[music playing] Kelly:   We are on the road for the first episode of The  Paw Report, Season 14, and do we have a surprise   for you?

The topic is a first for The Paw Report,  and it's one that will sure have you oohing and   our guests mooing.

Come along with us as we travel  to the Pandarosa Ranch in Dawson, Illinois.

[music playing] Male voice:   It's almost impossible to imagine life without  internet today.

It keeps us connected to work,   school and loved ones no matter where they are.

Fidium fiber internet now serves over a million   locations providing reliable, consistent service  that keeps these connections strong.

From vibrant   cities to quiet rural areas, fiber broadband is a  key driver of economic growth.

Fidium is dedicated   to supporting communities and enhancing lives  through this essential technology.

Learn more   at Fidiumfiber.com.

Olivia:   At Tender Touch Grooming, we groom dogs of all  sizes and breeds tenderly.

Our team pampers your   furry friend with care, because every pet deserves  a tender touch.

Appointments are available via   text at (217) 317-9489.

Rameen:   The Paw Report on WEIU is supported by Rural King,  America's farm and home store, livestock feed,   farm equipment, pet supplies and more.

You  can find your store and more information   regarding Rural King at ruralking.com.

Rob:   Dave's Decorating Center is a proud supporter  of The Paw Report on WEIU.

Dave's Decorating   Center features the Mohawk Smartstrand Silk  Forever Clean carpet.

Dave's Decorating Center,   authorized Mohawk color center in Charleston.

Kelly:   As we mentioned, we have a surprise for our  viewers, Season 14 of The Paw Report.

We are   on the road for Episode 1, and do we have a good  one for you?

We'd like to welcome to the program,   Travis Heck.

We are in Dawson, Illinois at  the beautiful Pandarosa Miniature Ranch.

Now,   they've got other stuff too, but we're really here  focusing on the miniature cattle.

Travis Heck,   the farmer, the rancher that heads this  big operation with his family is joining   us today.

Thank you so much for joining  us.

What a gorgeous place you have here.

Travis: Well, thank you very   much and welcome.

Yes.

As you can see, we've got  several cattle and some other animals as well,   but we enjoy it.

Thank you.

Kelly:   Miniature cattle, though.

Travis:   Yeah.

Kelly:   We're going to tell our viewers  all about miniature cattle.

First,   tell us about you and your family and how you  started in the ranching and the farming...   Travis: I guess I didn't   grow up in a farming family.

My uncle row crop  farmed.

I started showing livestock when I was   about 14.

We started showing and raising pigs.

Then, we started showing cattle.

As we evolved   and started showing more cattle, it started to  become a passion and I found an interest in it   and I got to where I started traveling around the  country and fitting for other people and helping   prepare their cattle to show.

Along the way, I had  the opportunity to work with some of what I would   say are the best in the industry and learn from  them.

That's where I learned about genetics and   how to artificially breed cattle and embryo  transfer and able to use that knowledge and   convert it into the miniature cattle industry.

From there, we started it a little bit as a joke,   to be honest with you.

It's continued to grow and  evolve into what it is.

It's a lot of fun for our   family and for our clients as well.

Kelly:   Yes.

We're here at the Pandarosa Ranch.

I asked  Travis prior to us recording, I said there's got   to be a story behind the name.

Of course, there  is.

How did you come up with Pandarosa Ranch?

Travis: Well, I always grew up watching   the Ponderosa.

Then, our mission was to create  panda colored cute little cattle.

I converted the   two of the panda colored cattle and the Ponderosa  and converted it into the Pandarosa.

That's where   it started.

As I indicated, we really started just  as a fun with two little cattle where my mission   was to create really cute tiny show cattle.

That  was what I started out doing.

Then, I realized   that the demand was for really cute tiny hobby  cattle.

The show industry really hadn't taken off.

