle blocks and for encouraging youth participation in showing and breeding.


       Go on - make my day! (NZ)                                         In the (dog)box - Tasmania

Willingness of people on both sides of the Tasman and from further overseas to become involved with this new way of exhibiting their Miniature Herefords was a big help to the organisers and has shown others that anyone can take part.   You don't need to be a professional photographer and many "on the spot" photos turn out to be one in a million.   An advantage is being able to handle or get near your cattle, not just for showing purposes but also for their every day management.


Never too young - 3 year old handler           Never too old - 16 year old Mum and calf
                 (USA)                                                                          (NSW)

In the future, if numbers grow, it may be necessary to look at holding a series of Virtual Shows leading up to the one major show.   That could be in the form of Regional Shows with the place getters going forward to a National Show and likewise the place getters from that taking part in an International Show.   Each country could be responsible for holding their own Virtual Shows but would be assisted in setting them up.   The International Show could then be run by a panel of representatives drawn from the different countries.   Anyone connected with Miniature Herefords will be able to take part regardless of whether or not they are affiliated to an association providing their entries meet the established criteria.

Sale Section

2011-05-14T13:34:00.000+12:00

GROVENORTH ALFIE - born 31/10/07

This bull is now for sale after siring numerous progeny in a small unregistered Hereford herd. He is a pedigree, registered Miniature Hereford bull measuring 120.3cm which puts him in a Frame Score of 1. Suitabull either for stud purposes with a Miniature Hereford breeder or as a terminal sire over dairy heifers. Priced at $1200.00 without papers or $1500 with papers from breeder. Please contact riverlands27@ubernet.co.nz or Ph: (09) 439 2420.

A Country Girl At Heart

2011-04-22T12:18:00.003+12:00

Last summer, my great-niece, Wyllow, had her very first visit to a farm.   She was not quite nine years old and had always loved animals so to see a lot of them in one place was going to be something special.   On a calm, sunny day she and her mum drove out of the big city and set off into the country backblocks where our farm is.   That in itself was an experience.

The first animal to appear was Gord, a thoroughbred horse which my daughter rides in competitions.   For a small girl he would seem quite big but Wyllow had no fear of him when he sniffed her hand looking for a carrot.   Maybe one day when she is older she might be able to have a ride on him.

After having something to eat and drink we all went over to the covered yards on the farm where Wyllow met some very small cattle called Miniature Herefords.   This was really exciting for her.   A calf called Paddy had a halter put on him.   He was then tied up so Wyllow could groom him to make his coat cleaner.   He wasn't quite sure of this strange person but enjoyed being brushed under his chin with Wyllow kneeling on the floor beside him because he was so small.   She didn't seem to mind the dirt on the floor either - a true country kid!

After getting him tidy it was time to go for a walk. Wyllow was a quick learner and you can see how she is holding the lead properly and walking by his shoulder. You have to be careful not to wind the lead around your hand in case the calf takes fright and tries to run away. Your hand could get caught in the loop and you might be hurt. Wyllow is holding the lead folded in her hand so it will pull free easily.

The two of them headed for the next pen where they followed Paddy's mother, Patsy and went right around the inside yards and back to the first pen walking nicely together. Then it was time for Paddy to be tied up again and given another brushing before taking his halter off. It was the first time Wyllow had done anything like this but she was as good as any other child who had been to Calf Club competitions. Perhaps next year she can lead a calf at a Show and maybe even win some rosettes or ribbons to hang on her wall.

Miniature Herefords are ideal animals for children to start learning how to handle cattle and in America you can see even very little children competing in the show ring. They have the wonderful calm temperament of the big Herefords, learn quickly and seem to enjoy the company of those working with them. It would be great to see more of them out and about with young people.

The First Day in the Life of a VERY Miniature Hereford.

2011-04-16T13:05:00.000+12:00

Riverlets Abigail, born on March 2nd, 2011 and weighing just 17.5 kgs explores her new world.

What a big place. Where do I go now?

Actually, it feels safer with Mum.

Mummy, I've got a tummy ache.

Ooh! It's that meconium business

                                                    Aah! That's better

                               Now, for another wee drink.

Heck, Mum's gone. Gotta catch her up.

Where did she go?

Crikey - what are these craters.

This cuzzie bro' is HUGE.

Ha ha - can't see me now!

Mummy loves me.

Exactly What Is A Miniature Hereford

2011-04-11T09:53:00.003+12:00

There is a lot of misunderstanding being perpetrated regarding the classification of Miniature Herefords, making them out to be a separate breed, which they are not. It is also causing unnecessary confusion among new owners and potential breeders. Quite simply the animal is a Hereford first by breed and a miniature second by size. A look at some of the terminology which has been used incorrectly will show this.

