The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Cattle => Topic started by: highhorse on October 22, 2014, 11:39:58 am
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Hello
So we have settled on rare breeds :)
We are going to keep rare breed sheep and cattle.
So, what breeds would you recommend and why?
To give you an insight, we have 20 acres of good grazing and natural shelter and a large barn for handling, calving, nursing etc. There is me and my husband and two children, one of who is still very young. The most important thing for us is a calm good natured/friendly breed.
We would look to sell privately and possibly for meat.
Thanks
:wave:
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White park cattle and vailus sheep
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thanks Victorian farmer, will look into these.
did you find them easy to work with?
:thumbsup:
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Shetland cattle - we started as complete novices with 4 bulling heifers and haven't regretted buying them.
Shetlands are cheap to feed - they thrive on poor quality grazing, hardy - ours stay outside most of the time even though they have access to a large shed. They are easy calving - had to help a couple over the years, but mostly they do it themselves.
They are quite small - not too tall, though some of them do get a bit round... Makes them less daunting than the larger commercial breeds.
Nice friendly cattle - trainable - ours will come to a whistle, are trained to go in & out of the shed through a DIY race and the crush - makes it easy for the vet when he comes for TB & BVD testing. Spending time with them helps keep them friendly and calm.
The steers make excellent beef, we sell our beef locally and to some customers in SE England.
There are a number of Shetland keepers on the forum - I'm sure they'll be along soon.
Sue
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I think victorian farmer is winding you up, the breeds he's listed are the rarest of the rare and stock is impossible to get!!!
I don't have cattle but love all the shtlands I have met!!!
Sheepwise there are a lot more choices and its going to be down to taste, ryelands are teddybears, shetlands whilst no longer truely rare are lovely and there's a dozen other breeds that would make the list as candidates, get along to an agricultural show or rare breed show and see what you like the look of as a starter! Because if you don't like the appearence of them its going to be hard to truely love them :-)
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Shetland cattle for all the reasons Factotum gives.
Sheep; well, we keep Coloured Ryelands but they're not rare anymore. I think I'd go for one of the longwools.
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we keep shetlands and we also began as complete novices. they are perfect for us so wouldn't change them at all.
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Worked with many breeds of cattle in the past ..... now I have Shetlands and Dexter's. The Shetlands are great and very calm.
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Worked with many breeds of cattle in the past ..... now I have Shetlands and Dexter's. The Shetlands are great and very calm.
Does that mean the Dexters aren't so much? :cow:
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What most folks do after asking this question is go for something they like the look of and that's fine, so pick out a few you like the look of and then try and see them in the flesh and get some first hand info from there owners. Most owners will be pleased to show you there stock and lots on TAS will help also the RBST. I have Shetland sheep and find them not at all as difficult as some would have you beleive. Not long branch into castlemilk moorits so can't say to much as haven't had them long enough. Next on my list are Hebridean. I have no cattle but have three breeds that take my fancy Shetland, Highland and Hereford. These are just my choices yours will be different best of luck with whatever you pick.
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I like the Irish Moiled cattle.
Does anyone disbud their Shetlands?
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My friend breeds irish moileds,
they are really lovely, there is a photo of them somewhere with children lying with them,
very docile and friendly breed and also very pretty
You dont see many around, around here they graze them on parts of Hook Common but unfortunately some environmental group has taken over a lart part of the common now,
They have brought "conservation" cows down
the cows they brought down are shetlands, they are a similair size and are doing the same job as the moileds were doing and are black cows with horns so not even as pretty, so there was no reason to replace them really
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I don't dis-bud my shetlands, theyv never been a problem as long as you are careful. my cattle aren't pushy at all so wouldn't dream of butting me.
choose a breed that fits in with your lifestyle. my cattle have to winter out so I felt that jerseys weren't ideal, even though id originally wanted one. i also really like the highlanders but you need a wider crush/race and find an abattoir that accepts the wider horns. having seen a particular highlander that was really matted, I do wonder if you need to spend time looking after their coats?
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Worked with many breeds of cattle in the past ..... now I have Shetlands and Dexter's. The Shetlands are great and very calm.
Does that mean the Dexters aren't so much? :cow:
Dexters aren't rare breeds. Not as calm as Shetlands .... but good fun and if handled well when young can be friendly.
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Bloomer we have both in the highlands bigger return http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2687667/Scottish-farmer-spent-5-000-CCTV-protect-new-flock-worlds-cutest-sheep-didnt-stop-stealing-faces.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2687667/Scottish-farmer-spent-5-000-CCTV-protect-new-flock-worlds-cutest-sheep-didnt-stop-stealing-faces.html)
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Aren't they great looking sheep.
Cracking horns on them too.
I saw them at the show in Lanark and at other events over the summer as well as in the Scottish Farmer etc.
I like the Irish Moiled cattle.
I'm with you on this one Buttermilk.
I do like Irish Moiled's too.
There are some on a dairy (I think) down in Fife.
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I like the Irish Moiled cattle.
Does anyone disbud their Shetlands?
I've seen a couple of Moileys at shows and they were a bit mental compared to ours but it's not much of a breed comparison. But I do like the Moileys.