Some of our cattle do go into a show industry,  but the majority, our hobby, small acreage,   conversation pieces in the front of whether it  be a horse ranch or a politician just wanting   something a little bit different on their property  to different celebrities that have bought stuff   for conversation pieces in their programs.

We've  sold to pumpkin patches.

Just about every walk of   life.

It's really opened the doors for our family  as well and to meeting a lot of different people.

Kelly: When you started the ranch,   you had a mission.

What exactly is your hope  and mission and plan for the ranch right now?

Travis: Well, as you indicated, I still   have a full-time job, and I'm preparing to retire  from a career in law enforcement.

My wife also had   a full-time job in education.

She was a school  teacher.

She stepped away a couple of years to   assist on the ranch.

Then, I will be retiring the  first part of August and be working out here full   time.

We started out on five acres in a little  red barn is where we started.

We'd feed calves   before and after we went to work.

From there, we  would take off.

Our first help that we had with   our program was a college student that was with  the Lincoln Land Community College Judging Team.

Kelly: You got a little buddy behind   you that like your microphone.

Travis:   Yep.

They're wild as you can see.

Yeah.

They're pretty hard to handle.

Kelly: You had a college student, you said?

Travis: Yep.

We had a college student that started   helping us.

Then, as we continued to grow and we  increased the amount of cattle, we were able to   get in a position where we were at the opportunity  to hire a full-time employee.

At this point,   we have two full-time employees and a couple  part-time.

Then, we have three kids that help   as well.

Then, my wife and I.

Between the group  of us, it's 365 days, seven days a week.

Calves   have to be fed morning and evening, irrelevant to  what day it is, holidays or weather.

Every baby   calf gets brought in, tied up and fed twice a day.

It is time-consuming and it does take manpower,   but it's an enjoyable job that's just really a  lot of fun.

That's really what it comes down to.

Kelly: I said you probably get razzed by your co-worker.

Travis: Oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

I have the nickname of rancher, and it's funny  because I'm not really a rancher, I guess.

In   the middle of Illinois, we're not a real rancher,  but in their eyes, the perception is that I'm a   rancher because we have cattle.

I guess, yeah,  we do have a ranch.

I guess by classification,   maybe we are, but we raise and sell about 350  babies a year, and a lot of those are natural.

Then, we also have a lot that are through embryo  transfer where we'll utilize surrogate mothers.

We'll take our best females and flush embryos  out of them and put them in basically regular   standard commercial cattle and they'll deliver  the sought-after calves that we're looking for,   which would be the really small, compact,  hairy, cute, different colored calves.

Kelly: You mentioned just briefly at the beginning   of this why miniature cattle.

You said to start,  they were cute, but I'm sure it's probably evolved   like this one here is very inquisitive.

They're  friendly.

There's probably a lot of attributes   that drew you to this animal.

Travis:   Yeah.

For us, we can have more per acre.

We can  manage them easier.

Smaller children can acclimate   with them easier due to their size.

I started  it with the show industry in mind, and I first   saw these cattle as the starting introduction for  kids to learn to show with and then evolve.

Now,   some do show, but the majority of them, like I  said, are hobby pets.

We're huge on confirmation   that they are structurally correct.

But along with  that, they have to be, as you can see here, super   friendly and socialized well.

It's imperative  that the calves are gentle and when they go to   their new homes, it offers the opportunity for our  clients to bring agriculture and cattle to their   family in a fun manner.

Kelly:   Speaking of fun, you open up the ranch sometimes  to have cuddling events with the cows and you're   doing a camping thing, too?

Travis:   Yep.

My son runs our calf cuddling program.

All  of our information is provided on the website,   but he handles all that.

People will contact him  and make arrangements.

We'll meet up with him.

Then, he'll offer an opportunity for them to come  and visit and take pictures and pet the cattle   and enjoy them.

Then, as you indicated, this fall,  we're planning to start a cow camping where we're   going to have cabins in rural timber areas where  people can come and camp and also socialize with   some of our different cattle that we're going  to take out to that location.

