Smallest Breed in Europe?

[evolen]

If you are still looking for the smallest breed...
Have look on http://www.vechur.org/ and http://www.dahomey-zwergrind.com/deutsch/de_home.html
The Vechur Cow and the Dahomey cow be must be one of the smallest breeds!

[Denise]

Hi Evolen, that vechur is rather intersting - a bos indicus! I know that there are breeders in Australia, amongst other places, trying to breed various Box Indicus down to the smaller sizes, and with varying degrees of success.

Isnt it interesting that people are beginning to realise that huge is not necessary the most effecient, effective in either cost, returns, and land management. Something of which us Dexter folk have been aware for many a long year now!

there has been a recent article of a milking herd of Jerseys in Western Australia, and he culls all the bigger animals, because he has done the hard yards and found it more cost-effective to have a herd of smaller animals.
talk about re-inventing the wheel!

Regards

[Minnie]

Hi Denise,

That jersey herd did he have them locked in a shed all the time?

I know there's some huge dairy there, a friend in WA told me about and the poor cows never go outside they live full time in the shed for efficiency.

I've told my brahman breeding neighbour I could put our bull over his girls to give him miniature braham, but he wouldn't be in it. :laugh:
Vicki

[wagra dexters]

A friend of ours was interested in the conservation of domestic farm animals, in the interest of maintaining genetic biodiversty and securing viable food sources for the future of mankind. He is a friend of Bill Mollinson, the founder of the permaculture movement, and became interested in the smaller breeds of cattle while commercial meat and dairy stock got larger and larger, their gene pools getting smaller and smaller.

He investigated Nadudana as the smallest Bis Indicus breed, and Dexters as the smallest Bos Taurus breed. Whether they are or not, I don't know, but both breeds were considered to be so at the time.

Neither breed was available in Australia. The rest is history. John Thompson contacted Bill Butcher, etc, etc. Our Dexter Association was born in about 1987. The first Nadudana did not arrive here until the mid nineties.
Margaret



Edited By wagra dexters on 1285384311

[wagra dexters]

At the time John was researching, he came across some very small, sheep-sized cattle being bred by a university in Mexico, but it was a miniaturised breed, not a naturally small breed, and he can't recall if it was taurus or indicus, although I'd suspect the latter given the climate there.
Margaret

[Denise]

That jersey herd did he have them locked in a shed all the time?

I know there's some huge dairy there, a friend in WA told me about and the poor cows never go outside they live full time in the shed for efficiency.

Hmm you obviously have not read the issue of Small Farms magazine that I found the info in.
Because DCAI are using Small Farms magazine as its major advertising vehicle - I would have thought you would have seen the magazine and read the article - June 2010 issue pages 24-26 - most interesting! well worth reading - the bloke is a computer porgrammer and systems analyst by background, and a successful dairy farmer by choice.