When Words Collide, Sentences Form

Midget Cows...for real

A little bull...

I've seen mini horses. (Used to have one named April - she was dead one morning in the barn when I went to take my friend to meet her and feed her a carrot. That was tragic. Yet strangely hilarious when I walked out there...for some reason. I mean, the irony of trying to feed a dead horse a healthy carrot. Well, it's really not funny - yet at the time I wasn't sure how to react I guess!) I've seem mini people. Ok, they are midgets or dwarfs, not mini-people. But now they have mini cattle. Yes, mini bulls and cows.

I would give you a link to the article I read, but it's on AOL and I'm not sure it will work for everyone. Well, what the heck, here it is anyway: Mini Cows!!

So in a nutshell, farmers are breeding cattle that are 1/3 the size of the standard cattle everyone is used to seeing on farms. One farm claims: "Our 2005 Mini Registered Hereford beef cattle are only about 42" in height but produce upwards to 70% of the rib-eye area of animals twice their size and yield smaller, right-sized steaks!" Say what?? I don't believe it. And why can't you make "right-sized steaks" from the evil giant cattle? Right-sized for who? I haven't had a problem with my steaks being too big because they are from the now unpopular super-sized cattle. Just cut them smaller!

This article on AOL says that people are buying these mini cows for pets on 4-5 acres of land. Since when is 5 acres too small for 1 regular sized cow?

Then there is the math, according to this article. People save money by purchasing an entire side of beef, which they can't all use or don't get the full use out of cause it's too big. So getting an entire side of beef off of a smaller cow makes more sense. Except I don't understand how this all works because a cow that is 1/3 the size costs 3x the amount of money to purchase...and then you get 70% of the meat that you would get from a cow that is 3x the size of the one that you paid 3x the amount for. Now I'm not that great at math...but that equation doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

And they are easier to handle...according to this article. But I've had my foot stepped on by both a regular sized adult horse and a mini adult horse - and pain is pain. I've been stepped on my a regular sized adult cow...that hurts. But 1/3 of a lot of pain is still going to be a lot of pain. The guy in the article thought it would be easier to get a mini bull stuck in the fence out. You know what, if the little sucker is stuck and pissed off and scared, he's still gonna be a bitch to get out of the fence.

The article also says that women can raise these cattle as well as men. I know lots of women that had no problem raising full-sized cattle. Did all women suddenly start having a hard time raising full-sized cattle and need mini cattle?

The best part of the article comes at the end:
Warren said he hasn't eaten any or sold any for slaughter, with most going to breeders and some to a rodeo outfit.
"My wife won't eat anything we grow on the farm. She says if it doesn't come on a Styrofoam tray we don't eat it."

Because styrofoam trays are soooo healthy for those wonderful creatures she wants to protect and not kill at her own hands?

Down with mini cattle.

posted by Steph @ 5:56 PM