This is a little history of our herd and how it came to be…
The year was 2015… (Actually, we started looking at this breed of cattle in 2011 however…)
From 2011 to 2015, we kept going back to the Colorado State Fair, just watching and admiring the Miniature Zebu’s. We were fascinated about them. Their height. Their humps. Their awesomeness! Oh My Goodness, their humps!
As I said, the year was 2015…
In 2015, we decided to pull the trigger and call one of the numbers that was on one of the business cards we grabbed from one of our trips to the Colorado State Fair. We called the “Slingin’ Dirt Ranch” in Bennett Colorado. We bought our first two Miniature Zebu from them. They were young bull calves. Their names were JW’s Five Card Stud (“Stud”) and Lucky Red Hat (“Hatter”).
We no longer have Hatter. Hatter ended up not being a good fit for our breeding program. We took him to a local auction where he was sold to a local farmer who bought him to breed down his larger breed of cattle.
“Stud”…
Stud is now a steer and still with us. He will be 6 years old in July 2021. We call him the “Calming Steer”. He is so calm and sweet. He will come right up to you to be pet. This is one thing that we have found. Once you “steer” or “castrate” one of these, they become very mild mannered and “nosy”. He is the first one to check out everything!
“Queenie”…
In the fall of 2015, we called the “Fancher Love Ranch” in Ennis Texas. We decided to make a 12 hour drive and bought our very first heifer calf. Her name is Fancher Love Ranch JW’s Queen of Hearts (“Queenie”).
As you can see in the picture, this is where it all started and got us “hook, line, and sinker”! We got our first ribbon from showing these little cattle. It was a “Grand Champion Heifer” at the Colorado State Fair in 2016. We have been chasing the “Grand Champion” and “Champion Challenge” ribbons ever since! To be a Permanent Grand Champion Female, you need 4 Grand Champion wins from 3 different judges. They can come as a Heifer or as a Cow, but no more than 2 Grand Champion Heifer wins count towards a Permanent Grand Champion. The same goes for bulls. To be a Permanent Grand Champion Bull, you need 4 Grand Champion wins from 3 different judges. They can come as a Junior Bull or as a Senior Bull, but no more than 2 Grand Champion Junior Bull wins count towards a Permanent Grand Champion.
Queenie is a PGCH (Permanent Grand Champion). In January 2020 (pictured above), Queenie is now 2 wins away from a MCH (Master Champion). She won Champion Challenge Cow at the National Western Stock Show in Denver.
Queenie’s first calf was born on 12/12/2017. His name is JW’s Prince Augustus (“Augustus”). He is the first calf born out of our breeding program!
2018 was the first year that the Miniature Zebu had a show at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. Because of this, they wanted to feature the Miniature Zebu that year. So, Augustus was the face of the National Western Stock Show in January 2018 at a month old. He was on several local television shows in Denver and local news stations in both Pueblo and in Denver. He was on Fox31 and also NBC9 in Denver. He’s the 1st celebrity of the herd!
Augustus is currently living in Utah. He is a herd sire for a great family there. He is very sweet and tame boy. I wonder if he remembers any of his fame?
By the way, if you noticed, he was tan when he was born. When he went to Utah, he is a very dark gray. This breed can change colors up to three times while they are maturing into their adult life.
On 11/30/2018, Queenie had her second calf. His name is JW’s Emperor Constantine of Pueblo (“Constantine”) and also (“Pueblo”). He is a bull calf and has white markings on his face as well.
A week or so before Halloween 2018, we were approached by the owner of the new Pueblo Bulls Hockey Club that was coming to Pueblo. They were in search of a live team mascot. We contacted them before Constantine was born and told them that one of our cows was going to calve within the month. We couldn’t guarantee a heifer or bull, but they had a 50% chance it would be a bull.
