She recorded this episode from the front seat of her buggy because the wifi in her house wasn't cutting it and that tells you everything you need to know about Jessica Hoyt of Hoyt Miniature Cattle Company in Collbran, Colorado. This week Lori sits down with Jessica, a fifth-generation ranching family, commercial cattle operator, homeschool mum, and mini Highland breeder, to talk about what it actually looks like to do all of this at once and do it right.

From buyer checklists and deposit philosophy to birth weight obsession and why size is the last thing that should matter in your breeding decisions, this one is packed with the kind of practical, no-fluff advice that only comes from someone who's lived every bit of it.

Key Takeaways

Send a buyer checklist weeks before pickup - not after.

Have a small pen ready, feed continuity sorted, and a vet established before the calf arrives.

Birth weight matters far more than height when choosing a bull for your chondro females.

A halter-trained animal that doesn't get consistent work will regress — you build the foundation, the buyer continues it. Keep good records - app, spreadsheet, and paper backup.

Social media creates false size expectations: most cows take their biggest growth spurt between two and three years old.

Episode Highlights

Jessica shares the hardest lesson of her first year - giving a calving heifer too much time, losing a shorty bull calf, and what she'll never do again.

The conversation covers her payment philosophy - flexible deposits, case-by-case compassion, and why a good home matters more than rigid terms.

Lori and Jessica compare notes on feed costs, drought conditions, record-keeping apps, and why not every bull should be collected.

Plus Jessica recording the whole episode from the front seat of her buggy in the Colorado heat because her wifi gave out.

Timestamps

00:01 — Welcome & intro to Hoyt Miniature Cattle Company
03:05 — Colorado roots, fifth-generation ranching and how Highlands found her
04:22 — From 300 commercial pairs down to 100 — and why
06:39 — Working full time, homeschooling, and managing the herd
07:51 — Feed costs, drought and hay at $400 a ton
10:21 — The addiction is real - why buyers always come back for more
12:57 — Social media's false narrative and unrealistic size expectations
14:51 — What Jessica tells every buyer before pickup
16:18 — Stranger danger is real - how calves respond to new owners
18:06 — Socialisation: what breeders can do and what buyers must continue
25:44 — Horns and herd hierarchy - why even tame cows are dangerous in groups
27:11 — Sending weekly training videos to buyers before pickup
33:08 — The hardest lesson: losing a shorty bull calf in year one
36:07 — Building a local support circle - her two-mile-away neighbour pulled a calf with a baby on her back
37:48 — Size expectations vs reality: where the breed actually matures
40:45 — Birth weight over height - what people get wrong about bull selection
43:49 — Wait list, deposits and a flexible payment philosophy
47:28 — There's more than one right way - stop telling people they're wrong
49:58 — Scours, vaccinations and location-specific health challenges
52:42 — Record keeping: apps, Excel and always have a backup

Visit Hoyt Miniature Cattle Company at www.hoytminiaturecattlecompany.com
Instagram: @hoyt_miniature_cattle_company_

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Production Credit: Edited and produced by @the32collective_ / https://www.the32collective.co/