The Worlds First Miniature Panda® Cattle

What a surprise! Something new, something different, a one of a kind, the first of it's kind, a calf that has a panda-like look. Panda® Miniature Cattle are the result of years of development but they really came about by accident. Over many years we developed an American BeltieTM("Mini-Cookie") Miniature Cattle bull named Rebel. He is 75% Irish Dexter and 25% Belted Galloway. He is black and has a full wide white belt. Rebel is very beefy and only 36" tall at the hip at 2 1/2 years of age. As an experiment we bred him to one of our small Happy Mountain® Cattle named Sarah. We never thought Rebel's belt would come through but surprise surprise. On 4/27/00 Sarah gave birth to a very small little heifer now named Precious. Precious was only 14" tall at birth, is black with a wide white belt around her middle. She also has a special panda-like face, all white with large black circles around both eyes.

More story: LINK

Wow. What will they create next? Why do we need miniature cattle anyway?
I would not want to drink the milk from one, nor eat the meat from one.

reply to post by amatrine


Given the fact that they are miniature, I don't think they are for milk or meat. I think they're to be bought and sold as pets.

But I could be wrong and people could be awful.

They are cattle, and if you read the site, they're for meat and for milking. Smaller breeds can mature faster, cause less waste, and can live in smaller places. Your average survivalist might like to own a herd of these small cattle.

That said, the calves are awfully cute.

reply to post by amatrine


I must be really in tune with what is happening in the world. Just the other day I was fantasizing about minature lions and other big cats. How you could have them as pets. Just a fantasy as I feel we should tinker as little as possible.

I had a professor in college who bought cattle and grew so attached to them that she couldn't consider sending them to their demise. She said most of the salary goes toward feeding and care for them.

Think carefully before making a commitment to buy cute little critters like these. They might be hard to part with someday.

reply to post by Byrd


I did read the site but I was confused because I don't know why, at least for meat, the website would be calling them "adorable" over and over again if you're going to kill them. I also assumed that they don't produce much because they are tiny. I did check the site and it didn't really make it purely obvious that they wanted people to buy them for that purpose.

What do I know, I don't know what people use miniature cattle for.

Originally posted by sad_eyed_lady
I had a professor in college who bought cattle and grew so attached to them that she couldn't consider sending them to their demise. She said most of the salary goes toward feeding and care for them.

Think carefully before making a commitment to buy cute little critters like these. They might be hard to part with someday.

Now that is just what I like to read. Here in Holland there is a farmer who changed his tune and now saves cows! Say yes to tofu I do! And I hope that professor is doing well and her cattle too (and her bank account too).

Originally posted by sad_eyed_lady
I had a professor in college who bought cattle and grew so attached to them that she couldn't consider sending them to their demise. She said most of the salary goes toward feeding and care for them.

Think carefully before making a commitment to buy cute little critters like these. They might be hard to part with someday.

My sister and her husband bought a farm about 15 years ago and decided to make it a cattle farm. They started out buying 2 cows which actually was a good decision because my sister became so attached to them that she couldn't sell them to be butchered. They decided cattle farming as a business was not their thing ... lol.

Originally posted by Byrd
That said, the calves are awfully cute.

They make great little happy meals for the kiddys

I dont care how big or what color the cow is. I just want my steak.

Mmm Steak. Second line.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


Ravenshadow you are correct, Byrd is wrong. I have a lot of cattle, and any real cattleman or cattle person stays clear of minature cattle because they are runts. If you breed a runt to regular cow you can get minature cattle.

Lots of people want suckers to believe that minature cattle are great for meat and for milk, but its just a scam to get suckers to pay premium prices for something that you can go to a cattle auction and pick up for little or nothing.

Its just like Alpacas, they are cheap at auctions, but people sell them for premium prices to suckers that don't know there really is no market for them. People that bought Alpacas for 10 to 15 thousand dollars each later were glad to get 200 dollars for the same animals.

Stay clear of minature cattle and buffalo, because there is not much milk or meat from either creature. Minature cattle are just a short lived fad, and buffalo are dangerous.

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by Byrd
That said, the calves are awfully cute.

They make great little happy meals for the kiddys

That is by far the funniest thing that I have heard in quite a while.Well that, and "Colonal Sanders is asian"

Originally posted by RussianScientists
reply to post by ravenshadow13

 

Ravenshadow you are correct, Byrd is wrong. I have a lot of cattle, and any real cattleman or cattle person stays clear of minature cattle because they are runts. If you breed a runt to regular cow you can get minature cattle.

