scottish highland

[myheaven]

Im looking into scottish highland cattle for my family. I dont know much about them. I had a card of a breeder here in Wisconsin but have lost it. Can anyone point me it right direction on who to talk to?
Thank you

[Pat]

We just got into them also (bought 5 heifers the end of December). Had a bull calf from one of them Easter. Talked a friend of mine into buying a bull calf (he can't raise anything for meat - his wife makes pets out of everthing), but wanted soemthing to keep the grass down.

the American Highland Association's address is http://highlandcattleusa.org/. Under members list, they have a long list of members (including e-mail addresses if they have them) in Wisconsin.

We used it to find breeders in Arkansas and Missouri (visited 3 breeders before buying).

We've been pleasantly surprised how docile they are. Really haven't had any problems with them at all yet. Love the fact they browse as well as graze too.

Good luck... I know you'll enjoy them!

Pat

[myheaven]

is their hair a problem in the summer will I have to shave them?

[Up North]

Originally Posted by myheaven

Im looking into scottish highland cattle for my family. I dont know much about them. I had a card of a breeder here in Wisconsin but have lost it. Can anyone point me it right direction on who to talk to?
Thank you

.......Gerald Schulz in WI can be reached at (920)-526-3512..................

[Yldrosie]

They are a pain in the butt to brand because of all that hair.

[Pat]

Originally Posted by myheaven

is their hair a problem in the summer will I have to shave them?

Other than the branding issue I don't think so. I was told they do well here in Arkansas (we bought from a lady who had them for 15 years just north of Little Rock). She had a nice pond for them and said they did spend time in the pond when it was real hot. We had 1 pond (that we had cleaned out last summer), and put in 2 more (before we bought the Highlands). I've noticed them being wet a couple of times when they come up at night. (we've already broke 90 here too).

Pat

[Christiaan]

They don't need a pond to cool of in during the summer, shade will do just as well. If you've got a stand of trees they can shelter in they will do fine. The hair will come off by itself and will soon be decorating your trees and fences. If you can get a roller brush they'll be very appreciative.
I'm down to just the cow for a short while. The heifer went to her new home on the 14th and the steer went to the butcher today. She'll calve in four to six weeks, but for now she has to put up with the alpacas for company. I'm hoping she'll teach them that spitting is not polite.

[Patt]

Originally Posted by Pat

Other than the branding issue I don't think so. I was told they do well here in Arkansas (we bought from a lady who had them for 15 years just north of Little Rock). She had a nice pond for them and said they did spend time in the pond when it was real hot. We had 1 pond (that we had cleaned out last summer), and put in 2 more (before we bought the Highlands). I've noticed them being wet a couple of times when they come up at night. (we've already broke 90 here too).

Pat

You must have got your Highlands from the same breeder we did, Joyce in Birdtown? Highlands are great cows but more bossy than our Dexters. We just had our first dexter/highland calf this morning. I soak my highlands down with a hose in the afternoons on a hot day, they'll come up to the water hose and wait patiently while I soak them. They do slough off a good bit of the hair in the summer, the bull has really short hair, the heifers seem to keep more. Really to me the big horns are the hardest part to work around, they get so wide. Most cattle equipment isn't made for wide horns.

[Pat]

Yes, we did buy from Joyce. She was getting out of the Highlands, and only keeping a couple. We bought 5 heifers and a friend bought a bull calf from her. She had told us that 2 of t he heifers might have been bred, and both gave us bull calfs (one Easter and the other last Saturday). With them having 2 ponds and plenty of shade trees, they seem to be doing quite well without showering them down.

Pat

[Patt]

It's too bad she's getting out, she's been great to work with since we bought our cows from her a couple of years ago. Always ready to answer questions and help with any problems we had. Glad you got some calves, that bull she had was one of the nicest I've ever seen.