Well… the Pueblo Bulls Hockey Club have their mascot. The owner came out to the farm, saw him, and wanted Constantine to be their live team mascot. He is now also known as “Pueblo”, the mascot for the Pueblo Bulls Hockey Club. He is staying on our farm. He has a great life spreading joy to everyone that visits him on his journey as their mascot. We have a feeling that many more selfies are in his future! He goes to all the games and they announce him as part of the starting line up! Yes! He walks out on the ice to greet his fans!
Be looking for “Pueblo” at special events that the Pueblo Bulls Hockey Club will be at. “Like” and “Follow” the Pueblo Bulls Hockey Club Facebook page to stay current on “Pueblo” and their events.
The Pueblo Bulls hockey played in the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) in the 2019-20 season. Their season was cut just short of the playoffs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over their offseason, they left the WSHL and moved to the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL). It is a much better league with better prospects for the kids to be able to get into NCAA schools as well as the NHL. Their 2020-21 season just completed in February with a trip to the playoff’s. Next year, we hope for another playoff run that lands us in the National games. Go Bulls!
These kids are 16 to 20 year old’s continuing to play hockey until they get drafted to college or the NHL directly. They play on teams like these to help them as a spring board to being drafted. They are quite a site to watch if you ever get a chance!
Visit Pueblo Bulls Hockey Club‘s official website.
What’s with Queenie having celebrity calves?
Queenie’s third calf was born 11/2/2019. It is another bull calf. We named him JW’s Baron Eli.
Queenie’s celebrity calves stopped with Baron. That’s OK though! Baron went to a lady in the mountains of Colorado wanting to start a petting zoo. She was very excited to get him.
Queenie’s fourth calf was born very small. At 5 months old, he is less than 20 inches tall. For this calf, we bred her with our smallest herd sire. His name is JW’s Baccarat. We call him “Burt”.
Burt is now living northeast of Colorado Springs. A man that is just retiring from the Army bought him. When he was growing up, his family raised Brahman cattle. He wanted something that looked similar, but only in a smaller form. What’s better than Miniature Zebu to meet that need?
“Caesar”…
We bought our first herd sire after the State Fair of Texas in 2016. His name is Fancher Love Ranch Caesar (“Caesar”). Caesar has “Red Swede” in him. They say that the Miniature Zebu got their brown and red when they were crossed with Sweden bloodlines. That’s how it came into the Miniature Zebu breeds. Caesar also has a real pretty white face. He has passed the white face in some way onto most of his calves.
Caesar has sired several calves in our breeding program that are on the ground. He is still a producer even at 10 years old (April 2021). We also have “semen straws” on him if you are interested in AI.
“Lady”…
In 2017, we decided that we wanted to diversify our herd a little and find a cow or heifer that wasn’t from all of the Texas herds. We found JW’s Call Her Lady Luck (“Lady”) in Maxwell, New Mexico.
In June 2021, Lady will be 5 years old.
Lady has only had two calves. The first calf, when he was born, slipped through the opening of the corral fence and she couldn’t get to him. That calf didn’t make it. The next one was born on 3/29/2021. He struggled in the birth canal. He was able to be born, but he had issues with fluid in his lungs. He didn’t make it either. We are going to breed her again with Caesar this time and see how the next calf does for 2022 calving season.
The NZCC…
The National Zebu Cattle Club (NZCC) was formed in 2015 and we joined in 2016. We went down to Texas for the club’s first annual meeting in February 2017. When we went, we decided to head down a day early with a trailer. In case we found another cow while we were down there that we couldn’t live without. We also wanted to visit several of our friends farms and see their herds. By the way, I have been the treasurer for 4 years now. When we get into something we enjoy, we go ALL in! The NZCC is a registered non-profit club. To learn more about the club, please go to the NZCC’s web page.
“Kaiju”…
Bottleberghe Farms Kaiju (“Kaiju”) (means “Japanese Monster”) became part of our herd during that NZCC trip in 2017. We brought her back from “Bottelberghe Farms” in Stephenville Texas.