Lots of people want suckers to believe that minature cattle are great for meat and for milk, but its just a scam to get suckers to pay premium prices for something that you can go to a cattle auction and pick up for little or nothing.

I thought Byrd had a good point in regards to a survivalist and low budget ranching.
I don't think she was talking about using them to ranch commercially in comparison to full size cattle but yeah I agree with you if anyone would attempt to do something like that the returns wouldn't be as great obviously.

Lots of people want suckers to believe that minature cattle are great for meat and for milk, but its just a scam to get suckers to pay premium prices for something that you can go to a cattle auction and pick up for little or nothing.

I won't get into pricing (I wouldn't pay much for that thing) but I do think you can still utilize them for meat and milk.

Not in comparison to a cow of regular size but I think that is a given.

I mean...look at it.

- Lee

reply to post by lee anoma


Lee Anoma

Those cattle are not for survivalists nor for people on a budget.

Runt cattle are runt cattle. Runt cattle take a whole lot longer to get up to size.

You could go and buy a regular calf for $100 to $200 and raise it on the same acreage, but it would grow to a much larger size in a much shorter amount of time, where as your runt cattle will only get so big in two years of growth.

I would rather buy a calf for $200 that weights 200 pounds and make him into a steer weighing a thousand pounds in a year. Than buying an over priced runt for maybe $1000 that will never get any bigger than 350 pounds; butcher it and you might get 200 pounds of meat.

If you want milk cheap, buy a nanny goat that is giving milk at the auctions, or one that is getting ready to give milk, for $60 you can't go wrong.

Or, you can buy a Holstein cow and calf pair for $600 and get all the milk you and your neighbors will need plus two critters, the big momma weighing around 1200 pounds and the baby around 100 pounds. Plenty of milk and meat for $600.

Buying runt cattle for premium prices is stupid, and is for suckers. You can buy runt calves at the auctions for well under a $100, but they take longer to raise, and they will always be runts, and the milk will not be around until after 2 years of age when they have their first calf. Runt cows, heifers, bulls and steers sell below market price, and usually they sell well below market price.

You can buy a nice calf that will eat the same amount of food as the runt cattle, and you will actually be able to see the nice calf grow.

reply to post by RussianScientists


Good points, I honestly don't know much on the issue of what the benefits of these sort of animals would be and I assumed they were bred (or altered) to be miniatures and not simply "runts".

I thought the option was there for them to be utilized on the cheap but I didn't think they were created specifically for survivalists.

Either way, I doubt I'll ever come across one.

I only checked this out because being in the Crytpo section I assumed this Panda-Cow was some sort of genetic experiment/anomaly or some kind of mythical creature.

Turns out it's just a small cow.

- Lee

OMG! I love them! They're so cute! They're adorable!

With that said, and I really do think they're adorable, I must add that humans love to breed animals. Some people like to see what new breed they can come up with, whether it be a cat, dog, fish, cow, etc.

Breeding and genetics is a hobby to some people, and these breeders are trying to turn their hobby into a business, selling their products. People love "mini" things, whether it be pocketbikes, minihamsters, mini this or that. I think this is what these breeders are trying to sell, as they say so at their site, the pleasure of owning a mini.

I remember the pot bellied pig rage. I don't know anyone who actually ate their pbpig, as they were pets. Could they have eaten a pbpig? Probably...I'm making myself hungry for pork ribs......but the pbpig was marketed a a pet for suburban areas.

These adorable cattle are really meant to be pets. One could, depending on space, have one merely as a house pet, or one could live out one's fantasy of being a cattle rancher. And I could imagine petting zoos would love to buy one. I could have a rodeo in my backyard, roping one of them doggies.

Expensive, pet, cute, or no.
When you’re hungry you’ll eat it.
Between now and then it’s just another fad.
It looks like a Galloway Belted cow crossed with a Hereford (for the curly hair).
No big deal that.
Other than the price tag...



peace

[edit on 31-5-2009 by silo13]

MEh.....Im not impressed.

Now give me my own pet chupracabra and NOW your talkn!

Originally posted by silo13
When you’re hungry you’ll eat it.

I can just see it..."Honey, there's nothing in the kitchen for dinner." Looks out through sliding glass door to the family pet standing next to the barbecue in the backyard. "Hmmmmm..."
Rivals Kobe beef for cost!

reply to post by Byrd


The average survivalist would be much better off with a couple of goats. More milk, same amount of meat, and they're much hardier and not as care-intensive as cattle. Throw in some geese or chickens with the money you saved by going goat, and you've got a nice setup going