[ohmissbrittany]

My mum in the US runs a smallish family farm, and has been breeding mini Jersey's for the past decade or so. They're quite popular with homesteaders in the US as a budget friendly family milk cow. I don't know much about cattle but they appear to be pretty healthy, easy keepers. My mum's herd are also A2/A2 polled for the most part.

She wants to send me 16 embryos this year (she's running all certifications now - turns out it's easier to ship embryos than to ship heifers...) and I'm looking to either sell some as embryos, or "grow" some in order to make my own little herd to breed. Where is a good place to start? Would anyone want their own embryo?

[SallyintNorth]

We have just replaced our herd (of two) so hopefully are all set for a good few years now .  Otherwise might have been interested, although in general I prefer to do interventions as little as poss.  But mini, not over-productive Jerseys would have been a powerful inducement...  We've gone NDS x Jersey instead, for a similar result.

[mab]

well i would be interested in mini jerseys, but as i don't yet have any cows I  don't think i could do much with embryos alas (not that I'd know what to do with them anyway).

[Fleecewife]

It would be interesting to know more about mini jerseys and what would be involved, including prices, for buying embryos and getting them implanted. I am not a cattle breeder or keeper, it's just that there is little substance to what you are offering.
A few years back I was involved in a plan to export embryos of Hebridean sheep (a rare breed) to an island off Australia (to have a separate flock which would be protected from UK specific diseases)  In the end the plan fell through simply because of the difficulties and expense of completing the whole thing.  Perhaps (probably) things have moved on from there in the world of international trade in live embryos.

[landroverroy]

I agree - price is really of the essence.
It would appeal to smallholders wanting a house cow but not wanting to be swamped with milk. It would not be commercial on a large scale - like "miniature Herefords". To me they're a waste of time as they are the same price or even more than  full size Herefords but produce half  the weight of meat. But nevertheless they do sell to smallholders who want to produce their own meat but not a mountain of it at a time.
Realistically we already have the Dexter cow - a miniature cow which can be  a house cow, or produce lovely beef. Alright the Dexter doesn't have the long eyelashes and Bambi appeal of a Jersey, but it's still a very functional smallholders cow and they are very cheap to buy and keep.
But people will always try something new. If you market it right you'll get sales, and what you have to offer is pretty unique. At the moment.

[winkhound]

i used my Lowline bull over a jersey cow and have a jersey heifer calf call as a result. im going to keep her and try her as a house cow. In my mind in theory she will be a perfect wee thing.

[macgro7]

Wouldn't it be cheaper than to import semen? Obviously breeding for several generations would take a lot more time but would it be more economic?

[SallyintNorth]

We had Dexters here when I arrived.  I would much prefer a small Jersey to a Dexter.  The Dexter is a suckler cow you can milk if you get the right one and train her right.  The Jersey is a dairy cow.  Chalk and cheese. 

Dairy cows love routine, and are very trainable therefore, pretty placid and biddable. 

A lot of smallholders will want the cow to rear her own calf, which of course a suckler cow can do - but will she let you have milk as well?  Probably not, not after a certain point, maybe two months in if you are lucky.  Whereas a Jersey is easily trained that you will leave one quarter for her calf so she can let you have the entire contents of the other three.

A Dexter calf is not a lot bigger than a large dog at 9-10 months old, still very teenager-y in shape, really needs two summers to make a carcase worth the butchering.  Whereas a beef bull on a Jersey cow gives a fine beast at 10 months old, if it suits your system better to send them off at that point, as you dry the mother off for her next calf.  And by definition, smallholders are often tight on acreage, so sending the calves off at less than 12 months old is real bonus.

I guess you would maybe want the semen from one of the original population (smaller) Angus or Hereford bulls for a miniature Jersey, but I would imagine the growth rate and maturing rate would be similar to the full-size story.

[Anke]

Never knew there is such a thing as Mini Jerseys..... but in my mind a good dairy goat would fit the bill.


Golden Guernsey embryos and semen were exported to the US a while ago, and there are now a few herds, but I think the genetics are quite narrow.

[NickRJ]

Hello Ohmissbrittany,
I came across your post while doing some research on miniature Jersey cattle. Would you or your mum know if any miniature Jerseys have been sent to or raised in Europe? My wife and I are setting up a smallholding in Poland and we felt that a Jersey would be a good choice but the volume of milk would probably be way too much for our needs. The miniature Jersey on the other hand looks to be perfect for our situation. The dairy cows here are largely milk factories on legs, i.e. Holstiens and while there are other breeds none seem to be suitable for our situation. We did wonder about Dexters but again I can't see any here in Poland, whether there are any on the European mainland I have yet to find out but I can't deny our preference is the Jersey.

[Penninehillbilly]

I love my goats but these do sound tempting.

[macgro7]

Hello Ohmissbrittany,
I came across your post while doing some research on miniature Jersey cattle. Would you or your mum know if any miniature Jerseys have been sent to or raised in Europe? My wife and I are setting up a smallholding in Poland and we felt that a Jersey would be a good choice but the volume of milk would probably be way too much for our needs. The miniature Jersey on the other hand looks to be perfect for our situation. The dairy cows here are largely milk factories on legs, i.e. Holstiens and while there are other breeds none seem to be suitable for our situation. We did wonder about Dexters but again I can't see any here in Poland, whether there are any on the European mainland I have yet to find out but I can't deny our preference is the Jersey.

If you want to have small milk cows in Poland you should get POLISH RED COW. They are basically the size of shetland or mini Jersey. Produce milk which is better for cheese than Jersey. And they are beautiful and rare breed.
No need to import genetics from America and soend thousands when you can get something very similiar for much less and it's locally available. There are line of Polish red cows which are more beefy if that's what you prefer.

[NickRJ]

Thankyou macgro7, I'll look into that. I haven't come across the Polish Red Cow, I'll do some research. I did look at a website which listed the different breeds kept in Poland but I don't recall this particular cow, it could be that the website didn't give a completely full description of the breed and I may have thought it to be a large breed. It sounds really quite interesting. I am all for "local" genetics if they will fit the bill.

[macgro7]

Watch this guy on YouTube. He has lots of videos of Polish rare breeds of livestock.
Polish Red cows, Polish breeds of goats, geese, chickens, sheep, horses, dogs, rabbits, ducks etc
https://youtu.be/h35I1s92xU8

Also this guys:
https://youtu.be/yivUDHHUn3g

Let me know what you think! 👍

[NickRJ]

Thank you for the links, they were interesting. We will check out some of the related videos in due course. It has certainly "sharpened" our interest in the Polish Red and indeed we really like the idea of an indigenous cow breed. Watch this space, you may well see we will do our bit to help preserve the breed, in a very small way