If you decided to graze your 100 head of 1400-pound cows for only 2 months you could graze your cows on 280 acres. It looks like our rule-of-thumb held up pretty good 11 cows on 20 acres is 18 acres per cow.
The land required is reduced to about 350 sq ft per animal if the herd strength is increased to 50 animals as the area required for the milk room roads and alleys chaff cutter shed office implements room does not increase proportionately.
How much land do you need for mini cows. At birth a baby Miniature Jersey calf weighs approximately 15 to 25 pounds and is from 14 to 16 inches tall. Miniature cows can live up to 25 years with the possibility of producing 23 calves. Miniature cows are very docile and easy to handle.
They can be kept on as little as 14 acre of land. How much land do I need to own miniature cattle. We think 3 or 4 hectares 7-10 acres would be the minimum in most areas in NSW.
But maybe 2 hectares or five acres of good pasture would be the minimum for two miniature steers in lush areas like Qld and northern NSW. With really good pasture you are supposed to be able to support four miniature cows per acre. On our previous property about 1 12 acres was lawn area and we just tied our cow out and let her graze.
A miniature cow doesnt damage the turf so she mowed and fertilized as she went. It depends on what you want and need. There is no general rule as to how big the land should be there is no minimum or maximum.
But since you are at the beginning and you dont have much experience it is safer to start small and then grow along the way. The land required is reduced to about 350 sq ft per animal if the herd strength is increased to 50 animals as the area required for the milk room roads and alleys chaff cutter shed office implements room does not increase proportionately. To rear standard size cows youll need to provide approximately 18 acres per cow depending on crop rotation and quality of land.
If you reduce the number of cows you have or the time allowed to graze you can reduce the amount of land needed to raise your animals on. For instance 60 head of 1400-pound cows can be grazed on 336 acres of land. If you decided to graze your 100 head of 1400-pound cows for only 2 months you could graze your cows on 280 acres.
They are more expensive than their full-size companions but need only a half an acre per mini cow. This makes it easier to own more cows per acre of land you own and they often produce better milk and are much more kind. Miniature cows make better pets because they are.
So if you were to need six bushels of grain for a standard Holstein you will only need two for your mini. Youll be able to maintain your poultry and swine feed while feeding your cattle as well if you manage your feed plot effectively. Feeding Lactating Mini Jersey Cows.
Feeding Instructions for Lactating Mini Jersey Cattle. My 42 Mini Dairy Cows average about 450 pounds other mini dairy cattle may weigh more or less. About 12 to 15 pounds of good dry hay per head of cattle for 450 lb cows 3 of body weight.
I prefer square bales to round bales because I can control how much my cows eat every day. Larger cattle eat more so 3 acres would be more of a size they needed. If you TEND the pastures mowing when grass gets up to about 8 inches not mowing shorter than 5 inches your pasture will be MUCH more productive all season.
Around here that can be every 10 days in spring. We have found that miniature cattle need approximately 1 acre of land per head. It is important to keep mud to a minimum but even living in Washington the wet state this is not an impossible task.
The number of cows you can keep without damaging the soil varies from state to state so youll need to do a calculation based on your number of animal units length of grazing season and stocking rate. How Many Cows Per Acre Calculation. There is a simple calculation to help you work out how much land you need for your cows.
Mini Jerseys generally speaking require about 23rds the space of a standard-sized cow. But a larger mid-sized cow needs more space food than a small full-miniature. If you intend to pasture as much as possible and cut your own hay youll need a lot more land than someone who intends to buy their winter hay.
One of the most attractive aspects of miniature cows is that they dont require nearly as much land to graze on as full-size cattle and they are more feed efficient. By that I mean that its easier to turn the food you feed them into usable meat than for a larger breed cow. You need just 12 one acre of pasture for each animal.
Your best option is to divide the pasture to smaller sections and then you can rotate the grazing pattern. You can even tie your small-breed cattle to a tire to let the animal graze in a specific area. You dont need the back 40 acres to raise these breeds.
The back four will do. Mini cattle eat about a third as much as a full-sized steer are less destructive of pasture land and fencing and. This is the minimum amount of land.
You can always use more than the minimum. It looks like our rule-of-thumb held up pretty good 11 cows on 20 acres is 18 acres per cow. We have enough forage to feed our cows for the whole year.
These figures give you a good estimate and are a great place to start.