Donna Robinson, our customer services rep in Clydevale, shares her experience of breeding miniature Galloway calves to monetise ‘lower breeding worth’ dairy cows (and produce some adorable pets).
By crikey did we have high hopes for these wee guys! We had obtained 20 straws of a Miniature Galloway bull, named Boris, to put to some cows with lower breeding worth (BW) values. The photos of his offspring were so Instagrammable, it was ridiculous!
At scanning time, we were stoked to learn that 13 were in-calf to Boris. These ladies got the royal treatment and stayed on grass most of the winter, and then had a calving pad basically to themselves.
The excitement for the first calf was next level, but this turned to slight disappointment after the first few calves, although still lovely, resembled more of a small Speckle Park. Not long after, we finally cracked it and got our first textbook ‘Mini’. She was knee height and as wide as she was tall. I can confirm she has not really grown and is no taller - she just looks "older".
With 13 of these gorgeous calves in total, I sold four as pets and have kept the rest. They reign supreme in the calf sheds with their own, much larger and elite, housing. One is en-route to Pet Day at the end of October!
Apart from this being a passion project, it also serves our wider plan for the dairy herd, where we are striving to have a 0% Bobby calf rate. This year, we calved 840 cows and sent away 30 bobby calves in total. By using bulls such as Boris, it gives those lower BW cows an opportunity to provide us with a saleable calf. These ladies are, in my eyes, the money makers.
We are going to use more Mini straws next year and have got our hands on some Miniature Highland straws as well. At this point in South Otago, the market is not flooded with such boutique breeds, so any surplus calves got snapped up very quickly with a waiting list for next season. These wee dudes provided such easy calving and were a pleasure to train (let's be honest, they could do no wrong).
The end game with these guys is, to be quite honest, unknown, however, we see them as the perfect lifestyle block accessory that does not require shearing or dagging and they have personality to boot.
We were very fussy as to where they went and, thus far, everyone that purchased them is just thrilled with their chilled-out nature and love of people, which is just so fantastic to hear!
