There is a growing demand for mini farm animals as pets

Interest in keeping miniature cows, goats, donkeys and other small farm animals has grown in the United States. This trend is being driven by hobby farmers looking for low-maintenance livestock and by homesteaders who like the idea of ​​keeping a small pig or scaled-down sheep as a pet.

Animal breeders say sales of small-scale livestock have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, when more people began Raising chickens in the backyard for fun and fresh eggs. Like chickens, mini farm animals are interesting for beginners who want to experience the taste of a rough, rural lifestyle.

“Many people don’t have access to several acres of land, but if they have a one-acre plot, they can keep a miniature cow or a few miniature goats,” said Brian Gazda, who has a small farm in eastern Idaho and is running a YouTube Channel called Hobby Farm Guys.

Platforms like YouTube and especially TikTok have played a major role in raising awareness about mini farm animals, said Martin Fysh, vice president and division manager of merchandising at a rural lifestyle retailer. Tractor accessories Co. Every day, TikTok users show off their cuteness with videos of tiny blue-eyed goats and 2-foot-tall horses that have garnered millions of views.

But Fysh believes the trend also reflects a natural evolution among customers who started with a backyard chicken coop. In response, Tractor Supply has expanded its offerings of treats for mini and full-size pigs, as well as goats.

“They are seen as part of the extended family,” Fysh said.

While some people buy small farm animals in order to acquire larger animals, others have no interest in expanding their holdings. Some mini farm animal owners turn their hobby into a side business by offering tours to visitors, breeding animals and blogging about their experiences on the farm.

But before playing Old Macdonald, newbies need to weigh the pros and cons, say Gazda and other hobby farmers.

Challenges include the fluctuating prices of each type of miniature farm animal, and while they’re cute, they can also be aggressive.

Mini goats

Brittany Snow, a high school English teacher in Florida, owns several small Nigerian dwarf goats. Her dream of living on a farm came true three years ago when her family moved from Middleburg, a suburb of Jacksonville, to nearby Melrose.

She said her family wants to be more independent after the pandemic and now sources its own dairy products such as milk and eggs. She sticks mainly to miniature animals because they are easier to care for and cost less to buy and feed.

Snow, 32, started with four Nigerian Dwarf goats: Buttercup, Snowflake, Cash and Peanut. The herd has since expanded to include Pancake and Oreo, Peanut and Buttercup’s children.

Snow bought the Nigerian Dwarf goats with the intention of milking them to make cheese and products like soap and lotion. But that hasn’t worked out so far because goats only give milk after giving birth and Buttercup only recently had her kids.

“The last few years have been a learning process,” Snow said.

Miniature goats are among the most popular entry-level miniature animals. Last year, livestock producers registered about 8,330 miniature goats with the Miniature Dairy Goat Association. That’s a 73% increase from the 12 months prior to July 2021, when registrations – mostly for newborn females sought by breeders – were just under 4,800, said Angelia Alden, operations manager for the North Carolina-based organization.

However, many people who choose mini goats sell them after a few years because they can be difficult – and expensive – to keep, Alden says. Rising feed costs can be a problem, as can finding adequate medical care due to a shortage of veterinarians.

Mini cows and donkeys

A farm animal can be both small and huge. Some of the four-legged stars on social media are furry cows that can weigh 225 to 270 kilograms. The smallest, which are less than a meter tall, are called microminiatures. The slightly larger miniatures can grow up to 107 centimeters tall, according to Allie Sine, a TikTok creator with more than 737,000 followers on the platform. Videos featuring some of her mini cows have been viewed millions of times.

Sine, 28, started her own mini cow breeding and selling business in 2020 after reselling a sick mini cow that cost $350 for $5,000. Last year, she sold about 190 calves through her Missouri-based company, Mini Moos LLC. The calves were roughly divided into mini and micro mini cows, which can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $30,000.

“Everything just shot up,” Sine said.

Others report a similar boom.

Kim Furches, who owns a farm in West Jefferson, North Carolina, with her husband, Ken, said the couple has been breeding miniature donkeys for about 20 years and currently owns dozens of Mediterranean miniature donkeys, which stand no more than three feet tall.

Before the pandemic, they typically sold about eight donkeys a year and were lucky if they got a few thousand dollars for one. Now they sell about 20 a year. The last mini donkey sold for $7,500, Furches said. There are some she’s only willing to sell for $9,000 or more.

New types of “exotic” pets

Although some of her clients also plan to breed and sell miniature animals, many say they are just looking for “exotic” pets, Gazda says.

Earlier this year, 41-year-old Jamie Campion and her husband Jeff bought two Southdown Babydoll sheep from a local breeder near their home in Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, for $800 each. The couple moved from Chicago in March 2022 after the pandemic forced them to rethink their lifestyle. They now live in a modern farmhouse on an acre of land.

Although Biscuit and Buttermilk have become excellent grass trimmers, Jamie Campion said she sees the animals, which weigh about 32 kilograms and are 50 centimeters tall, as comparable to dogs or cats.

“They eat the grass, so we don’t even have to buy feed (for the sheep) every week,” said Campion, who discovered the breed on Instagram.

But it can be challenging.

Jeff Campion once attempted to inject a sheep with an oral medication to treat parasites and suffered a torn biceps.

But she enjoys the sheep even more. Jamie Campion remembers walking them off-leash around the neighborhood one snowy day.

“They just followed,” she said. “There’s a real sheep-herder relationship.”

Miniature animals offer therapy

Others see therapeutic benefits.

Lisa Moad, the owner of Seven Oaks Farm in Hamilton, Ohio, with 13 miniature horses and three full-size horses, runs a therapy farm for the elderly and others. She also used to bring the miniature horses to local nursing homes and hospitals. But since the pandemic, she spends most of her time conducting online trainings for those who want to dedicate themselves to the same mission.

That includes teaching horses how to maneuver around wheelchairs and into hospital elevators. She said her miniature versions still weigh 175 to 200 pounds, though much less than her regular horses, which weigh between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds.

“They are gentle, but they can get scared easily,” she said. “You can’t just walk into a hospital with a horse.”