Advice about Scottish Highlands

[shawncentpa]

Does anyone have any experience with Scottish Highland's? I have read a lot of good information about them, but I wanted to make sure the info wasn't just good marketing propaganda. We are looking to raise our own beef, only one though as it will be sharing a pasture with a couple of dairy goats. Are they are great fit for someone who is interested in raising grass-fed at as low cost as possible or are they the "Alpaca's" of the cattle world?

Thanks.

[Callieslamb]

Welcome to the forum!

I noticed someone on craigslist had some for sale in SW michigan area. I don't know anything about them myself, but if they cost more than a regular beef and all you want is some meat, you can raise a regular beef steer and just butcher it earlier than normal. Plenty of people raise their beef as grass-fed. The Scottish Highlands are neat-looking though.

[Rocktown Gal]

Scottish Highlands can live on grass only. You do not need to feed extra grain if you do not want to. I do as a treat. The meat is good and I for one would say that raising a Highland is worth it.

[Pat]

Couple of negatives for Highlands...

1. They are only about 2/3rds the size of a "normal" beef cow.

2. They take about a year longer to get to butcher size.

The positives (besides they can ((and thrive)) on a grass only diet), is they browse as well as graze. (no more need for bush hogging). They are great mothers, and at an average of 35 pounds birth without any help from humans. (they'll be about 100 pounds at a month old). They are more protective than most cows (can be both positive and negative as you should never ever get between a cow and up to a couple month old calf) If something threatens our will form a circle around the calves. I've heard some beef breeders like to breed heifers to highland bulls for the smaller calves the first go around.

Having said that (and we own Highlands hehe) If the price was that much more than a "normal" beef heifer, wouldn't buy it. There is nothing that special that paying one and a half times (or more) for a Highland Heifer than a normal beef cow.

Pat

[Tad]

My cousins have them and they have good points and bad. They take a year longer to butcher and getting people to deal with horns are a problem. If you butcher yourselves no problem but no stock yards around here will take them. The farm next door hafd an angus bull get out and breed one of his cows, at one year of age the calf was the same size as the mother.....this year they all got bred to an angus bull.

[SpaceCadet12364]

We only feed ours grain as a treat, to get them coming up to the barn on occasion so we can headcount and get a look at them from time to time. Otherwise, its grass and hay.

Our original herd sire, LOVED honeysuckle! Our neighbor borrowed him for a couple of months to play with his angus girls....and thats when we found out he liked honeysuckle. His fencerow was CLEANED of it, and there must have been a couple hundred feet or so of it.

They do not usually reach the enormous sizes that most beef breeds have been bred out to be...usually a cow will average out around 1400 on the hoof, bulls maybe 1800. When it comes to processing them, we usually run around 62% of live weight for the carcass weight. We had a 7 year old cow we had to cull, and she carcassed out at 726 WITHOUT her backbone. So, she was a little bigger than average, probably around 1600-ish or so. VERY tender too...no one could tell she was that old. Glad we didnt burger the whole thing.

They CAN be rather protective of a new calf....we had one that would try to shishkebab you if you tried to get anywhere near the calf within the first week or so. But, the other ladies don't seem to mind near as much as she did. Which comes in handy when you dont want to hang around and wait for them to pee to make sure what it is. Calf weights are nice and small, 35-50 pounds? We have only had one problem with our girls since we started running them in 2003...and that was a stillborn calf. The heifer calf wasn't huge or anything, the cow didnt have a lick of trouble having her. Just something wasnt right with the calf, I guess.

Some people think bad about the Highlands since both cows and bulls sport a nice set of horns (or, as our vet calls them "clown killers"). If you are thinking Highlands and plan on dehorning them because of your concern about the horns, please reconsider getting the Highlands and select another breed that is polled. The horns are part of their built-in cooling system.....and with those heavy hair coats (one of the reasons why they are lower in fat, they dont need to build up a heavy fat layer for winter time), they need all the cooling they can get. Some Highlands will slick out real nice when the weather is warm, some still stay kinda shaggy even after losing the extra hair from the winter coat. Besides, the horns are part and parcel of the Highland package. Just wouldnt look right without them.

