By Hannah Buchanan
RUSK —Looking at Jan Townsend’s Toyland Farm right next to her home, one may think something is a miss.
Most everyone has heard of miniature horses, but miniature cows? A miniature cow seems like an oxymoron indeed.
Jan Townsend and her husband Tom, have a total of 17 miniature or “mid-mini” cows and seven miniature horses
Jan said she has had miniature horses since 1992 and the miniature cows since 1996.
Their “miniature” cows, according to Jan are actually a mixed breed of two “mid-mini” breeds — the Highland and the Dexter.
“So our miniature cows are named ‘high-dex,’” she said. “We started the breed. We loved the look of the Highland and the size of the Dexter. This cross gave us both. Highlands are brown, shaggy with long horns, while the Dexters are black with curved horns.”
Her first miniature cow, Teddie, was found outside of Cherokee County — and the farm grew ever since.
“We felt sorry for her, so she came home with us,” she said.
Jan said she is currently raising her cows for breeding purposes. She breeds the smallest bull to the smallest cow to get smaller and smaller babies.
To be determined a miniature, the cattle must be no taller than 42 inches high.
“If they’re not, they’re in a whole different category,” she said. “Miniature cows are in more categories than miniature horses.”
Jan said miniature horses, to be considered miniature, must be no taller than 34 inches.
“If you want a miniature horse, make sure you get one with paperwork, otherwise, you may be stuck with a Shetland pony,” she said.
Jan said there are quite a few advantages for raising miniature cows as opposed to their larger counterparts.
“Once they get to be older — about two years old — then they become friendly,” she said. “They’re easy to manage and they’re cute. They are also better for little kids to manage for showing in projects.”
Tom said there are other advantages too, including their meat.
“For their size and how much meat you get, you get more meat out of them,” he said. “It’s probably a third more — 30 to 40 percent more than a regular cow.”
Tom added they also cause less damage to farm land.
“They weigh less, so they eat less,” Tom said.
Jan added that smaller cows can mean agriculture exemptions for smaller pieces of property. The exemption means owners wouldn’t have to pay taxes on fencing, for example.
However, the couple said every county has their own rules about tax exempted status on raising miniature cows.
“Some places you only have to have two cows on a piece of property, others it’s four or five,” Jan said. “We recommend that if people have questions about it to call their local county extension agent for more details.”
Tom, who is a local author, plans to publish a book on how to raise and care for miniature cows.
“It will hopefully be out by the end of this year,” he said.
For more information, or for a visit to Toyland Farm, call Jan at 936-858-3514 or e-mail her at jan@tomtownsend-toyland.com.