Firstly, there is no such thing as a “purebred” Miniature Hereford. The description should be “full blood Hereford” without any reference to the miniature size. A full blood animal is one which has no other breed in its background going back many generations. In the case of Herefords this goes back several hundred years. A Hereford bred to another Hereford, regardless of size is still a full blood Hereford. The only differentiations which can be made with Herefords are whether they are horned or polled or of different sizes e.g. standard, classic or miniature but those are just varieties of the same breed.

“Purebred” is the result of successive back breeding from original crossbreeding or interbreeding and this applies to using two or more entirely separate breeds. In this way we now have recognised breeds such as Belgian Blue which was developed from native Belgian cattle crossed with Shorthorn and Charolais. The Australian Belmont Red is another example of crossing or interbreeding, in this case Africander bulls over Hereford and Shorthorn cows. Purebred usually means a minimum 31/32 cattle which have been produced through a “grading up” process from the original breeds used.

“Crossbreeding” or “interbreeding” is exactly that – the mixing of different breeds. You cannot crossbreed or interbreed within the same breed therefore the practice of referring to a Miniature Hereford with Classic or Standard Hereford in its pedigree as a crossbreed is totally untrue. All Miniature Herefords have this mixture of sizes (not breeds) in their pedigrees. A Brahman crossed with a Hereford produces a crossbreed known as a Braford – two separate breeds. Likewise a Brahman crossed with an Angus produces a Brangus. The popular Murray Grey is a result of crossing an Angus with a Shorthorn and refining the breed over many generations. Another interesting combination of breeds leads to the Mandalong Special which has Brahman, Shorthorn, Charolais, British White and Chianina in its background.

“Grading up” again applies to using more than one breed to combine particular genetics It starts with using a bull from one breed across a cow of another breed. The first offspring is half-bred and heifers from this are then bred back to the original bull breed. The next offspring will be three-quarter bred and the procedure is repeated using part-bred heifers back to the original bull breed until offspring which are of 31/32 breeding are then classified as “purebred”. They are not full blood of either breed used. The “grading up” being used within the Hereford breed to produce a so-called fifth generation miniature is not justifiable as it is simply using two animals of different varieties of the same breed and the final outcome may not necessarily fall within miniature status as the frame score size could well be over the limit. The original process of acquiring miniatures was to breed the smallest Herefords possible to other small Herefords and continue from there to reduce the size, not to establish so many generations of breeding. Frame score can be heritable and changed mainly through using selected sires therefore it is more important to know the framescore background of the animals being bred than their pedigrees.

“Inbreeding” along with “linebreeding” is now prevalent among Miniature Hereford herds in both Australia and New Zealand owing to the lack of new bloodlines. Although one advantage is the early exposure of a defect - providing measures are taken to eradicate that - the main outcome is a loss of fertility along with detrimental effects on production efficiency. Inbreeding is computed as a percentage of chances for two alleles to be identical by descent. This percentage is called “inbreeding co-efficient”. Alleles are alternative forms of genes and part of the DNA coding which determines distinct traits which are passed on from parents to offspring. Progeny can have a 1 in 2 risk of inheriting identical alleles from both parents which greatly increases any negative effects. Linebreeding is a milder form of inbreeding through breeding of cousins. Anyone claiming to have “five full generations” of “miniature” in an animal should properly examine its breeding – it is most likely the product of straight inbreeding or very close linebreeding, neither of which is desirable. It is more likely the five generations are obtained by picking and choosing what appears to be "miniature" from among each generation and this is where frame scores are needed. For this reason conscientious breeders in other parts of the world occasionally introduce new bloodlines using mainly the smaller Classic Herefords which are of FS 2 or FS 3. This is known as “outbreeding” but it is still within the same breed. . In Australia and New Zealand there are Classic sized animals among the standard Hereford herds but not actually classified as such. A miniature bull (FS 1 or less) over a Classic cow should produce progeny not much bigger than itself.

Much has been made of a “foundation herd” and a claim that all Miniature Herefords in Australia and any animals coming to New Zealand from Australia must be linked to this. The foundation herd is nothing more than a collection of original imports from the USA most of which had a Classic Hereford in its immediate parentage. There is at least one animal classed as “miniature” which had Classics for both parents. How did the classification as “miniature” arise then? It could only have been on frame score as most of the Classics were FS 2 or 3. Was FS 2 considered “miniature”? It certainly wasn't in the States. To restrict the classification as “miniature” to only particular animals whose pedigree traces back to chosen “ancestors” is not only irrelevant it drastically narrows the gene pool and constitutes restrictive trading practice for other breeders who have animals which qualify by size – the only criteria needed. These latter animals are likely to have superior genetics through a widened gene pool and as such strengthen the overall breeding of Miniature Herefords.