We'll see.

It's   a work in progress and something we haven't  really done any of, but I think it'll be fun.

Kelly: Now, any of the cattle of the breed that you   actually trademarked, will that be going to camp?

Travis:   Some of those will be.

Yeah.

We will take some of those.

Kelly: Can you talk about the breed   that you trademarked?

Travis:   Basically, back to the Pandarosa, how it  originated with panda cattle.

We trademarked a   Panlander, which is utilizing our panda genetics  that we had worked on.

We incorporated those   into the Scottish Highland cattle.

The Scottish  Highland are the really cute hairy cattle with   horns that really have become quite popular and  really all of your different traditional magazines   and different home decorations.

We wanted the  Scottish Highland because of the hair coat.

We   started crossing our genetics with that  Scottish Highland until we got the percent   of Highland cattle high enough to get the  hair coat, but kept the coloring of our   panda cattle.

The Panlander came from a panda  and a Highlander.

We brought it together and   called it a Panlander.

That was really where it  came from.

This fall, we will have some of our   embryo calves out of that program being born.

We  start September 16th with our next Panlanders.

Kelly: Now, I know,   obviously when you look at the miniatures,  they're tiny compared to standard cows and bulls?

Travis: Yep.

Kelly: Are there any other differences   between the two other than just size?

Travis:   They mature slower.

Reproductively, they do  take a little longer before you can breed   them to raise calves.

The other side of that  is they last longer.

We have cows that are in   production that are in their 20s.

Most commercial  cattle, if they're in their mid-teens, are pretty   much to where their productivity is going down to  where they're no longer useful.

But the miniature   cattle, because of the high percent of Highland,  allows them to be able to be utilized throughout   a long period of time.

We basically bring all  breeds and cross them to get the perfect, cute,   hairy cattle of every color possible.

So I try  to create all colors from Highlands, HighParks,   Panlanders and our newest thing we're working on  is roans, blue roans, red roans, dun roans.

Just   the roan gene incorporated into our hairy Highland  cattle.

Our mission's really been to make really   gentle, cute, tiny cuddly cattle of every color.

Kelly:   Okay.

Let's end it on color and talk about all  of these specifics to these cattle.

Maybe you can   start with the little guy behind you, but let's  talk about hair and nutrition and height and how   small they can be, how tall they can be, how long  they live.

I know I'm throwing a lot at you, but   just the general specifics of these creatures.

Travis:   Yeah.

A CliffNote version there is micro  miniature, miniature and mid-size.

A micro   is supposed to be under 36 inches at three years  of age.

A mini is 36 inches to 43 inches at three   years of age, and a mid is 43 to 48 inches at  three years of age.

There's a lot of discrepancies   among size and different things, but our goal is  to keep them structurally correct, which means   they can still go out and perform their job, which  is calving unassisted, sound in a pasture and   do it and basically feed conversion.

But with that  said, we want to keep a really gentle disposition   and a lot of hair coat because our clientele  really enjoy that cute, cuddly, shaggy appearance.

For us, it's really about really good structured  cattle that are really tiny and really hairy,   and we work really hard to seek out and basically  reproduce the very best genetics that we possibly   can.

We try to produce all different colors.

Now, with the colors, that gets to be a little   bit more complicated, but it's like horses.

In  our colors of... Let's just talk Highland cattle,   there is a black, a dun and a silver dun.

A dun  is a diluted black, and a silver is a diluted   dun.

A silver is a double dilute gene.

With that  said, a silver animal will always produce dilutes,   which is like yellow, silver and whites depending  on what they're bred with.

When it comes to the   genetics and how we cross the cattle, we can look  at the progeny and the different coat color of   the cattle.

Then, I'll utilize that to determine  what colors we're trying to produce and who will   be the best and most compatible for the direction  we're going with each selection.

