Buyer Beware

Mini-Jersey Cows are not cheap. They don't get turned into hamburger. Because there is a very limited supply and a large demand, prices reflect that.

Those prices also attract people who will take advantage of your naivete when purchasing an Old World Jersey.

Here are few guidelines that you should know:

1). Papers do not guarantee the purity of genetics.

Many people confuse registered cattle with groups like the American Kennel Club where dog owners must meet stringent guidelines that demonstrate a continuity of a particular breed.

There is no organization that polices the cow registration industry. Some breeders, in order to achieve a smaller cow, may introduce cows, such as Dexters, that are already small into their breeding program.

They then hope that as those genes are bred back to other Jerseys that the offspring will appear to be Jerseys, only smaller.

Our Jerseys have been developed over a long period of time and have had no other breeds introduced.

2). If you can't see the parents, you can't really know what you have. Ask any broker that approaches you to put you in touch with the farmer.

"Ralph Martin helped to establish the standard, we hope to maintain it."

The Old World Jerseys are descendants of the first Jersey imports from the Jersey Islands. The breed was developed on the Channel Islandsoff the British coast.

Some cows came from Great Britain and the Guernsey Islands. The first registered Jerseys were imported into the United States in 1850.

Old World Jerseys should be small in size, about 38 inches to 42 inches in height at the hip.

Their milk is higher in butterfat and milk production at 2 to 4 gallons per day is common. They produce some of the best tasting raw milk in the world.

Bulls may weigh approximately 850 pounds and the cow's average weight is within a 600 to 650 pound range.