Finally, to state that animals must be classified as “miniature” by only one particular group is an insult to the majority of breeders. The integrity of the breeder in noting the size of an animal goes hand in hand with the integrity of the breeder in stating the correct parentage. If the intending purchaser has any concerns, a request can be made for a DNA profile, the registration checked and the measurement process observed or done independently to confirm what has been stated. As it stands now, no group is the authoritative body for classification of Miniature Herefords.

The Elastic Miniature

2011-04-08T16:57:00.038+12:00

Let's get this right. The only thing the word “miniature” has to do with an animal's description is its size - more specifically its height. In no language in the world is “miniature” defined by pedigree but some of the synonyms for it are; small-scale, diminutive, short and so on. Small-scale best suits Miniature Herefords but with two breeder groups allowing animals to be up to a frame score of 2 this creates confusion and misleading conceptions of what size these animals really are. A good example is when visitors see my Frame Score 2 registered miniature cow among the rest which, except for one Frame Score 1 animal are all Frame Score 0 or less. They ask why she is called “miniature”. With standard Herefords in a nearby paddock their question is not surprising.

Standard Hereford cow on left - Miniature Hereford cow on right. The Standard cow is only .5 cm above being Frame Score 2 while the Miniature cow is Frame Score 2.

In 2004 the New Zealand Hereford Association introduced a rule which does not allow the registration of progeny from a mixture of miniature and standard Herefords. I suspect one of the reasons was the bigger sizes being allowed for miniatures. Breeders of standard Herefords were concerned, and some still are, that these animals would end up in the sale yards being passed off as conventional Herefords with the purchaser finding later on that they did not grow to expectations. The fact that these animals are also being sold on to private buyers with no controls in place as to their backgrounds should be of equal concern. On the other hand some crossbreds (Hereford and another breed) which look like Herefords are also in the sale yards but that does not appear to generate the same concern.

Three-quarter Hereford, quarter Friesian calf

There are three height categories used not only for Herefords but also for other cattle. Basically, anything below a Frame Score of 1 is classed as Miniature, from 1 to 3 is Classic and from 4 up is Standard or Regular. In the States, where Miniature Herefords originated and where they are far more prolific than in other countries, the upper level for a miniature can be FS 1 but the preferred height is from 0 down. Anything over FS 1 is NOT classed as miniature – it becomes Classic. This makes it very clear for purchasers as to what they are actually buying – pedigree does not come into it except for registration purposes as a full blood Hereford although the discerning buyer would do well to check any frame scores in the pedigree.

Seven-year-old Miniature Hereford bull

The argument for classifying FS 2 as miniature has been qualified by some as necessary because they need the larger size for their particular meat production purposes. This simply does not make sense. If you want a bigger animal then don't call it a Miniature – call it a Classic or Standard Hereford. If, however, you look closely at these larger “miniatures” you will see not too far back in their pedigrees, generally in the second or third generation, the Classic heights of F2 and F3. For those who have a fixation on Largent stock read this comment in an e-mail from Roy:

“It is very helpful for me when looking at an animal's pedigree to be able to see the frame score of each animal in that pedigree so that I can better predict the % of calves possible that would be larger than the parents from a certain mating.”

Frame Score is only a prediction, not a guarantee, of mature height of any progeny. In fact, according to some American research, frame score is more a predictor of future weights rather than a measure of body size. Check out this article on the website “Texas adapted genetic strategies for beef cattle X: Frame Score, Frame Size and Weight.”

Roy considers that miniatures are classified as cows being under 45” (114 cm) and bulls under 47” (119 cm) when they are three years of age. This means they are UNDER FS 1. Pedigrees should show either the concentration of smaller heights or the lack thereof - in other words HEIGHT is the important factor. The Official Frame Score Chart for the American Miniature Hereford Breeders Association allows mature bulls (3 years or older) to be up to 48" (121 cm) and mature cows (3 years or older) to be up to 45" (114cm). This height is classed as Frame Score 1.

Roy also recommends developing our own lines of miniatures in the same way as being done in the States – that is, using a Miniature bull over small standard or classic Hereford cows and repeating the process with the progeny (with different bulls of course) until the miniature size is reached – depending on the heights of the animals used this can happen within two generations! Again NOTHING to do with pedigree but ALL to do with height and the added advantage of a wider gene pool.

Miniature Hereford bull running with yearling Jersey, Jersey/Friesian and standard Hereford heifers

This downsizing is easily done in Australia and all other parts of the world where full blood Herefords, regardless of height, can be registered with that country's Hereford Association but currently not so in NZ. A safeguard can be put in place, however, by using only registered animals to begin with then having a separate register for the progeny which will record both the pedigrees and the frame scores. With the dearth of a range of new bloodlines and the incredibly involved process for importing new genetics this is the only way NZ is going to avoid going further down the track of line and in-breeding with their inherent problems.