As you indicated,   we have a lot of different colors behind us.

In a  perfect world, I'd like to have every color every   time in the barn.

Kelly:   Right.

Travis:   Now, with that said, it's not always as easy as  you may think because as much as it's predictable,   there are also variables that are unpredictable.

You can't always predict the size and the color   and the sex.

Right about the time you think that  you can, they will humble you.

There are some   things that are a given.

As I indicated,  the silver will always produce dilutes,   but just because I'm incorporating our panda  genetics doesn't always mean that I'm going to get   the perfect colored panda.

Now, with that said,  it doesn't have to be the perfect colored panda.

It's just about incorporating that color and those  genes into making its own unique colored calf.

It's like a fingerprint on our hands.

Every calf  has its own unique fingerprint.

From the calves   behind us, some might just have a little partial  belt, some might have a full belt, some might have   a round patch under their neck.

Obviously, their  base coat colors are all different.

There are a   lot of different variables.

What's fun about  this is you have the ability to produce so many   different colors.

It's not the traditional black  Angus to where you see the same every time.

This   is very rewarding in the terms of we have a lot  of fun coming to see what we will get next and   what we'll produce.

Kelly:   Excellent.

Caring for your herd, obviously,  it's going to be a little bit different for   you as opposed to when you sell one  to a client and what their setup is.

Travis: Sure.

Kelly: Talk about care and feed and   maintenance and health and all of that.

Travis:   Basically, our cows that are mature, are  treated just like any other commercial cow.

They're out on pasture.

They have creeks.

They  have shaded trees.

They live in the timber.

We   will call them up with feed.

Every evening when  it cools off this time of year due to the heat,   they're in the shade hiding and staying cool.

In  the evening, we'll go out.

We'll call them in,   just check on everybody.

They'll come up to feed.

We'll go through and make sure everyone's doing   good.

We do bottle-feed.

The majority of our  calves.

The mothers are perfectly good mothers,   but our clients want the ability to bond with the  cattle.

We bring the cattle in and we bottle-feed   them twice a day and socialize them, so that when  they go to their new homes, they are very easy to   transition to where those people can provide for  the needs of the cattle, which is very basic.

We'll send a starter kit with every customer.

We offer assistance to everyone as well.

They've   got my phone number.

They can call or text with  any issues and we'll provide them assistance to   help them through to navigate.

Some people... Kelly:   Growing pain?

Travis:   Yeah.

Some of them are very knowledgeable in  the industry and are very familiar with it.

Some of them have never owned animals and  both of them acclimate just fine.

That's   an easy transition.

It's rewarding for us  because we meet a lot of different people...   Kelly: Oh, and friends and...   Travis: ... all over the United States   and various countries as well.

Kelly:   Are they trainable like a dog?

Travis:   In some aspects, yes.

You can train them to come  to you in terms of receiving a food for reward,   but you can't really train them in terms of potty  training or something like that.

They'll certainly   learn where they'll come to get food and they'll  certainly learn to be social and friendly.

Kelly: They like to be around other cattle?

Travis: Yep.

Yep.

They do like to be   around other cattle.

They also like to be around  people because they grew up thinking that we're   mom and dad feeding them.

They're very social  in that aspect to where they love to be around   people.

They come up looking for their next food  or their next socialization.

They are herd animal   as you indicated.

With that being said, they  really enjoy the socialization of people as well.

Kelly: You mentioned earlier,   but I'll ask the question again.

It's a wide  variety of people that have the interest.

Travis: Yep.

We sell to basically everyone.

We've   sold to governors, to celebrities, to backyard  breeders that are looking for a hobby just to   have to get their own little program started.

We  have sold to people who just want to get back to   their roots of the agriculture industry and they  want to own just a couple cute little cows that   are low maintenance and have out in their pasture.

We sell to a lot of kids that are looking to start   in the industry and wanting something that is  gentle and easy to learn and build confidence   with.

