Bryan Hill Farm Breeds Miniature Hereford Cattle

Gay Brownlee
Virginia Correspondent

BROADWAY, Va. — Tim Bryan, breeder of miniature Hereford cattle on Bryan Hill Farm, with his wife Debbie, can barely keep up with the demand for their registered purebred cattle on 30 acres of tumbling hills and gentle vistas, but he says the goal of selling 18 to 20 calves annually is close to being met.

“It started off as a hobby,” Bryan said. “Like anything it has grown from a hobby into a business.”

“We chose Herefords because of their genetics,” Debbie said. “We were able to trace their pedigrees.

“Herefords in general, full size or miniature,” she said, “are more docile and gentle, have good feed conversion. Their body confirmation is more precise to what a full size Hereford would be. There is definitely no dwarfism gene.”

Bill McKinnon of the Virginia Cattlemen’s Association confirmed the fact.

"Dwarfism is a distinctly different genetic package,” McKinnon said. “Dwarfs typically display a more exaggerated leg bone structure, have a dished-shaped face and much shorter head.”

Bryan said there are two kinds of miniature Herefords, horned and polled, but the horned miniature is 20 years ahead.

He said on a general whole they’ve been breeding the horned miniature Herefords longer so they are smaller and that far ahead of the curve on the polled Hereford, a more slim-line animal which isn’t as small.

“The horned are more robust and stocky which I prefer that,” Bryan said. “The majority of our stock is a horned Hereford. We dehorn every animal we raise.”

He added, however, that eventually he wants Bryan Hill Farm to have a good mix of both.

Calving takes place in spring and fall —March/April is ideal. While herd sires do the live breeding, Bryan is incorporating A.I. and doing some embryo transfer in the operation.

“We have four or five different bulls and have five or six different bloodlines on the property now to go a long way,” Bryan said.

At one and a half years a bull can start breeding. Bryan said you want a heifer to be at least two years old when she has her first calf.

The herd sire, Deuce, is an extremely tame bull but…“Since he’s gotten to be four to five years old, he’s big enough that if he really doesn’t want to do anything, he doesn’t. Just stands there. He’s not bullish, he’s just ornery. He’s very tame but he’s not the best to lead anymore.”

The minis’ feeding regimen is fairly simple — hay, grass, minimal grain, a good mineral. “We feed them grain and corn but it’s not part of their daily diet,” Bryan said. If they are working out for showing or calving, grain and corn are added to the diet.

“We have formulated out of all the research what we think is best.” Bryan said with regard to feed. In other words they’ve sifted official information, farmer to farmer conversations, chats with other breeders, veterinarians and feed cooperative representatives.

Compared to a full size Hereford that weighs upwards of 1,400 to 1,800 pounds, a miniature Hereford female is around 500 pounds. A mini bull might tip the scale to 800 pounds.

While the miniatures are excellent show animals and pets, they are also produce good beef, so this year for the first time the Bryans will butcher minis for meat.

The meat is said to be tender due to muscle-cell structure. The miniature Hereford’s larger ribeye area is said to be 1.5 square inch per 100 pounds of body weight, Bryan said.

“On the beef side there is a lot of pluses to them” Tim says. “You can raise two to three of these on the same amount of acreage as a full size, yet you are getting a smaller weight, but in your prime cuts … tenderloins are not proportionally smaller as you would think.

Bryan reported that a 600 pound steer has a nine and a half-inch ribeye area and a full sized animal a 10-14-inch ribeye area. So while the body appears proportionally smaller, it is still big according to the package.

“You are producing a nice smaller cut that looks just like a full size cut. And you are producing near the same amount of meat for a whole lot less input,” Bryan said.

Bryan follows the Frame Score Classification Chart when describing the animal for a potential buyer.

“The chart is a way of clarifying their size … a way of communicating a standard scaling system,” Bryan said.

So if a two-year old miniature Hereford female’s measurement from the hip is 42-inches, she is “mature.” According to the classification chart, her frame score is “0.”

The breeder said, “I have a one-ought (zero) female for sale.”

A six-month old female measuring 26.5-inches from the hip, on the other hand, has a “0000” frame score. The breeder conveys that he has a “four-ought” female for sale.

Some of Bryan’s stock originated at Point of Rocks Ranch, Fort Davis, Texas. Point of Rocks Ranch (Roy R. Largent and Sons), is concentrated on breeding miniature Herefords, and in fact, developed the miniature Hereford breed.

“Miniature Herefords today owe their existence to one stubborn family and 35 years of selective breeding,” is a quote from their Website www.miniature-hereford.com.

K P Ranch in Nebraska, another big name in miniature Herefords, is focused on showing. Owners Kenny and Ali Petersen, with Kathy Davis worked to establish the Miniature Hereford Breeders Association (MHBA), www.mhbaonline.org.

Speaking of showing, the Bryans are already teaching 5-year old Rachel and 2-year old Allison the responsibilities of caring for the miniature calves so the youngsters grow up with a strong work ethic.

“Our girls have a fun time breaking the calves,” they said.

Rachel has twice showed Jewel at the Rockingham County Fair, starting when Rachel was three and the calf, five months.

“I just like the baby calves,” said Rachel.

Bryan’s first four bred heifers from the Midwest arrived at Bryan Hill Farm accompanied by four alpacas on the delivery trailer that was headed further on.

The alpacas were six times the money of the heifers, Bryan said, but he wouldn’t have traded one Hereford for one alpaca.

Don’t think miniature Herefords are cheap. A buyer can expect to pay more than for a standard cow, Bryan said.

“The smaller they are the more they cost,” he said, “$2,500 to $5,500.”

Every telephone call and e-mail enquiry about the minis is documented by Debbie, a stay-at-home mother. Sometimes, a few days will pass before they can reply, but Bryans do their best to answer everyone.

“Just the phone calls we get is time consuming,” said Debbie, who feeds, grooms, halter breaks, records official information on each animal and maintains their Website which is www.bryanhillfarm.com.

Bryan runs Bryan Tool and Machining Inc., southeast of town along Route 259. The business was started by his dad, John R. Bryan, and himself some years ago. John is no longer as involved in the daily operation as he once was.

It’s owing to his dad that Bryan got farm experience despite their early city life. Some of the relatives owned farms and farm work promised good experience. Bryan learned to cut, grade and hang tobacco. He also learned to make hay and helped with hog butchering.

“It sparked my interest,” Bryan said.

That’s why when they were vacationing in Texas some years back, Debbie glimpsed a little, nearly obscure sign for miniature cattle. At the time they couldn’t check it out but “miniature cattle? What a concept!”

Back home they dug into researching the topic. After two years of information gathering they knew what they wanted. Of 26 miniature breeds across the beef and dairy cattle species, those closest to their heritage were the miniature Herefords.

Folks with limited land availability, Bryan said, will find that miniature Hereford cattle are a very appealing choice.