An animal of two years is not really fully mature and may well have more growing to do. For this reason Miniature Herefords should not have an official measurement recorded at two. It is a useful interim indication of how tall the animal may be later in life but the official measurement should be at three years. A case in point is Patsy, who at two years of age had a frame score of 0 but was very close to being 00. She will probably not grow enough over the next year to stay at 0 so her three-year-old measurement is likely to be 00.

Patsy (on left) at 108 cm and Eve (on right) at 111 cm
Both FS 0 at 2 yrs but this could change with Patsy.

Stretching the frame score to allow for bigger animals is defeating the purpose of having “miniature” Herefords. The question also has to be asked – Why was the FS set at 2 and under by two breeders groups when it is so obviously at odds with the rest of the world. It makes a mockery of the hard work done by breeders in the USA to get the sizes down and they are quite puzzled by it. It also does nothing to help market the minis as truly small cattle which is what the majority of lifestylers are looking for.

Colour Coded

2011-04-01T12:48:00.001+13:00

Recently I had the pleasure of getting back into the “driver's seat” behind a one horse-power engine of energy. It was at a meeting of the Kaipara Equine Driving Club which has a mixture of members, horses and ponies but all with one thing in common – the enjoyment of an original form of transport.

I have now become a member of the group with the offer of animals to drive providing I can find a little cart and harness. Having sold my smaller turn-out some years ago the Trade-Me columns are now being scrutinised for something which will fit a Miniature Horse which is around nine hands high!

The Miniature Horse (Equus ferus caballus) is found in many nations particularly in America and Europe. It's distinguishing feature is that it is small size with horse phenotype 34-38 inches (86-97 cm) as measured at the last hairs of the mane. In other words, like a Miniature Hereford it is based on size but it is exactly the same as its larger counterpart.

The mini horse pictured here is “Red”, an11-year-old stallion with the most amazing disposition. He drove calmly and responded well to my rusty instructions and it was sheer delight to be rolling gently around the paddock to the familiar hoofbeat, harness and “buggy” sounds. Another attraction is that Red exactly matches the colour of my Miniature Herefords so would blend in well with them! He is one of two horses offered to me for use in either leisure or competition driving events so once I get the necessary gear we will be away.

A Games Day is to be held on April 3^rd, weather permitting, with April 10^th if not and an ODE will take place on either May 1^st or 8^th, again depending on weather. Unlike ridden horses, which generally have to cope with whatever conditions are thrown at them, a driven one will find the going too hard if the ground becomes soft or boggy. I now have a Dressage Test to learn which for me is quite a mission to remember. My daughter who does eventing on horseback has no such trouble, often learning the test just before going into the ring!

In the past I have driven big horses - taken the ribbons (reins) of a Clydesdale and ponies around 11 to 13 hands plus my beloved donkey. With wonky knees, which I am waiting to have replaced, getting on and off a horse is not easy so returning to harness driving seems a great solution.

WHY HAVE MINIATURE HEREFORDS?

2011-03-06T09:34:00.001+13:00

2-year-old Miniature Hereford heifer and calf

Miniature Herefords were developed by the Largent family in West Texas, USA starting in the 1970s. Their reasoning was that the typical Hereford was getting too big, developing too much bone and becoming harder on pasture and facilities. In order to “downsize” the Largents used the smallest Herefords they could find and continued to breed smaller over the decades until they reached the size now called “miniature”. For this they are measured across the spine at the hip bones as the height there is less likely to change than at the wither. In general bulls should be under 124cm and cows under 119 cm at three years of age to be considered miniature. These smaller animals are not a separate breed. They are descendants of the original Herefords brought to North America in 1831 and their pedigrees trace back along the same lines to those in the United Kingdom where the breed originated. In conformation they should look exactly like the bigger cattle but proportionately smaller.

The characteristics of Herefords are that they are efficient foragers, mature early, calve easily, milk well for their calves and are excellent mothers. They are extremely hardy and adapt well to almost any environment. Their docile temperament and ease of handling makes them even more popular as a breed. Miniature Herefords are all of the above but they have some added advantages. They eat approximately 40% less food than their bigger cousins but produce 60% by weight of the prime cuts with less bone. It is possible to graze two to three minis in the place of one larger animal yet get up to 25% more beef and at the same time have less damage to pasture and facilities.

2-year-old Miniature Hereford bull

For those wanting to invest in Miniature Herefords it is wise to look at the size of your property before deciding on how many you want and whether or not you wish to run a bull as well. Cost will also come into it as with so few Miniature Herefords in New Zealand they are not cheap. It is probably best to start with just a couple of in-calf cows and add a weaner heifer calf or two if you have the room. A ten acre block would hold those easily and give you scope for some expansion of the herd.