Yeah.

We sell to just about everyone, a lot  of pumpkin patches, different places that they'll   use them for conversation pieces.

We sell to  different people on social media.

Because clearly,   they're really cute.

Kelly:   They are.

Travis:   They're a good conversation piece that people  can go out and utilize in that aspect.

Kelly: What is the   most important piece of advice that you tell  people that, before you get one of these.

What   should they know?

What should they be prepared  for?

I'm sure you do some vetting before you   send them on their way with people, but there's  things that...

They need to do their homework.

Travis: Yeah.

They really   just need adequate shade.

When they go home,  they just need a smaller area to acclimate in.

They don't need a great big pasture because they  need a smaller area and a pen to where they can   learn who it is that's going to help take care  of them and socialize them.

In terms of care,   just adequate shade, fresh water,  grass hay and bottle-fed twice a day,   they're actually extremely easy to care for.

The  biggest thing is just ask for help if you don't   know.

We're willing to help you.

In terms of care,  they're actually really, really easy to care for.

Kelly: You've got different animals here on the ranch.

Travis: Sure.

Kelly: You've got horses, you've got donkeys,   you've got beautiful Labrador Retrievers.

Travis:   Everybody interacts.

So yeah, the dogs, as you  can see, they walk in and out with the calves.

Kelly: Yeah, the dogs have been in and out, barking.

Travis: And we have ponies   that our daughter trains as well.

Then we  also have horses, so we have all different   animals and they're social and they interact  just like anything else.

And they acclimate   to whatever their environment's going to be.

In terms of environment, we send them all over   the United States and Canada.

We have pretty much  every country ask about them, but we don't have   the ability to get them to various countries, so  we really just stick to sales only in the United   States and Canada.

Kelly:   You get razzed by your co-workers calling you  rancher, but you seem to light up when you talk   about the ranch and the cattle and the horses and  the dogs and everything.

What gives you the most   joy of probably starting this ranch?

And maybe  you did, maybe you didn't, ever imagine that it   would evolve to this.

Travis:   Sure.

I would say that that's an accurate  statement.

I didn't ever think that it   would be.

I mean, I grew up with a love for  agriculture, but I had the mentality of if my   dad wasn't a farmer, there was no way I could  be, because it's such an expensive industry   to get started in.

So I never really thought  it'd be realistic that I could actually   generate a profit in the agriculture industry.

I chose a career in law enforcement, started with   that and as I indicated earlier, I started this  as just a hobby, fun joke.

And as I got going,   I realized that there was a demand for them and we  were able to market them successfully.

As we did,   we continued to grow the business and I'd  sell some of our calves and then I'd buy a few   more cows and then I would just continue  with that until we got to where we are   and we would buy a little bit of land and  then we would grow our program, and then we   would buy a little bit more land.

Currently  today, we're still increasing and growing.

We actually just closed on the property for  camping with cows today, so as we continue   to evolve and look at different ways that we can  share our program with other people, that was one   area that we thought might be effective.

We're hoping to introduce that this fall   and if people enjoy it and it's successful, then  we will probably continue to grow that as well.

It's just a way for those that don't have the  ability to own a cow, to be able to come and   spend a night or a week or a weekend with their  family and friends enjoying the cattle as well.

Kelly: So I think their fear subsides because   people that don't live in the country, live in the  city, they're not used to being around cattle.

Travis: Sure.

Kelly: There is a fear factor there,   but if they can get up close and pet them  and feel like, "Oh, they're not so scary."

Travis: And they're really not,   and obviously a lot of that's a product of their  environment.

We work really hard to keep them   social, to feed them, to make sure that they are  very gentle and social in that aspect.

But yeah,   we have a lot of people that come here that are  not familiar with the agriculture industry that   leave with a different outlook in a different  aspect.

As you can see, we turned off the fans for   the interview, but they have a pretty good life.

Kelly:   They do.