Kaiju was bred when we bought her and she calved in May 2017 on our farm. We kept the little bull calf she had. His name is Bottelberghe Farms Easy Street Black Jack (“Black Jack”).
Black Jack has progressed nicely and is now a herd sire for us. See the picture below. He was one of the youngest bull calves EVER to win “Grand Champion Junior Bull” (above picture). He was just 4 months old. As of January 2020, Black Jack has gotten two Grand Champion Junior Bull wins and 1 Grand Champion Senior Bull win. He needs one more Senior Bull win to become a Permanent Grand Champion. He has also bred several of our cows and produces wonderful looking calves.
We also have “semen straws” on him if you are interested in AI.
Kaiju’s second calf is JW’s Mighty Aphrodite (“Aphrodite”). She was born 7/31/2018.
Aphrodite was born with the signature white feather from Caesar, only, she has a dot that isn’t filled in. Aphrodite went to a family north of us in the Black Forest here in Colorado.
Kaiju cloned herself when she had her third calf. She calved on 7/30/2019. Her name is JW’s Claudia Octavia.
Octavia is a part of our herd still. She is another one that has changed color. She was born brown and now she is almost as black as her mama.
Kaiju’s fourth calf is going to be another herd sire for us when he grows up. He was born on 8/30/2020. His name is JW’s Titus. When he was born, he looked very similar to his brother, Black Jack above. We bred Kaiju with Caesar and got Titus. Titus is coming along very nicely.
“Duchess”…
We purchased DDF JW’s Royal Red Duchess (Duchess) in 2017 from a farm in Alabama.
Duchess is a taller cow. She has matured to about 40 inches, now that she is fully grown. She comes from a “Paint” herd. We thought maybe we would get some “color” or “paint color” into our herd with her.
Duchess had her first calf on 5/12/2019. It was a heifer. Her name is JW’s Cleopatria, Queen of Denial. Cleo is a bigger heifer that was born with the signature feather on her nose.
Cleo went to a family north of us in the Black Forest here in Colorado. The same family that also got Aphrodite above.
Duchess’s second calf was a colored up paint bull calf. He was born on 4/10/2020. His name is JW’s Marshal Sneaky Pete (“Sneaky”).
Sneaky went to a nice lady that lives just outside of San Diego, California. He is the first zebu that we have ever shipped to someone. A transport came and picked him up and delivered him in 3 days. She LOVES him and sends us updates all the time about him.
Duchess is set to have her third calf any day now in late March/early April 2021.
Bewitched, Dandy, and Darrin…
New Years Day of 2018, we purchased more zebu! 3 more to be exact! A ranch in La Junta, Colorado lost their lease on some pasture land they had been using for a few years and they were selling their herd because of that. We purchased another cow. Her name was Crooked Star Ranch Bewitched (“Bewitched”) and her bull calf. He was 4 months old. We named him JW’s Darrin (“Darrin”).
Bewitched was also bred again by the same bull that is also the sire to Darrin. We also bought the sire. His name is Bottelberghe Farms Fine-N-Dandy (“Dandy”).
Bewitched didn’t work out with our herd and our breeding program. We like to get in and handle all of our Miniature Zebu. Our herd is very tame. She was raised a pasture cow and was already set in her ways when we bought her, so, the next month, in February 2018, we went down for the 2nd Annual Meeting for the National Zebu Cattle Club (NZCC). When we went, we took Bewitched to a lady in Texas. She couldn’t be more happy with her to continue to have her be a pasture cow.
We like to have our herd sires be “Foundation Pure” with the breed associations. Foundation Pure means that you can trace that specific zebu’s lineage back at least 4 generations on both the sire’s and dam’s side. When we received the paperwork for Dandy, there was no record of even his mama or sire in the breed association. That means that he is “hardshipped” at the lowest level into the registry. It is called “Native on Appearance”. When you breed a bull with this classification to a cow, it is hard, if not impossible to “advance” the genealogy of your breeding lines in the registry.