On a small block of land it would be better not to purchase a bull but to consider AI (artificial insemination) or leasing one for the short time needed to get your cows in calf again. You would also need to look at selling stock either when calves are weaned or using heifers to replace older cows and selling the cows to avoid becoming overstocked depending on your acreage. Remember that winter usually requires supplementary feed e.g. hay and drought conditions in summer could need it too. Division of paddocks to enable rotational grazing is essential as set stocking can lead to problems such as a build up of worm burdens especially if you are not cross-grazing with other animals such as sheep. This could also enable any surplus grass to be cut for silage or hay in late spring or during summer.

Yearling Hereford heifers - mini on the left, standard size on the right

If buying in-calf cows find out all you can about when they are due to calve and locate a good vet to be on stand-by especially if you have never had this experience before. Calves will require vaccinations, there will also be dehorning and possibly castration of bull calves not needed for breeding. If wanting animals for the freezer then sourcing a good Home Kill butcher is worthwhile. If all this sounds daunting just remember there are plenty of experienced people around only too willing to help you.

Yearling Hereford bulls - mini on left, standard size on the right

Should you decide to become a registered breeder there are procedures to go through for which you will be assisted. Although you need to learn all you can about your cattle and how you would like to develop your breeding programme for matters like checking pedigrees in order to match your cows with specific bulls, what time of the year suits you best for calving, where and how you can sell or buy stock and so on there is always help available. This can be through the NZ Miniature Hereford Breeders or other Breeders groups as well as working with vets, AI technicians, Livestock Agents and other personnel connected with cattle breeding. You do not have to go it alone.

DEBUT OF THE MINIATURE HEREFORDS

2011-02-21T11:13:00.000+13:00

Show Day at last!

Following weeks of training the Friday afternoon before the Show saw our four Miniature Herefords being washed and polished then turned out into a handy paddock for the night with instructions to STAY CLEAN. Hah! The next morning Grovenorth Patsy had liberally coated her calf with sloppy “whew”!

We are fortunate enough to have large covered yards in which we can make up big or small pens simply by shutting different gates. Another advantage is that we can make a race inside the perimeter of the yards which allows us to teach the animals to lead and walk properly regardless of the weather. Another long race leads from the yards past several small holding paddocks so once the animals are walking co-operatively we can take them outside. With everything going as it should we then go into one of these paddocks and use it as a simulated show ring. Here the animals learn to stop, stand correctly and move off when required to in the same clockwise direction they will go when exhibited.

Training started with the new calf learning to wear a halter while the others were tethered and groomed. After a few days when they stood quietly we started going for little walks with the calf alongside his mum. The yearling was being willful and actually took more work than any of the others to bring her in line then later she had an unpleasant surprise for us. A radio was turned on with the sound reasonably loud and friends were permitted to come and watch during the latter part of the training. Some of them also patted and brushed the animals helping accustom them to a “public” situation.

This was a real opportunity to involve young people with the minis. Riverlets Patrick (Paddy), the calf, became the responsibility of 9-year-old Jessica. She did such a good job with him that when my great-niece, who was nearly 9, visited from the city she was able to brush and walk the little guy herself with no problems. Later on the 2-year-old heifers, Mount Marua Emma and Grovenorth Patsy were taken over by 13-year-old Inaya and 14-year-old Brianna respectively. These girls were exceptional in the way they prepared the minis for the show ring and they achieved many placings. This was even more rewarding in that we were competing against the popular Highland and Dexter cattle and at a later show, Red Poll.

At the showgrounds Riverlets Sparkler, the yearling, put on a real performance. Coming off the truck she took fright at the surroundings, panicked and nearly pulled my husband over the ramp with her. He had to let go and she bolted through some vintage vehicles and headed toward the rodeo venue. The “cowboys” saw a good chance to put their skills into action so rounded her up and secured her in the yards. With the comforting presence of a friend's big Saler cow Sparkler was brought back to the show pens and tethered. We let her settle down and eventually she went into the show ring and behaved as she should. At he next show she won her class!

The only other disturbance was when Patsy, missing her calf who was doing his thing in the ring, leaped over into another pen looking for him. If I'd known she was such a good jumper I would have entered her in the equine events! Thankfully the “victim” graciously accepted my apologies.

The ups and downs of the day did nothing to deter the enthusiasm of the “team” who are eager to continue showing. The minis attracted a lot of attention from the public and other young people have asked if they can be involved too. Next year we could have quite a collection to take out and about and with fourteen shows in the Northern Districts area we can pick and choose which ones to go to. Great advertising for the Miniature Herefords.

HAPPY ENDING

2011-01-09T15:19:00.006+13:00

The gentle Jersey cow and her calf sired by a Miniature Hereford bull

In August, 2009, we lost a good friend. It needn't have happened but it did. In the days following this tragedy it was discovered he had some cattle grazing on a small block of land and I was asked to go and see what was there. To my dismay I found the older stock in such poor condition they were virtually worthless and had they been sent to the Works they would have gone down the chute. Apparently our friend was making regular checks on these animals but with the deterioration of his health these ceased. Those who could have helped knew nothing about it.

