Scottish highland cattle size

[lasergrl]

Hi,

Can anyone post pictures of their scottish highland cows? I have been looking into these guys for years, mainly the minis. The minis are waaay too expensive though. The regular size arent supposed to be very large but I am having a hard time getting a visual. We did go to the providence farm pumpkin festival in hopes of meeting some, but the cattle were at a different site I want a beef breed, a female that will produce feeders or breeding stock. I just adore the highland, but royal yaks are growing on us too.

Tiffany

[Up North]

Not our cow, but here's one+baby that reside at the Zoo in Wichita, KS:

[Oxankle]

Boy, that one sure does not look like much. Got to be something out there better than that. Maybe musk oxen.

Jokes aside, surely there are some highlander meat animals around. That poor thing in the zoo looks as if she were brought in from the sale barn after a long drought.
Ox

[Ark]

We got a calf from here -http://www.gallopingwindsranch.com/GWRcattle.html - lots of neat pictures to look at! Really nice honest people.

Here's the calf we got, she's half Belted Galloway, nursing from our Jersey cow. She's 8 months old.

[piglady]

I don't have any pictures with me at the moment but go to our site www.wolfemountainfarms.com and click on the beef page. We love our highlands but I prefer the regular size over the mini's but then we raise them for beef. The tiny ones are cute but they just don't seem to grow.

[Terry W]

Originally Posted by piglady

I don't have any pictures with me at the moment but go to our site www.wolfemountainfarms.com and click on the beef page. We love our highlands but I prefer the regular size over the mini's but then we raise them for beef. The tiny ones are cute but they just don't seem to grow.

When checking out Highlands, and speaking to a local breeder-- they indicated the Highland is very slow to mature- But I was impressed with how docile the animals they had with them were--but the family has a policy of at least stroking each animal once a day-- their toddler was napping, using a calf's belly as a pillow, and Momma cow was contentdly watching over both.

I liked the size-- taller than some Angus, but shorter than the Holsteins I am used to. when i think about it-- they were about the same size as my neighbors Brahma-Longhorn crosses- smaller ears, a LOT more hair!

[Lance Morgan]

We have a couple of regular highlanders available. Their names are Mallie & Allie. They can be seen on our website. www.bluegrassminiaturecattle.com

[lasergrl]

but, how big are they? I am only 100 pounds and I just dont want something too big to handle as I have never had a cow before. A friend had 3 angus X cows, and they had a heck of a time with them when they needed moving or foot care. Granted they have little animal experience, and these werent halter trained at all. Are they a larger frame, or smaller? I think angus are bigger then I want, and dexters, well, they just dont have the fuzz but have the right size, and dont like black. Anyone raise highland X mini breeds?

[lasergrl]

Originally Posted by Lance Morgan

We have a couple of regular highlanders available. Their names are Mallie & Allie. They can be seen on our website. www.bluegrassminiaturecattle.com

Oh my I love your cows and the variety! Have you ever bred a highland to a zubu? I have been looking into this cross and cant find any results from it. The dexter X zubu looks to have the longer fur, so I am assuming the highland X would.
Do you ever sell bottle babies? Can babies be shipped? I have seen zubu calves shipped but those are tiny babies.

[Lance Morgan]

Originally Posted by lasergrl

Oh my I love your cows and the variety! Have you ever bred a highland to a zubu? I have been looking into this cross and cant find any results from it. The dexter X zubu looks to have the longer fur, so I am assuming the highland X would.
Do you ever sell bottle babies? Can babies be shipped? I have seen zubu calves shipped but those are tiny babies.

Don't have any experience with this cross, but I think they would have the fur. We have sold bottle calves before, but we usually don't bottle feed unless there is a need or someone wants this and will speak for the calf right away. There are a few reputable livestock companies out there, but it can get expensive pretty quick. The two highlanders that we have are open at this time.

[de Molay]

I have a small herd of purebred Highlands for some time now. I would not keep any other breed. And I certainly would not crossbreed them. Simply because they are becoming an endangered breed.

[affenpinschermom]

We have kept a small herd of Scottish Highland for over 20 years and like de Molay, we love them. We've never cross bred and never would. They are easy keepers. we sell the offspring for breeding stock and keep the ones that aren't good enough for breeding and raise up for beef. It's great beef. The hides make great rugs, also.

