Welcome! The Australian Miniature Hereford Network is a group of breeders dedicated to developing miniature Herefords worldwide. The network provides new breeders with access to quality stud breeding cattle and embryos and semen.

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Resource Centre
A guide of the relevant books  and information  available that will be helpful in handling your herd

Why
Miniature Herefords?

The advantages of miniature Herefords and the commercial formula that makes
miniature Herefords such a success.

How do you do it?
How to get started
as a breeder, the costs involved and some marketing advice.

Miniature Herefords

Detailed description of the miniature Hereford breed, including bloodlines and how to measure miniature herefords

Keeping your cattle healthy Some helpful tips and  links on how to best look  after your herd

The home of AMH is
 located in the
Central West of New
South Wales, Australia.

We have been working
on a breeding program
since 1996 to put
excellent quality
Miniature Herefords
on the ground in
this country.

The Hereford cattle breed was first started 250 years ago by the Tomkins family in Herefordshire, England. In the late 1960s, Point of Rocks Ranch in Fort Davis, Texas used certified dwarf-free Hereford bloodlines to create the Miniature Hereford cattle we know today. By 1989 breeding stock was available for sale. Point of Rocks Ranch still maintains 11 separate bloodlines to ensure a sufficient genetic base for breeding of the Miniature Hereford. Miniature Herefords are purebred Herefords. They are simply not as tall as the normal, ordinary Hereford you usually see today. The Miniatures are registered with the Australian Hereford Society (and American Hereford Association), just like their large counterparts; and their pedigrees within the AHA trace all the way back to when the Hereford cow first set foot on American soil.

How big are they really? Most breeders will list either a mature frame score or current height along with an animal's sale statistics. 114cm (45 inches) tall may not sound like much, but when you add 61 cm (two feet) of width, almost 450 kg (1000 pounds) of beef all wrapped in a hairy hide, they can be larger than you thought. Miniature Herefords are roughly half the size of their Modern counterparts, but they are still cattle.

Miniature Herefords, which are a smaller chunkier version of the larger Hereford, like their larger cousins, have a good temperament, essential for a small block. They forage well and don't seem to be affected too adversely by hills and the poorer feed that grows on them. Miniatures do grow horns, but horns are easily removed when young.

In the Central Tablelands of NSW we have experienced an 'once in 100year' drought for the last 5 years. The miniature Herefords have survived and survived well. They have held their weight and maintain their breeding cycles. In this area, other producers are experiencing an unprecedented number of animals not falling in calf, thereby disrupting their farms productivity. Miniature Herefords have not had this problem. It was mentioned at the AGM of the AMHCA, just how well everyone’s cattle have been doing despite the drought, and certainly our miniature Herefords are an excellent example of this.

Miniature cows possess traits that make them perfect for a variety of settings. Perhaps the most adaptive of bovines are the Herefords, they thrive in both cold and warm climates, consume less feed and pasture, and because of their docile, inquisitive nature . . . are easy to handle and, quite frankly, just plain pleasant to have around. People wanting steers or stud cattle, from the 2007 drop, need to let us know, so we can put their names on the waiting list.