We don't disbud our Shetlands - I like the horns and they aren't aggressive with them, although I can't say I've not had a few bruises. But then, I used to work on a dairy farm with non-horned cattle and had bruises then too.
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black cows with horns so not even as pretty, so there was no reason to replace them really
But Shetlands aren't all black :)
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Yes sorry, I know they arent all black :) yours are very pretty, I like the dun ones and the red ones, the ones here on the common are either black or black with a teeny bit of white, some of the calves are hereford colour as they are hereford cross and I think there is one red and white pure calf
The black cows like to stand in the road and look stern and dont let you drive past, and people living here are more weary of them just because they are black with sharp pointed horns, where the moileds are more "friendly" looking
I like the page on the shetland website about the crossbreeding for commercial farms, some very good 200 day weights there!
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some very good 200 day weights there!
Tis the magic Shetland milk - makes for big, lively calves.
I like the dun ones and the red ones
And what about grey ones then? Cora, Caisi, Caiti, Eshne and Eithrigg are a bit put out...
Eshne
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MV-WLmAR0ts/VElbLJI5NXI/AAAAAAAAABo/dKkitOS7rCQ/h120/20140523_180424.jpg)
Eithrig and Eshne lurking behind Erryl
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-AJYjKJnPbI8/VElaRz0cCtI/AAAAAAAAABg/cxQFZUn2hFg/h120/IMG_2295.jpg)
Sue
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and the grey ones :thumbsup:
sorry if I got cows it would have to be colours other than the black and white ones and the black ones, just for the sake of variety around all these dairy farms ::)
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:fc: I get some coloured ones too one day.
Maybe a coloured calf next year (Bonnie's last calf was red, Carys has red bloodlines as does my pending new one) :fc:
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Most of our cows are black & white - we had 2 red calves this year using a black bull - both dams had a red sire, so that's where it comes from.
Our greys are from using Collafirth Viking - a grey bull. 3 of his daughters are grey, and 2 of those had the grey & white heifers in the picture using our black bull.
I admit I like the different colours, though to be honest I don't really care what colour they are, so long as they're healthy.
Sue
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I admit I like the different colours, though to be honest I don't really care what colour they are, so long as they're healthy.
I agree - I confess I was disappointed when Annie turned from dun and white to black and white, but she's a fine cow and black is wonderfully shiny ;D
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Shetland cattle - we started as complete novices with 4 bulling heifers and haven't regretted buying them.
Shetlands are cheap to feed - they thrive on poor quality grazing, hardy - ours stay outside most of the time even though they have access to a large shed. They are easy calving - had to help a couple over the years, but mostly they do it themselves.
They are quite small - not too tall, though some of them do get a bit round... Makes them less daunting than the larger commercial breeds.
Nice friendly cattle - trainable - ours will come to a whistle, are trained to go in & out of the shed through a DIY race and the crush - makes it easy for the vet when he comes for TB & BVD testing. Spending time with them helps keep them friendly and calm.
The steers make excellent beef, we sell our beef locally and to some customers in SE England.
There are a number of Shetland keepers on the forum - I'm sure they'll be along soon.
Sue
I know of someone down in camarthenshire who keeps white park cattle. They sell some because they don't quite come up to breed standards, they are a mottled colour, you could try them they will sell them as calves. There is a drawback however they also keep deer and quite often have TB problems.
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Please consider the Traditional (Original population) Hereford - they are a category 5 rare breed but their numbers are not increasing because of the numbers of older breeders retiring. They are incredibly docile, easy calving and not too big - ideal beginners' cattle. The only drawback is the horns but many breeders dehorn them and we don't find it much of a problem.
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There's some White Park cattle across from me, their site is http://www.heathylee.co.uk/ (http://www.heathylee.co.uk/)
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you could also try an irish breed of cow, plus on the other hand a northern dairy shorthorn! I can't remember the irish breed of cow, what its called, but its a mottled colour and according to breeders long living and are dual purpose, plus they are more intelligent than other cows, if intelligent is the right word.
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My personal preference are the long horn cattle, fantastic looking, docile, and produce some fantastic beef.
Sheep wise I suggest you could have a look at the Cotswolds, depending on you land type.Another fantastic looking animal. they are a large breed though. Mine are big dosy creatures but they do respect my shoddy fencing! Will produce some great fleeces.Slower growing than the commercial breeds but grass fed hogget cannot be beaten for taste as far as I'm concerned.
These are only suggestions obviously. If you want to do some good go for rare breeds that are on the decline to keep the numbers up, there's plenty to choose from out there and MOST breed societies are a passionate friendly bunch.
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Please consider the Traditional (Original population) Hereford - they are a category 5 rare breed but their numbers are not increasing because of the numbers of older breeders retiring. They are incredibly docile, easy calving and not too big - ideal beginners' cattle. The only drawback is the horns but many breeders dehorn them and we don't find it much of a problem.
They're widely held to be the most docile. We live in Herefordshire and some of the finest herds in the country are still based here. PM me for details if you'd like a name or two.
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We keep Dexter cattle, Herdwick sheep and a rare local bred of hardy Epynt speckles. The Dexters & Herdwick are calm & quiet but the Epynt's are very wild but very tough sheep. When you shake a bucket you only get Dexter's and Herdies :)