[de Molay]

There is no such thing as miniture Highland Cattle as far as I know, at least not true Highland. They are a very ancient breed and have the oldest herd book of all breeds. They have some very interesting qualities, such as being very resistant to disease that other cattle are subject too. Pink eye, bag problems, etc. They do take longer to mature a calve to table, but were they win out is that they will produce a calve for 15 or 20 years. Long after the exotics have been shipped due to their problems. An exotic usually is only good for about 5 years, then has to be replaced. With Highlands you never need the vet for calving. They calve on their own. If the pastures are bad and their lack of feed, they will not breed, the female will wait until things improve. They are highly intelligent and very docile. They can be milked, and their milk is very high in BF. Their hides when butchered bring a good price. Their horns are worth about 500 dollars. So even after they quit giving calves they still replace themselves with the horns and the hide. Our oldest cow Old Mary just died this past summer, she was over 20 years of age and gave a calve for 19 years. Never had the vet once. A very high return on investment I would say. I would recommend them as the very best for the small farmer or homesteader. Don't be put off by their horns, I use them like the handlebar on a bicycle to steer them around. Have fun.

[lasergrl]

you are right in that the minis are crosses, at least back a few generations. I'll tell you though, they sure are starting to look pure in type and coat. The minis are a bit too small, and definately too expensive for a mix.
I will just have to keep my eyes open for a breeder with smaller stock. I only have 5 acres of pasture and I dont really want a very large cow, tearing it up and overgrazing it, and me being smaller would just be easier for me to work with and enjoy.

[Christiaan]

I don't have any pictures of my Highlands standing next to a person, but here are some that should give you an idea of size. They are about as tall as a Hereford or Angus but not as long or as bulky. My Beth weighs 900 - 1000 pounds. She is 6 1/2 years old and has had 5 calves. I can expect another 10 to 15 calves from her before she retires.




You can just see the top of Beth's head peeking over the fence, which is four feet.

Beth with Floyd displaying his tail for her.

[GANGGREEN]

Glad to see a few folks with Highland cattle. I'm a new Highland owner, I've got two adult cows, one adult heifer that I hope is bred and 3 young bulls (they were supposed to be castrated before delivery but it was never done. I'll probably keep one intact and castrate the other 2). Ideally, I'd like to keep 3 or 4 adult cows and have a few yearlings and a few calves each year for beef.

A couple of questions for those of you who have them. First of all, who have you gotten to tan the hides and what was the cost? I think that they're really striking. I'd like to get the first one done for my own place but will sell the rest if it's worth the cost of tanning and fleshing the beasts. Secondly, what about the horns? What is your market for the horns? Are you direct marketing them on Ebay, selling them at local markets or just through word of mouth? Again, I'll likely keep the first set or two, one for decorations in the house and the next one for powder horns but I'd like to sell them after that to help offset the cost of my small operation.

For what it's worth, I've only had my animals for about a month but I love them. They're very cautious about letting me touch them so far but they'll let me walk right up to them as long as I'm slow and quiet and I'm sure that within a few months they'll be accustomed to me and allow me to rake them out and pet them. I've also eaten the beef and it's quite delicious, lean and healthy but still tender, even when grass finished.

[dodgewc]

Here's a picture of me, 6 foot tall, with Maggie, our Highland, and Dianna, one of our Dexters.

[de Molay]

And if you draw a line from the bottom of your foot it ends up near her shoulder. She is standing in a hole. Highlands weigh heavy, they just have short legs. My Highlands stand about level with my armpit, that is their backs, on level ground. You have to develop your own High end market. Market them as natural grass fed beef. Top end steak brings 10-15 dollars a pound. Here is a link. http://www.jadhore.ca/en/jadhoree.html

[de Molay]

Here is another good link showing classic Highland Cattle at the premium show in Scotland. http://www.highlandcattleworld.com/

[Christiaan]

They are great beasts. Be sure to scratch the tail root, they just love it.
I have just had one hide tanned. $12/sq foot. Came to almost $800! Won't work as a money maker, just do it for yourself. I have done a horn mount $300, and the guy parted the fall in the middle?!? Took a lot of combing to get that to straighten out. I've kept one skull, let the critters take the horns as they weren't in very good shape. And I've made drinking horns from others. Takes quite awhile, first to get them off the cores (beetles do that best) and then pack them in baking soda for a few months to get rid of the odor. But, it was fun and the price was right. I don't know if there would be much of a market for either the horns or hides. Hard to compete with the products from Mexico, Asia and Africa.