I was then asked to deal with the cattle so with the assistance of a livestock agent they were sorted up and the young ones sent off to the saleyards. Then there was the dilemma with the older cows. To put them on a truck where they could face a long journey and then go through the stress of being in unfamiliar surroundings with only one end in sight seemed heartless so on went my thinking cap.

A bit of discussion with sympathetic local dairy farmers resulted in a decision for me to buy the cows, get them back into decent condition and then put them into a milking shed once they had calved. Although it cost me quite a bit of money to achieve this it worked out for all of them except a gentle little Jersey cow which had everyone fooled. First of all we thought she had calved and lost the calf as she had a bit of milk but after a week in the shed the milk yield did not build up so she was turned out with some yearling heifers running with a bull to give her another chance.

Jersey's first calf on left at seven months of age - a year younger than the mini on right!

I was just dealing with the arrival of my first Miniature Hereford calves when I got a phone call to say the Jersey cow had calved! There had been a weaner Hereford bull in her previous herd which resulted in the unexpected new arrival. We brought her home and started looking for another calf to put on her as she had so much milk but with such a late calving there was nothing newborn around. We did, however, have a Jersey/Ayrshire cross heifer calf among our hand feeders which was a month old so we introduced it to the new mother who allowed it to suckle providing her calf was the first she could smell!

The summer of 2009/2010 became a bad drought so the little Jersey was grazed with a group of Miniature Hereford heifers running with a mini bull. After such a rocky few months we were not sure what her future would be so once the calves were weaned she went back into the main Hereford herd.

The drought had knocked her hard as she couldn't convert the sparse feed available as well as the beef cows so we had to hope she got her fair share of hay and minerals through the winter and spring.

Dairy cattle which have had several calves are inclined to have big bellies and to pick whether the Jersey was in calf or not was impossible until early December when she started springing up. This fitted in with the dates she had been with the Miniature Hereford bull and sure enough, on December 15^th she produced a small, fawn-coloured bull calf with a mostly white face, speckled white feet and a white tip on its tail. Once again she had loads of milk so the hunt went on to find another calf for her.

Christmas Day foster calf

Just as we thought we were out of luck the phone rang with a message that there was a little Jersey bull available from a late calver which was going into the milking shed. We picked this calf up on Christmas Day. Two days of “mothering on” was all that was needed. The cow can also be hand milked and she is going to a friend's lifestyle block where he wants to use her as a house/nurse cow for which she is ideally suited. She is likely to be spoiled “rotten” at this place which she thoroughly deserves and we will continue to use a Miniature Hereford bull over her each season. This cross makes an ideal freezer pack but we don't tell her that! The friend we lost was proud of his pedigree Jerseys in particular so we are happy to have saved this one for him.

All mothered up out in the paddock

With a couple of changes of words the following poem, found in a Hereford Sale Complex in Southland, seems to epitomise this little Jersey cow.

I know of a sweet Jersey cow,

Whose behaviour was rash, I'll allow.

One hot, summer day

She wandered away

But no-one reproaches her now!

She met a fine Hereford bull

Who liked pretty girls as a rule

He said to her, “Dear,

There's nothing to fear

Come under the trees where it's cool.”

And now they have reason to laugh,

For the cow has a white-headed calf,

Gaining pounds every day

The Hereford way

And reducing expenses by half!

THE BULL THAT WANTED TO BE A REINDEER

2010-12-18T10:23:00.001+13:00

Galaxy at around 18 months of age

Genetics are interesting but bamboozling stuff when they throw up unexpected traits despite the best efforts with breeding programmes. For instance, take the business of animals having horns, scurs or being polled. All the research shows the polled gene being dominant but, to confuse the issue, every now and then an animal with a polled background of several generations suddenly sprouts real horns as in the case of the boy here.

The story of the bull we called “Galaxy” began when he was born in the corner of a paddock and managed to snuggle himself against the fence becoming almost invisible. His mother went walkabout, forgot where her calf was and “calf-napped” the newborn offspring of another cow. Once we discovered what had happened we tried to reunite her with her own calf but she wasn't interested even when we put the two of them together in one of the races for a day.

Rather than cause more stress by trying to right a wrong we took the little bull home to rear and put the cow in a different herd to curb her obsession with the other calf. We already had a number of hand feeders owing to several cases of twinning so Galaxy settled in well. He was really laid back even as a youngster and thrived on the daily attention.

When Galaxy was around five weeks of age we noticed he was developing little horns, proper ones which really puzzled us knowing his background so we had a look back through his pedigree record. Amazing reading. With his dam we went back nine generations on the female side and six on the male before the indication came up “pedigree unknown” on the New Zealand Hereford Association database but ALL those animals were polled. Then we looked at his sire's record and this is where the horny business started. His sire had two paternal generations of polled animals then in came the horns with a great-grand-dam listed as “pure horned” and from this we traced back to1958 – all horned – before the pedigree records ran out. The maternal side of Galaxy's sire showed one great-grand-dam which was horned but her parents, grandparents and as far back as we could go were polled!

