- The origin of Miniature Hereford cattle has its roots in Herefordshire, England.
- The Miniature Hereford we know today are descendants of pure Hereford stock selectively bred since the 1970’s.
- With the trend at that time being “bigger is better” one particular breeder went against the trend and selectively bred for temperament, hardiness, meat quality and feed conversion.
- Miniature Herefords are full blooded Herefords and are registered through Herefords Australia (they are just a line of Herefords).
- Like other Herefords, they are primarily used as a beef animal. Miniature Herefords are about 30-50% the size of traditional Herefords.
- The ideal conformation and breeding characteristics of a miniature Hereford are the same as traditional Herefords.
- One judges the quality of these cattle in a similar manner – good bone structure, depth, functionality, soundness and indication of high carcass quality.
- The primary difference being height – an adult Miniature Hereford Cow can not be taller than 119 cm (47”) at the hip, while a Bull can not be taller than 124 cm (49”) at the hip.
- In Australia, Herefords are classed as miniature Herefords if the animal is registered with Herefords Australia (HAL) AND their frame score is 1 or less at age 3 years.
- Buyers should ensure any cattle they purchase are registered with Herefords Australia.
- You can check to see if the animal is registered by going to Herefords Australia animal enquiry page and typing in the animals full name.
- Read the article ‘Exactly what is a miniature Hereford” here
- Read the article ‘A factual history of miniature Herefords‘ here
- The Elastic Miniature
The AMHBN has an information package that we send to people enquiring about miniature Herefords, you can download your copy here (2.5Mb)