Highlands are not as "delicate" as other breeds of cattle....you do not need to "put them up" during the winter....ours love to be out there in the thick of it, acting like its just another day. You do need to have a shelter that they can get into when they choose to....we have a 3-sided LARGE shed/barn that they can go to get out of the weather, or for a nice shady spot. Highlands also LOVE ponds and streams....its ours's favorite place to hang out on those hot summer days. Trees are a good thing to have, at least a few, so they have someplace to scratch on. Otherwise, you will find that they will scratch themselves on whatever is available...usually fenceposts.

Some breeders do seem to overprice their stock....some do not. If you haven't found it already, check out the American Highland Cattle website, highlandcattleusa.org. You should be able to find some breeders in your area; if they are only running registered stock and dont have any steers (since you are looking for a beefer), they will likely be able to point you in the right direction.

If you were closer, you would be more than welcome to stop by and see our girls....well, you are welcome to stop by anyways if you find yourself down this way. We actually have one of our bull calfs that went out maybe towards your neck of the woods...Wernersville PA? Got pics on our webpage if you want to check them out.... http://home.windstream.net/hezik1/

[65284]

When we were looking at various breeds before we first bought our first cattle we were interested in, and looked at, several groups of Highlands. Without exception every herd we checked out were very stand-offish and spooky. I'm sure not all Highlands are like that, but all I've had any experience with sure were. My vet has a herd of them in his practice...and hates them. He calls them those d---ed hairy monsters with all of the horns and bad attitude. Oh, he also says they are hard to work, difficult to pen and get through the chutes, and they can jump like deer.

[Pat]

Yes, then can jump (but only when cornered. We've never had one ((or the fold)) jump a fence just to eat on the other side).

I'm a little surprised that a Vet had to work with them. Ours are disease and parasitic resistant. Can't see why a Vet would have to work with the whole fold.

Our's know exactly where that end of the horn is. I can move them in a horse trailer as they will turn their head to get into it. (usually have to put some grain for them to want to get in though lol). In the winter when I give them hay I've been picked up off the ground with the long side of the horn, (not very high nor for very long) but never anywhere close to being gored.

We get a news letter from the State of Arkansas ag dept., and one of the articles this year was that the Highlands are one of only 2 breeds of "pure breed" cattle. (all the rest of of the breeds are "man made" by man selecting the bulls and cows.) I think it says a lot that the Highlands have been around for as long as they have been (and look like the ones in paintings and descriptions). Without having to have all the medical treatments, help with birthing etc..

Pat

[65284]

Pat, the client chooses to breed via A.I. and uses cidr's and shots to sync his herd. He also has the cows preg checked. And he does twice a year deworming, that all requires running them through a chute.

I suppose all cattlemen have a little different herd management style and do what they have found works the best for their particular animals and area.

[ebbett5]

Hi, this is my first post aswell. We got 3 highland heifers last fall straight off of their mothers. They had never been handled at all. The man who delivered them could not beleive how calm they were. We locked them in the barn for 2 weeks and spent time every day with them gradually getting closer until I could put a halter on them and take them for a walk outside. When I let them out after the 2 weeks I could walk up to them in the field and put the halter on them. I have been training them as oxen as well. They are very gentle, seem to know where their horns are all the time. They come running when I call them to give them a treat like apples or vegetable peels. They are now starting to eat the brush around the fields now that the leaves are coming out. They spent all winter outside with only a tarp to go under but if it was snowing they usually slept out in it. They are our first cows and are better then we could have imagined. The guy I got them from has been raising highlands for 30 years. He had 1 stillborn calf in 30 years. The others were all born outside, without any human help. He never needles them or cleans their umbilical cords.

[Jennifer L.]

Had a friend who raised them. He had an older bull to sell and the guy sent it to butcher 100% hamburgh. The butcher took a slice to test it out and said it was fantastic steak, but the guy still insisted on getting it all ground. So an older animal will cook up quite well if that's any indication.

Have never handled any myself, but my friend's daughters took them to the fair for several years. They even took the herd bull and never had any trouble with him.

Jennifer