Please read the answers on this frequestly asked questions page before contacting us. If you still have questions about our miniature cattle please use the Contact Us button. We endeavour to respond to all contacts within 48 hrs. If you have a lot of questions, or want to chat about something in particular, please provide your home (land line) phone number in your email. We will contact you at the time you nominate.

Answers to Your Questions

1. Question: Does it cost more or less to buy miniature cattle if I only want them as pets?

Answer 1 : Pets cost more as a rule.  It takes a lot of time, patience and bonding to prepare miniature cattle to become paddock pets. Cattle are prey animals. Prey animals see other creatures that come near them as a threat, unless they have been shown otherwise, this includes humans. The greater cost is to cover that training time. It also helps to ensure that the animal is going somewhere where it will continue to be well looked after - very well looked after.

2. Question: How much does a full blood miniature White Galloway cost?

Answer 2 : Miniature cattle are more expensive than standard cattle. White Galloways usually cost more than black, dun, chocolate or silver Galloways. Pets will generally cost you more than an untrained, wary little grass eater. Price wise the bottom line is - full blood Miniature White Galloways cows and heifers generally cost thousands of dollars and steers cost hundreds of dollars.

In 2010 people generally paid from $1600 and up to $5000 plus for registered, full blood, white females depending on their age, breed qualities, breeding performance, show performance etc. For example a good six month old, full blood Miniature White Galloway heifer may cost $1600. A ribbon winning, 18 month old, pregnant heifer may cost $3000. A two year old cow with a calf at foot may cost $4000 and a pregnant three year old cow with a calf at foot may cost $5000 or more. Bulls have a similar price range - anything from around $1500 and up to $8000 plus for registered, full blood, Miniature White Galloway bulls. Everything else falls somewhere in between (pure bred, grades and commercials).

Basically, until a breeder has a specific animal they are offering for sale, it is difficult to say exactly how much any Miniature White Galloway may cost you. The Miniature White Galloway breed is quite rare and difficult to come by - especially females. 

3. Question: How much do your 'designer cattle' cost - your Wee White and Whiteline breedlines?

Answer 3 : As a rule, the smaller the miniature the larger the price tag (to put it bluntly). Our Wee White and Whiteline breeding lines are much smaller cattle than our full blood Miniature White Galloways. Therefore these miniature cattle, are more expensive than the full blood Miniature White Galloway. We have progeny on the ground from both of our tiny little white bulls now and these calves are very small. If we can bear to part with them, they will be rather more expensive than the full bloods.

We have seen smaller female miniatures bought and sold at $2200, $3000 and $5000 (at six months old). We have seen very little bulls for sale at $3000, $5000 and $8 000 - they were all sold at those prices. For us price is determined by temperament, age, breeding, colour, conformation and size.  However, we do not always sell to the person willing to pay the higher price. Our priority, when we offer stock for sale, is to place our miniature cattle into what we hope to be ideal situations - great people in good locations. To date we believe our success rate to be 100%. 

4. Question: Are your cattle suitable for people who know nothing about cattle? We have never had livestock before but we have moved onto acreage and would love to own some now.

Answer 4 : Absolutely yes! Our Mountain View miniature cattle are specifically bred and trained to make it easy first time livestock owners to enjoy owning miniature cattle. If you are willing to learn, not afraid to ask questions and you are not afraid to ask for help if the need arises, then there is no reason why you won’t be great livestock owners. We do not sell first timers our cattle and then 'cut them loose'. We are only ever an email or a phone call away for anyone who has taken one of our little miniatures home. We want to ensure that the cattle are well looked after and that you are thoroughly enjoying owning them.

5. Question: I live in Tasmania and I am enquiring about getting a pair of miniature cows as pets. Can you send your cattle this far and is it  expensive? (Enquiries regularly come from Vic, WA and SA also)

Answer 5 : It is all relative. We can and do send our miniature cattle long distances, although we prefer not to send them too far. It can be expensive - especially if you want your new cattle to arrive in good condition and as quiet, friendly and calm as they were when they left here. We generally recommend people try to source cattle closer to home first. If people from interstate have their heart set on our cattle, then we direct them to a transporting company that we use for this purpose and highly recommend. Earlier this year (2010) it cost around $400 to send a miniature cow and a calf or two 6 - 12month old miniature cattle 1000km (rough guide only).

