Miniature cattle (or mini cows as most people call them) are cattle that meet a height requirement. The breed of mini moo can vary, but miniature Highland and miniature Galloway cattle are the most popular.
Some of these cattle are naturally short (the result of two short parents) and some of them have a version of cattle dwarfism - also known as chondrodysplasia or "chondro" for short. Because of the way genetics work, not all calves from miniature parents will be chondro carriers.
You can read more about chondro here.
There are different classifications of miniature cattle;
- Micro miniature
- Miniature
- Mid-size miniature
The chart below might be helpful when understanding how the size brackets work. The chart has been converted from inches to cm and is intended for use as a guide only.
It can be hard to guess the mature height of a young miniature heifer, bull or steer, but this chart can be used to try and help estimate if a suspected mini will stay mini.
