Hi,
I am back as my original self.
I think there is a difference between regular breeds bred to be miniature and true small breeds. Dexters are true small breeds - there is not a standard size Dexter. They just seem to have less issues. We have new neighbors with Highland Cattle, another true small breed. We bought a quarter of meat from them and it is wonderful! They aren't really milk cows though and have huge horns! They are set up just for producing meat cattle so it works for them.
Goats will take smaller shelters, and issues with loading (we don't have chutes and trailers, etc.) would be easier. There is something really pleasant about going out to feed a cow though, it was great having Daisy for the time we did.
As for pigs, we had regular pigs and if you don't butcher them in time they get to be huge! Then you have to deal with that. The sows we had to try to load to sell when we moved walked right through a cattle panel! Fortunately we had Jake our farm dog to help us round them up. It took hours to load them. THat plus you almost have to feed them feed unless managed carefully (see Sugarmountain Farm Blog for that!). Most feed now has GMO corn in it.
We were looking at Guinea hogs - pretty rare but a heritage breed that maxes out at 300 pounds, great mothers, and not mean when they have piglets. They graze and eat garden scraps but very little grain - only some in the winter. That is what we are thinking of long term. Again this is a naturally small breed and not miniturized.
To me, for a personal homestead, dealing with large animals is just another challenge and if you can eliminate it why not? Large animals are too large to process for one family, so you have to find someone to buy the rest and then you get into a ton of regulations that complicate that process. Large animals take stronger fences, larger shelters, more space and have more impact on the soil. If you are a business and have lots of acreage it's doable, but for small farms it can destroy pastures easily. That's my thinking on it anyhow for what it's worth!
Oh, and Jami, Pedro the bull I bred Daisy to came from a breeder in Oregon and if it's the same breeder he was great stock! While I didn't trust him of course, he was quite gentle and less then three feet at the shoulder. We were thinking he might not have gotten the job done since Daisy was a good foot taller (she had the long legs) but he managed.