In August of this year (2010) I took part in a webinar run by Southern Beef Technology in Australia

which was about a new DNA test for the polled gene. The discussion covered a number of topics which has since been updated and I have permission to use some of this.

It has been found that the polled characteristic is dominant over horns, however, although you might buy a polled bull you won't know until he has progeny on the ground whether he is “true polled”. An animal that is polled may still possess a copy of the recessive gene for horns and throw a proportion of horned calves. The difficulty of distinguishing between homozygous polled animals and polled animals that are heterozygous carriers of the allele (an alternative form of a gene) responsible for horns is an impediment to breeding for polled stock.

Research has shown that using bulls tested to be homozygous with the Beef CRC (Co-operative Research Centre) test will result in a reduction in the proportion of horned calves but in some breeds there will be an increase in the proportion of scurred calves and in all breeds there will be an increase in the proportion of polled calves. Very basically homozygous means having two of the same alleles at the same location on a chromosome and heterozygous is having two different alleles at the same location on a chromosome. All these terms and descriptions of them can be found on the internet.

These factors need to be taken into account when breeding for polled Miniature Herefords. They are relatively new on the scene when compared with the horned ones and all of them have been bred from polled animals among the larger Classic Herefords which in turn have evolved from polled Standard Herefords. You can see this within a few generations in their pedigrees. At least one of the bulls I have selected for semen import is known to be homozygous and with around forty progeny so far is throwing 95% polled calves from horned cows. Some others I have looked at have a heterozygous background with the resulting progeny being a mixture of polled, horned and scurred. These animals would not be as suitable for using to breed polled offspring unless mated to a homozygous polled bull or cow when the chances could improve. For this reason in breeding my own line of polled miniatures the heifers selected from among the standard Herefords have had their pedigrees scrutinised for any appearance of scurs or horns but that is still no guarantee that the polled factor will be dominant.

Galaxy as a 2 year old the day before his horns came off

We should have dehorned Galaxy in the autumn following his birth but by then the antlers were promising to be something spectacular (move over Donner and Blitzen) and we had hopes of selling him to one of the bullock teams which operate up here. He would have been great as a stud bull for new team stock, although what guarantee could we give that his progeny would have horns? At the very least he would have had to be mated with a horned cow.

Unfortunately he wasn't wanted by the bullock teams nor as a ring-in for Santa's reindeer so reluctantly we had the deed done. We couldn't keep him for breeding ourselves even though apart from the horns he would have been ideal as a stud bull so he was up for sale as a terminal sire to a dairy herd. Parting with him was hard but we do know he has gone to a small dairy farm in a pleasant location where he should be able to live a peaceful and productive life.

Another 'Short' Story

2010-12-14T18:19:00.000+13:00

Riverlands Pearl 05 0722 was leaving it very late to calve and we had almost given up hope that she would do so as she didn't look overly large. BUT........on November 27^th 2009, when the 'boss' was on his daily rounds, he almost ran over a small object lying in the grass. Pearl was standing nearby and on closer examination the discovery was made of an incredibly little calf which turned out to be hers! It weighed only 16 kgs – less than half the average weight of a normal standard Hereford calf and a good 5 kgs lighter than the smaller of my twin Miniature Hereford calves. When checking the condition of the calf and the mating records we decided it might possibly be a couple of weeks early but certainly not enough to be called 'premature'.

This little lady, Riverlands Pearl 09 0085, could not even reach her mother's teats so for several days we hand milked the cow and fed the baby from a bottle with a lamb's teat attached as her mouth was too small for the conventional calf teat. Finally, with much stretching, she managed to latch onto a teat and was away. It was quite funny to see her mother washing her and almost knocking her over with just her tongue but the wee thing was very determined and nothing was going to keep her down. I missed one of the best of photographic opportunities on a day that was raining when little one was tucking into breakfast while sheltering right underneath her mother. The camera is now almost a fixture on my person!

Little Pearl eventually grew up, was weaned and went off with the big girls in her heifer group but we kept an eye on her. A bit later on it became evident that she and a few others were not coping as well as they could in a wet winter which had followed a long drought. We pulled them out of the group and put them in with the weaned Miniature Hereford calves where they were able to get a daily feed of molasses as well as have a whole paddock to themselves.

Although rather shy, reluctant to push her way in among the others and still shorter than even the minis Little Pearl was growing and thriving. Now, as a yearling, she is quite beautiful – very dark, well marked and with good conformation. She is not stunted in any way, just SMALL. Her future will not be with the big Herefords as she will be too small for any of those bulls but she will join an elite group. This is made up of specially picked registered standard Herefords, all polled and all smaller than average which are run with a Miniature Hereford bull to start an exclusive line of polled minis.