So, in July of 2018, we sold Dandy and Darrin. Him and his son went to a very nice couple in Brighton, Colorado. They have a little boy and they want to get him into 4H. Darrin will do very nicely for them. We enjoy getting new people into the breed. They love their two little guys!
“Storm”…
Of course, we didn’t bring back an empty trailer when we went to Texas in February 2018. I brought back another cow from Bottelberghe Farms! Her name is Crooked Star Ranch Desert Alegria Storm (“Storm”).
Storm is an older cow. As of April 2021, she is 10 years old. In early 2018, she lost her calf. The calf was born, and the sack that is around the calf didn’t break when it hit the ground. It suffocated. In February 2019, she calved again. We had a really bad winter that year and that calf lasted 3 weeks and died of pneumonia. To this point in time, she hasn’t done well on our farm. We bred her a 3rd time. The 3rd time was charm! He is a little bull calf. We named him JW’s Amos Moses (“Amos”). Amos was born on my wife’s birthday 12/27/2019.
Amos went to a lady in the mountains of Colorado wanting to start a petting zoo. The same lady that also purchased JW’s Baron Eli.
Storm just recently had her 4th calf on the farm on 1/15/2021. She cloned herself. I think we are going to keep this little heifer. Her name is JW’s Tempestas.
“Molly”…
On our way to the State Fair of Louisiana, November 2018, we traded Caesar for a very exotic gray heifer. Yes, I said we traded Caesar. We took him back to his original owner because she was looking for a bull because her other bull passed away. Don’t worry, a year later, we went back to Texas and got Caesar back. He is living happily on our farm once more and still breeding our cows.
Anyway, when we traded Caesar for a heifer we traded for Fancher Love Ranch Good Golly Miss Molly (“Molly”).
Molly is very very exotic. She is probably the most exotic looking cow that we have. Exotic is a very sought after trait for the Miniature Zebu breed. She has a very narrow coffin looking face and a very long body. These are two traits that we are looking for. She will be a very nice addition to our herd.
Molly had her first calf on 10/22/2020. It was a little heifer. We named her JW’s Parlay the Hardways (“Parlay”).
Parlay is now living northeast of Colorado Springs. A man that is retiring from the Army bought her. She went to the same man that purchased JW’s “Burt” Baccarat above.
The Judge…
When we traded Caesar, we needed another herd sire. Black Jack wasn’t old enough at the time to breed yet. So, we also brought back another herd sire. We picked him up on our way back from the State Fair of Louisiana 2018. His name is Texas Cattle Company Judge Eli (“The Judge”) and comes from Lipan, Texas.
The Judge is around 36 inches tall. As of March of 2021, he is a little over 6 years old. He has wonderful markings on him. He has produced some wonderful calves while he was with us. When we got Caesar back, we sold The Judge to the family in the Black Forest here in Colorado. The same family that also got Aphrodite and Cleo above.
“Honey”…
In early 2020, on one of our hay runs, we saw that the man that we were buying hay from at the time had a Miniature Zebu mix for sale. We went and looked at her as he was loading the hay for us. She is a very light tan color. She is a young heifer. She is also very exotic looking in the face and female features. However, she has no hump. He couldn’t tell me what she was mixed with, but to me, it looks like she is mixed with a Charolais. Charolais is a french breed of beef cattle. We ended up buying her and naming her JW’s Lil’ Bit of Honey (“Honey”).
Honey is another pasture cow and ended up not being a good fit for our herd. She should be bred to Black Jack and should calve sometime in June 2021. We sold her to the same man that lives northeast of Colorado Springs. He is retiring from the Army. He is the same one that bought JW’s “Burt” Baccarat and JW’s Parlay the Hardways above.
If you have read all of this, and kept track of all the transactions, you counted that we have 14 on our farm now with the new one that was born on 3/29/2021. We have another on the way in the next few days to a week, and then more this summer and fall.
There is also another announcement that we have, but I can’t say what it is until around September 2021. Stay Tuned!
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