~ Welcome to ~
WHITE STAR FARM MINIATURE JERSEYS
Home of the most fabulously painted and truly miniature, Jersey cattle
We're glad you stopped by. We hope you will enjoy visiting here and seeing the finest miniature Jersey dairy cattle nestled in foothills of the north Georgia mountains. We believe in excellence in our stock and integrity in our sales!
Oh, there is SO much to learn about these wonderful little dairy cows! We'll try to cut through all the hype and legends out there and give you the documented facts from our research into this breed and it's real history. We also invite you to do your own research to confirm the facts presented here.
We have owned and milked smaller standard Jersey cows for 27 years now and have recently turned our focus to the miniatures of this breed. We are amazed at the production of these fine "mini milkers" when compared to their larger counterparts! They are rare to find, but so worth it when you do!
All of the miniature cattle that we currently own are actually miniatures if advertised as such, standing at maturity or close to it, under 42" tall with most averaging 41". They are all very friendly to humans and other livestock. Our cattle will be measured many times as they grow, with accurate reporting of the sizes and updated pictures on their pages here. Every buyer or visitor to our farm is welcome, and encouraged to take the measures themselves.
We measure them from the highest point of the hip bone, so the measurements are accurate as to the size of the actual animal. No need to add any inches to get the accurate size, as some suggest you do to their stock, to make them appear smaller unless you do the math.
As with any of these miniature cattle, there is never a guarantee that any calf or cow will remain in the 42" height limit throughout it's entire life or consistently produce miniatures just because the parents are miniatures at maturity. The chances are greater though, if both parents are maintaining their smaller stature at maturity, that you will get some actual miniatures from them when bred together. Nature can produce larger offspring (above 42" but less than 44" for cows and bulls) cattle from these smaller miniatures just as easy as miniatures because of genetics...so keep this in mind.
We are dealing with NON-PUREBRED animals, so genetics will always have the last say. It is the mature size that qualifies each cow as true miniature. Sexual mature size is reached at age three years, cattle will still reach a mature bone structure size by age five years, no matter what the breed is.
We do not use terms like "purebred", "fullblood", "heritage", "old world", or especially, "foundation pure", all of which mean absolutely nothing in this breed! The above adjectives are only used to increase sales and are gimmicks and cannot be supported with DNA typed lineage documentation. One needs to begin with two purebred animals of the same breed to end with the same, period!
It is our goal to keep the smaller sizes while raising naturally grass fed dairy genetics with sound personalities and excellent dairy qualities and conformation, that the Jersey breed is known and loved for around the world. Our miniature Jersey cattle are grown using only natural methods with extra care given to the maintaining of their health for great milk production as well as docile temperaments. It is these two traits that make them so suitable for use as "homestead" dairy cattle.
You will also notice as you scroll through our pages that our cows are not all labeled with our "White Star Farm" or "WSF" prefix. This is because we do NOT buy cattle from others and then put our name on them to mislead that we are the breeder of those animals. In our opinion, it is wrong and absolutely deceptive for people to steal the credit for other breeders' cattle by putting their own farm name on them or changing the prefix around to represent their own farm, after they purchase them.
If a cow or bull is not bred and born here at our farm, they will not carry our farm prefix of "WSF" or our name "White Star Farm"...period. We give full public credit to the actual breeders of our purchased animals. Honesty matters to us.
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Miniature Jersey cattle are NOT imported from the Isle of Jersey!
They have never existed there under about 45" - 48", per David Hambrook, President of the Royal Jersey Agricultural & Historical Society (RJAHS). He maintains the Island Herd Book and knows their history well. Beware of anyone telling you that the miniatures are imported or are Old World Jerseys! This is only a legend and sales gimmick. This is why they do not exist anywhere in these miniature sizes except here in the USA, unless they have been exported from here, and even then, we are only aware of a very few being sold into Canada and now a pair from our farm, into the Republic of Costa Rica.
**The miniatures under 42" are rarely 100% purebred Jersey, nor full blood Jersey cattle. Some call 15/16ths purebred, but only 100% is truly purebred.
**The breed we have today that we call "miniature" (under 42" at maturity) are the bi-products of breeding down standard Jerseys with either Dexter, Lowline, Zebu, White Parks, Galloways, etc or other smaller polled bulls, to make smaller offspring, which carry the milking genetics and many times the fawn coloration and other traits of the original Jerseys. Still many of them take on the traits of their beefier sire. (dark coloring, polling, beefier hips, pink noses, less milk production. etc)
**Original natural Island Jersey cattle are NOT naturally polled and never have "pink/gray" noses...their noses are historically black.
**Polling genetics are produced now on the Isle of Jersey in bulls for semen exportation only. Do the research and you will find the truth.
Or visit the: www.miniaturejerseyherdbook.com to read further on the documented research that I have done.
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As you click through the pages here, please keep in mind that there are very few of the more pure smaller Jerseys are in existence today...less than a thousand or so that are more that 7/8ths or higher pure Jersey. The demand remains high for these smaller dairy cattle for folks who have chosen to go back to small family farming. These facts are reflected in the pricing as well as availability. Regardless what percentage they are, we are glad to own our small herd and enjoying helping others to start with their own small "backyard milk cow". We DO NOT sell to dairies nor do we sell nurse cows.
The miniature Jersey cattle have several advantages:
1) They are smaller in size standing between 38" - 42" at maturity, so they eat less than their standard counterparts, while still producing copious amounts of rich, creamy milk.
2) You can usually have 2 mini cows per acre of good pasture for every single standard cow.
3) These cattle are still fairly rare in numbers, so they sell for much higher prices. The miniature Jerseys are more of a "designer" breed.
4) They offer the gentle dispositions of the standard Jerseys, if cared for respectfully and handled often.
So, when you find just the right cow for your family farm, you will need to move quickly to make your purchase. Quality sells really fast!
The smaller standard sized Jersey cattle have advantages of their own:
In the coming months, we may also offer larger small standard Jerseys for those who would prefer a bit taller cow to milk, but not the typical full sized cow of the commercial dairies. The smaller standard cows, standing between 43" - 46" also have some fine points to offer the homestead milker:
1) If hand milking is desired, it is much easier to place a pail or bucket under the udder to catch the milk of a mid-sized or small standard cow.
2) The mid-sized cows still consume less feed than the standard commercial Jersey cow.
3) The mid-sized Jerseys are actually more the size of the "old fashioned" Jerseys of yesterday...more like a "heritage" breed.
4) The mid-sized Jerseys still maintain the sweet dispositions and "doe eyes" of the original Jersey breed.
No matter which Jersey size you choose, you will be more than pleased with
the docile nature and production of these wonderful small dairy delights!
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2013 heifer, WSF Bobbie Jo ^ Sold to AL
2014 heifer, WSF Stormy ^ sold to NM 
