Ruby the Mini Hereford

Ruby is one of our Mini Hereford Cattle.  She came to live at GRF in March of 2012 with her baby Diamond. Diamond was born in February of 2012.  Diamond was her first baby.  Mini Hereford cattle are bred as beef cows.  Ruby is still a little shy but she is adjusting well to her life on the farm and getting used to people more each day.  She loves to eat grass and hay and especially corn!
All cattle naturally have horns and some farmers remove the horns when the cattle are born.  They do this to keep the animals from accidentally hurting the farmers or the other cattle.  Other farmers specifically breed their herd to produce “polled” (or horn-less) cattle so that they do not have to dehorn the calves. Dehorning the calves does not hurt them since they do it when they are so young.  Ruby is a special and somewhat rare Mini Hereford because she is what we call “polled.”  This means that she naturally does not have horns.  It also means that she has a chance to have babies that are also “polled;” which most people see as a positive trait.  We do because it means safer cattle for our visitors to pet and interact with.