BIG TIMBER — Two Cow Mini Cattle in Big Timber is one of the first and few breeders of mini and micro cows in Montana, and as owner Matt Kleinsasser said, the demand for these animals has grown tremendously over the last few years.
Kleinsasser’s bulls don’t look like most you’d typically see and that’s because they’re mini bulls, bred to make mini cows.
“A mini cow is anything under 46 inches and then a micro mini cow is 36, anything under 36 inches tall,” said Kleinsasser on Sunday.
Kleinsasser’s mini cow breeding operation started as a family hobby.
“Then we kind of just saw that there was a demand for it, people are wanting these mini cows,” Kleinsasser said.
The family can barely keep up as they currently have 50 people on their waiting list hoping to purchase a mini cow.
“All of our customers, they use them as pets, they’re pets. They’re people who own five or six acres and want a cow but don’t have a space for a big cow,” said Kleinsasser.
Most of his customers come from out of state, across North America.
“This last year we had a handful of Montana customers. We’ve sent calves to Canada, we’re all over the western United States, Oregon, Washington, Idaho,” Kleinsasser said.
Two Cow Mini Cattle has grown steadily since it opened in 2017 and because it’s one of the few mini cattle breeders in the region, business is good.
“Financially, I can sell 20 cows for the same amount of price as someone who sells 100 head of calves in the fall,” said Kleinsasser.
Kleinsasser said that his mini-cattle operation uses less land and resources compared to a herd of standard-sized cows.
“We have 27 head of cattle, and we can run it very well on 200, 300 acres. Whereas if I had 27 head of standard cattle, I’m going to need 5, 6, 700 acres of property,” Kleinsasser said.
The family never thought their simple hobby would turn into a full-blown business.
“As of right now, it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down. I mean, we just continue to have people call us every day and ask us about things and it’s just been a great opportunity for all of us,” said Kleinsasser.
You learn more about Two Cow Mini Cattle on their websiteandFacebookpage.