Miniature Herefords began this way in the States, using small standard Herefords and gradually reducing the size until the “miniature” was achieved. Every Miniature Hereford has this mixture of sizes in its background and all their pedigrees will show it. Around the world breeders are developing their own lines in a similar fashion but with the advantage of now starting with miniature stock such as a mini bull over larger Herefords. They are ALL full blood Herefords - just different sizes of the same breed. At the moment such progeny is not registerable in New Zealand but they will all come from registered animals and have their own pedigree records. With the increasing preference for polled cattle there will be a demand for this type of Miniature Hereford and Riverlands Pearl 09 0085 will have her place in history!

Accidents can happen!

2010-12-14T18:07:00.000+13:00

Even the best plans can be thwarted by Mother Nature especially if hormones kick in at the wrong time! In September 2009 we were given a White Hereford heifer calf to put on a dairy nurse-cow which had lost her calf. The calf thrived on the Ayshire/Jersey milk, grew well and started to look quite striking with decidedly 'blue' roan colouring.

White Herefords originated in New Zealand early last century when a breeder purchased a line of Hereford cows among which was a roan coloured cow with Hereford markings. Running with only Hereford bulls this cow produced a near white calf. From this, a little family. line developed with the cows having more or less two roan calves to every one red calf all sired by Hereford bulls.

Over the years with so few numbers of the line inbreeding became a problem so the White Herefords were crossed out on occasions with such breeds as Jersey, Friesian, Friesian X. Ayrshire, Angus and Shorthorn X. The progeny, all having the Hereford white face, were then bred back to the White bulls. In Northland there is a White Hereford Stud known as “Lochnoor” which is making its mark as a recognised breed.

Our herd sires go in with their respective groups of cows in late spring and come out some three months later usually with a job well done. The calves remain on the cows until they are around eight months old when they are weaned. Once the calves reach six months of age, however, cows with bull calves are separated from cows with heifer calves. This avoids any possible hanky panky although beef calves are normally later to mature than dairy ones.

Unbeknown to us, the drop of dairy breed in our heifer brought her to maturity far earlier than the others and just before the bull was taken out of the herd she succumbed to his charms at a mere five months of age! Once weaned she went off “up the mountain” at the back of our farm for the winter along with all the other weaned heifers.

In the spring we noticed this heifer starting to look a bit seedy with a pot belly and harsh coat. She had also lost cover condition but curiously was developing a small udder. We decided to bring her up to our yards and drench her but before that happened she produced a tiny calf, perfectly formed and lively. This wee creature was the typical black/white-face which results from crossing a Hereford bull with a Friesian cow. Despite being only fourteen months of age the heifer calved all by herself and is a very good mother.

With the drought upon us this very young mum is needing some extra care so we have taken her out of the main herd and put her in with one of the Miniature Hereford groups where there will be less competition for food. Owing to the age at which she calved and the adverse conditions at present it is very possible she will not cycle for some time. If she does, then maybe next Spring we will have a miniature White (blue) Hereford!

Virtual Cattle Show for Miniature Herefords

2010-12-08T16:12:00.005+13:00

The Australian Miniature Hereford Breeders Network Inc., is holding a Virtual Cattle Show for Miniature Herefords via the internet next autumn (Southern Hemisphere). Entries are invited from interested breeders/owners/enthusiasts and there are already a number of people on both sides of the Tasman as well as further afield overseas wanting to take part.

The AMHBN is an incorporated society fully recognised by HAL (Herefords Australia Ltd) and thinks this would be a good way to showcase stock as well as promote the breeding of Miniature Herefords. This is especially the case for those who live too far away from any show centres or have no means of getting to one. The first Show will be purely for fun – no entry fees and no prizes apart from place recognitions but with international interest in it plans are in place for more serious competition while retaining the fun element. For this show judges will be selected from both Australia and New Zealand.

The animals can be prepared as if for a live show (unless you are lucky enough to have ones that stay clean) although the emphasis will be on “natural” condition.

Except for Classes 10 and 11 animals must be registered as Herefords with either HAL or NZHA (or the overseas equivalent) and be of a Frame Score 1 or less in order to qualify for entry.

A sample Show Schedule can also be seen on this website along with helpful hints for animal preparation and photography. For the full programme along with entry form and Frame Score Measurement Certificate please go to the Australian Miniature Hereford Breeders Network website which is: http://www.amhbn.com/

For further enquiries please contact me on riverlands@ubernet.co.nz

Welcome to HEREMINIS

2010-12-08T15:36:00.000+13:00

Welcome to HEREMINIS we hope this site will inform you on Miniature Hereford Cattle at Riverlets Miniature Hereford Stud. Keep checking for updates more coming soon.