Travis:   So they lay in fans, they get a bath when they  get dirty, and they've got it pretty good.

Kelly: I always   ask our guests to share a memorable story  or stories.

I'm sure you've got probably   loads here on the ranch with the animals  in your family, but anything come to mind,   maybe a particular miniature cow or a client or  a story or anything that you can share with us?

Travis: Well, so backing up to when we   first started, when I had this idea, and I wanted  to take one of our miniature bulls to the Beef   Expo to put him on display.

A lot of people were  giving me a really hard time, making fun of me   that grew up with me.

They're like, "That's dumb.

Nobody's going to want to see that."

So it was a   lot of negative feedback, but I was like, "Hey, I  think it's going to be cool, so I want to do it."

So I had another friend come and help me clip  it and get it ready and we took it and set up a   display at the Beef Expo, and a friend of mine had  actually dared me to do it.

So I was getting lunch   out of the deal by doing it, but I was like, "You  know what?

Let's do it.

It sounds fun."

So that's   how we started and I took it as a joke into our  Illinois Beef Expo and set one up on display.

And   it actually was like a circus around the calf.

Everybody was very interested in what it was and   how small it was and how structurally correct  it was.

So even the cattle industry thought it   was very unique.

Now the husbands thought it  was ridiculous, but the wives really thought   it was cool.

Kelly:   A designer cow.

Travis:   Exactly, so one thing I found is that  if you win the wives over, you usually   are in good shape.

So that was how we started.

It started as a joke and a dare to take them   and while I was there, I realized that there was a  demand and a lot of interest, so that just helped   to fuel the fire to keep going in this direction  and to keep trying to produce really cool colored,   shaggy effective cattle that could still go out  and, at the end of the day, be self-sufficient,   but be really fun and of different colors to where  you would be able to create something that would   satisfy anyone's interests.

Kelly:   And they are really cool and we're really  privileged that you accepted the invite from   WEIU to come to your beautiful- Travis:   Absolutely.

Kelly:   ... beautiful ranch.

Great story, great  information about these miniature cattle,   and it couldn't have been a better way to kick off  season 14 of The Paw Report.

Travis Hack, Dawson,   Illinois, thank you so much- Travis:   Thank you very much.

Kelly:   ... for inviting us to your ranch today.

Travis:   Absolutely.

Thank you.

Kelly:   And of course, thank you our viewers of The Paw  Report.

We hope you enjoyed this first episode   of Season 14 on location in Dawson, Illinois,  pretty close to Springfield, I'd say Travis.

Travis: That's correct.

10 miles   east of Springfield.

Yep.

Kelly:   Travis Hack, the rancher, as his co-workers  call him.

Again.

Thank you.

And until next time,   we'll see you, our viewers, of The Paw Report.

Rob:   Dave's Decorating Center is a proud supporter  of The Paw Report on WEIU.

Dave's Decorating   Center features the Mohawk Smartstrand Silk  Forever Clean carpet.

Dave's Decorating Center,   authorized Mohawk color center in Charleston.

Rameen:   The Paw Report on WEIU is supported by Rural King,  America's farm and home store, livestock feed,   farm equipment, pet supplies and more.

You can  find your store and more information regarding   Rural King at ruralking.com.

Olivia:   At Tender Touch Grooming, we groom dogs of all  sizes and breeds tenderly.

Our team pampers your   furry friend with care, because every pet deserves  a tender touch.

Appointments are available via   text at (217) 317-9489.

Male voice:   It's almost impossible to imagine life without  internet today.

It keeps us connected to work,   school and loved ones no matter where they are.

Fidium fiber internet now serves over a million   locations providing reliable, consistent service  that keeps these connections strong.

From vibrant   cities to quiet rural areas, fiber broadband  is a key driver of economic growth.

Fidium is   dedicated to supporting communities and enhancing  lives through this essential technology.

Learn   more at Fidiumfiber.com.

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