Highlands are here!

Brooks WV · #1 09/07/11, 10:47 AM

After an all too long period spent researching and logisticizing (is that even a real word?!), we've finally gotten our first two Highlands; a yearling bull and a 5 month old heifer

We have two more sheduled to arrive next week, a 2 y/o bull and another heifer. We hope to finish the older bull for our freezer and use the two heifers to grow the fold. I have a line an another bull calf, and hope to have him soon.

Very pleased with their temperments and sociability. Both have been worked and handled quite a bit before they came to our farm, and we continue to brush them daily.

Very pleased so far!

Highlands are here! - Cattle

~Mark
Brooks Mountain Farm

hiddensprings · #2 09/07/11, 03:29 PM

Very cool. Looks like the kids are really enjoying them.

lonelyfarmgirl · #3 09/07/11, 03:41 PM

Um, are her horns cut off? looks like a teddy bear that way.

Rocktown Gal · #4 09/07/11, 03:46 PM

Aw...beautiful. I love highlands.

farmgirl6 · #5 09/07/11, 03:53 PM

dear God, I could never think about eating anything that looks like that..like eating Chewbacca

Nicole Irene · #6 09/07/11, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmgirl6

dear God, I could never think about eating anything that looks like that..like eating Chewbacca

LOL They are awfully cute! How will you eat them???

Brooks WV · #7 09/07/11, 05:09 PM

Fiona, the puffy white heifer does have horns, but they're just barely poking out of her fur. That's why the kids named her Fiona... after the Princess in the Shrek movie.

How will we eat them? With a knife and fork, or course!

lakeportfarms · #8 09/07/11, 06:56 PM

Congratulations...it's great that you have ones that have been handled a lot and friendly. Even if they cost more than the bargain priced animals, over the lifespan of ownership it really isn't all that much more per year, and well worth it.

SCRancher · #9 09/07/11, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brooks WV

With a knife and fork, or course!

Knife and a fork bottle and a cork THAT's the way you spell New York THAT's the way you spell New York!

Sorry you kicked off a song reference there!

lonelyfarmgirl · #10 09/07/11, 07:04 PM

I guess her size and age is deceiving because of how your boy is sitting. We have heifers that size with 6 inch horns already. I assumed she was older.

lakeportfarms · #11 09/07/11, 07:10 PM

One other thing Brooks WV, you may want to try to weight, and even shave the bulls horns so they start to curve forward and down a little.

lakeportfarms · #12 09/07/11, 07:22 PM

Here is our bull after his horns were weighted and shaved...

lakeportfarms · #13 09/07/11, 07:23 PM

Here is our bull with weighted and shaved horns....

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yqqG0yjOZs...522_111422.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6aTW2MrnKo...0/P1010036.JPG

ufo_chris · #14 09/07/11, 08:00 PM

Very cute!
Do you mind me asking what you had to give for them THIS tame and handled?
Are they registered?
I am currently shopping for a new bull (young ,don't need him yet) for my 3 Highland girls, I would love a halter trained one!
Where in WV are you? I;m in Ohio but only a few miles from WV ,up by East Liverpool,OH and close to Chester and Newell ,WV.
Enjoy,I love mine!
Chris

Catalytic · #15 09/07/11, 08:09 PM

They are adorable!!!!!!!!!!!

Brooks WV · #16 09/08/11, 08:17 AM

Lakeport- I like the way your bulls horns look! Is there a place on your website where you discuss how to weight and shave them?

UFO Chris- They were $900/ea. His standard pricing was $800 for an unworked animal. His white heifer calves usually go for a bit more because they seem to be popular with the show crowd or people who like to exhibit. She is very fluffy, like a big cotton ball! Everyone that stops by want to squeeze her like a big stuffed animal...and she loves the attention.

I'm in Summers county, between Beckley and Lewisburg... about an hour and a half from OH. These animals came from Running River ranch in Virginia ( http://www.runningriverranch.com/ )

lakeportfarms · #17 09/08/11, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brooks WV

Lakeport- I like the way your bulls horns look! Is there a place on your website where you discuss how to weight and shave them?

UFO Chris- They were $900/ea. His standard pricing was $800 for an unworked animal. His white heifer calves usually go for a bit more because they seem to be popular with the show crowd or people who like to exhibit. She is very fluffy, like a big cotton ball! Everyone that stops by want to squeeze her like a big stuffed animal...and she loves the attention.

I'm in Summers county, between Beckley and Lewisburg... about an hour and a half from OH. These animals came from Running River ranch in Virginia ( http://www.runningriverranch.com/ )

That's a great price for such well trained Highlands...and we've found that the white Highlands sell like hotcakes too...good choice!

Check out this site, it is pretty informative and has some links to what you may need. To pull them together more, I used a couple of cable clamps with a wire and turnbuckle, and adjusted it every week or two.

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/show...w-horns/page2&

In my opinion, it is more comfortable being around the bull with the horns pointing down and curved in. Of course it looks cool too too! I think it frames the face better or something.

lakeportfarms · #18 09/08/11, 09:20 AM

And get a couple of these for brushing them. The brush your son looks to be using actually will strip the hair from them. They love these brushes especially under the neck

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CEQQ8gIwAg

Brooks WV · #19 09/08/11, 10:25 AM

Lakeport,

Thanks for the links. I read them both with interest. The scraping method had some detractors on the site, but I can see how it would work- even if it's very slight. As to the tensioners, I think that's going to yield the best results. Sorta like the braces my son wore.

At what age did you begin shaping? How, exactly, do you hang weights on the horns?!

We have the brush that you linked to! I think in an earlier post, you recommended it. We have the curry combs to get rid of the mats in the fur- the softer brush just couldn't take them out. They hadn't ever been combed, so they had some serious matting going on! All the mats are now gone, and the bull has long flowing hair- kinda like a woolly mammoth.

The heifer has quite a different type of fur. Hers isnt long, but very "wooly", like a sheep that needs shearing. She's so soft and puffy! The ranch I got her from said they usually sell white heifers for $1200-2000. She happened to be in a group that he identified as $800-900 cows, so when I picked her, he stood by his word and sold her at that. He later told me she was worth a lot more. He's a very nice guy, and I would recommend him to anyone looking for Highlands in the SW Virginia area.
~Mark

Highlands are here! - Cattle

lakeportfarms · #20 09/08/11, 01:15 PM

Here is a link where you can get weights:

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.h...horn%20weights

I would start now to get them going in the right direction. You may need to take them off in a couple of months after you see them turning down, but the horns will be growing for a long time and you can adjust them gradually as you see fit. It's better to err on the side of caution!!! because it's hard to get them back up! After some more growth and before they are fully pointing where you want them to be, I use the light weights to hold a short cable with a loop at each end on each horn, then a small turnbuckle in the middle and gradually tighten it. The horns will start to drop again because of the weights, and will also start to curve in. Again, you may need to do it for a month or two, then give it time to see where they are headed without the weights and tensioner. At some point they may naturally grow without any further intervention. Be careful as your bull gets older, you may want to construct some type of stanchion (always a good idea anyway) that will provide at least some restraint.