6. Question: I was just wondering how big a miniature Galloway cow grows.

Answer 6 : To be registered as a miniature Galloway females currently can mature at no more than 120 cm and males at a maximum of 125 cm. At 12 mths Miniature Galloway females must not be over 107.5 cm and 112.5 cm for males. In 2009 our 12 month old full blood and pure bred females measured 92cm and 94cm at 12mths and our two year old full blood females came in under 110cm and 114cm. By 2012 we are hoping that our full blood and pure bred females will mature at 110cm and 114cm. 

With our Wee White breedline we are aiming for 105 cm or less at maturity - if this can be acheived without comprising the Galloway breed qualities and the good health of the animal. This breeding program will take us a miniumum of five generations to reach our goal, so time will tell if we can.

All other miniature breeds have their own height standards for registration purposes.

7. Question: Can we buy semen from your miniature bulls or lease your miniature bulls? 

Answer 6 : Yes, but only if you have miniature cattle that you have purchased from us. We do our best to make sure all our Family & Friends have access to the best little miniature bulls and semen that we can offer. There is no point in selling people miniature cows if they can't breed from them. Not everyone wants a bull on their property or is indeed in a position to have a bull on their property. We understand this and help in every way we can. Our super docile, very little bulls are one of the things that set us apart as breeders. Therefore, we have to be very judicious about the who, what, when, where and why when it comes to how we use our little bulls and their genetics.

8. Question: How much land do I need to own miniature cattle?

Answer 8 : We think 2 hectares or five acres of good pasture should be enough for two or three miniature steers. Cattle need to be kept in at least pairs. Cows and calves and cows in calf eat more than steers. The rainfall, soil quality and the type of pasture in the paddock will also determine the stocking rate. Personally, I think it is a better idea to work on a situation where you have too much feed rather than not enough.  My feeling is that it is preferable have to buy more cattle later on than it is to either sell stock (heartbreaking) or buy in feed (expensive). Galloways tend to thrive in situations where other cattle are struggling, so it also depends on which breed of miniature you end up buying. It is also better if the area can be broken up into three or more paddocks so you can rotate the cattle into fresh pasture regularly. This helps lessen the wear and tear in the paddock and reduces the parasite burden on the cattle. A portable, electric fence is the easiest way of doing this. Battery operated is the uncomplicated option (D cells). Each area needs water, shade and pasture.

Go to the Owning Miniature Cattle page in the side menu to read more about the process of owning cattle.

9. Question: Do you sell Toy cattle?

Answer 9 : We do have some very small miniature cattle but we prefer not to refer to them as 'toy' cattle. Cattle, of any size, are definitely not toys. If we were to classify our really small miniatures (as separate to our miniatures), we would call them micro miniatures. We do have several very small miniatures at the moment, but we have not sold any to date.

Miniature Galloways are not the smallest of the miniature breeds, so breeders who do get their mature Galloway females down to say 110cm or 105cm have done really, really well. In the USA there are studs that list other breeds of miniature cattle that mature at or under 36 inches (91.4cm) as Micro Minis. I think it will be a long time before we see a healthy, well formed, Miniature White Galloway maturing at under 91.4cm. I don't think there is a set benchmark for a Micro Miniature classification in Australia as yet. We are members of the the Australian Galloway Association and it does not have Micro Miniature classification at this point in time.

Feedback from You to Us

Here are some wonderful things some of you have said when you emailed us. Thank you.

'Hi to All. I'm currently researching small cattle with similiar goals in mind. Just wanted to say great website and I really appreciate the farming values you embrace. Can I keep in touch as I may have further queries regarding the little white wonders. Thanks. Lisa in WA'

'Hi,  I live in Canada .... You have an absolutely WONDERFUL website and if I was living in your neck of the woods would definately be on your waiting list.  But given the ocean between us not feasible to get them ...  Thanks   Dianne Canada'

'Hello. We are wondering if Moment (baby girl wee white) is still available? All of your cattle look so beautiful!! We are from Texas, US, but live here in QLD now. Thank you and hope to hear from you soon, Lisa & David'

'I am looking for a  young white Mini Cow... the smallest you have would be great as a pet for our farm in -Victoria ...Your website is great and your pics are awesome! Thanks for your help Tracey'

Just For Fun

A friend emailed us this picture after we relayed a cow story to her. Earlier that night we had put a one week old heifer calf between us on the quad bike. We then had to take her through three paddocks and several gullies, back to her Mum and the rest of the herd.

We can assure you that it was not as simple as the picture makes it look!