Mini Farming Livestock

by Lila
(Virginia)

Hello: We have three acres of land and I would like to add some mini livestock...preferably beef. We want to have our own meat to butcher and perhaps sell some as well. Can we do this on this small amount of land/

Thank you so much for any time you take responding to my question!

Lila

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Hi Lila

It really depends on so many things; the quality of your soil, the quality of your pasture and the size of your cattle. The smaller the cattle, the more you can stock.

You need, on average, 1/2 acre of good pasture to keep dexter cattle. But note that we say good pasture. This is essential. If your farm doesn't have good pasture then you would probably be better off stocking one Dexter per acre.

On the other hand, if your pasture is exceptionally good, you could even end up being able to stock 2 Dexter cattle per acre.

Basically, it all comes down to how good your soil and grass is to see if they will sustain the number of cattle you hope to raise in this small area.

However, if you are looking at stocking your land with miniature cattle there are about 26 breeds of miniature cattle that are currently registered worldwide.

True miniature cattle, with good pasture, could be stocked 2 cows to one acre.

The problem with miniature cattle is that they are expensive to buy initially. You are looking at anything between $500 to $12,000 depending on the breed! Kentshire, Kingshire and Covingtonshire are miniature beef breeds well looking into.

Regards
Countryfarm Lifestyles