Probably getting two Highlands

[Tubby]

Need to talk details with my brother in law, but we are going halves on two Scottish Highlands. One male and one female. Looking to raise some for meat. Price he got quoted is $500 each and we pick them up ourselves.

Is there any book that would be a good investment for the basics of raising these animals for meat? Diet will be mostly hay from the farm and spent grains from my homebrewing and I've got a small commercial brewery on board to give us about 600lbs of spent grain weekly. I'm going to spend the next several weeks looking into things, but we're looking to get them this week or this coming weekend.

Any oneliner tips or advice you can help out with is greatly appreciated.

[haypoint]

http://davidclarkauction.com/images/...t%20Report.pdf
How big are they now? For $1000 you can buy a pair of 500 pound Beef calves, likely angus, likely to produce more meat.
IMHO, Highlands don't thrive on brush. Good mothering instinct often translates to "wild as the wind". Get them loaded before you pay for them.
There was a thread a few weeks back that detailed why spent brewer's grain required certian additives to serve as cattle feed. Minerals is always going to be important, no matter what, esp. SE.

[SpaceCadet12364]

You don't wont to feed them that much brewers, You will be rolling them around. I give about 1.5 lbs. each a day when temps drop close to freezing. that's all. or as a treat. I would sell the brewers to someone else to pay for other stuff or more cows. they do well in cold climates and have little excess fat. that is why we raise them. started the winter with 15 sold four steers first of dec. only used 54 5x5 round bales. so far and just put out hay today.

[opportunity]

My highlands stay fat on the hay alone they have only had grain as a treat. There has been very little fat on them at butcher we had half an apple box from the last two combined, make for poor soap making supplies. If you choose to grain them start them slowly and give minerals. Price sounds about right depending on how old they are.

[Tubby]

Originally Posted by haypoint

How big are they now?

No idea. I have to figure out details from my BIL, but he works until Wednesday and we're on opposite shifts.

For $1000 you can buy a pair of 500 pound Beef calves, likely angus, likely to produce more meat.

I'm not sure of the availability here. I'm in Keweenaw County.

IMHO, Highlands don't thrive on brush. Good mothering instinct often translates to "wild as the wind". Get them loaded before you pay for them.
There was a thread a few weeks back that detailed why spent brewer's grain required certian additives to serve as cattle feed. Minerals is always going to be important, no matter what, esp. SE.

There's a guy a few lots away from the farm that has Highlands but he won't talk to us because of religious conflict.

Originally Posted by SpaceCadet12364

You don't wont to feed them that much brewers, You will be rolling them around. I give about 1.5 lbs. each a day when temps drop close to freezing. that's all. or as a treat. I would sell the brewers to someone else to pay for other stuff or more cows. they do well in cold climates and have little excess fat. that is why we raise them. started the winter with 15 sold four steers first of dec. only used 54 5x5 round bales. so far and just put out hay today.

Originally Posted by opportunity

My highlands stay fat on the hay alone they have only had grain as a treat. There has been very little fat on them at butcher we had half an apple box from the last two combined, make for poor soap making supplies. If you choose to grain them start them slowly and give minerals. Price sounds about right depending on how old they are.

I don't know age or weight. My BIL told me about them. I just need more details from him so I can know what we are going for.

I figured I accept the brewery grains because they are free. If they aren't that good for them, I can just do hay only. We've got plenty of hayfields. The farm is 140 acres encompassing the red circle. Good amount of it is hayfields.

[DJ in WA]

I'm not sure the attraction to Highlands, other than the looks. As Haypoint mentioned, you would get more beef for your feed using another british breed. If the idea is to get a slow growing breed that won't make much beef, you might try jersey steer calves.

People mention how well Highlands do in the cold, but that isn't the problem for most cattle in the U.S. The bigger problem is the summer heat. The rumen in cattle produces heat from fermentation (think steaming compost pile). They struggle to get rid of this heat in the summer. Every year, hundreds or thousands of cattle die from heat stress.

Even in the northern states heat is an issue. I was reading of stressed cattle in Wisconsin last year. A couple factors that make it worse for cattle is black and long hair. I read a guy from Wisconsin who quit raising long haired galloway cattle because he got tired of watching them stand by the water trough panting.

The Highland cattle come from the Scottish Highlands, which is a cool, cloudy and rainy climate. It does help that they are more scrawny than the more popular beef breeds. Some say the long hair keeps the heat out, but for some reason I don't see them wearing a long, shaggy coat in the summer.

Red angus or hereford would work well.

To better appreciate heat stress, here's some reading. This site often likes to split up the quotes, so we'll see how this works.
　
http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2007/June/CT1033.shtml

http://vetmed.iastate.edu/vdpam/extension/beef/current-events/heat-stress-beef-cattle

Compared to other animals cattle cannot dissipate their heat load very effectively. Cattle do not sweat effectively and rely on respiration to cool themselves. A compounding factor on top of climatic conditions is the fermentation process within the rumen generates additional heat that cattle need to dissipate. Since cattle do not dissipate heat effectively they accumulate a heat load during the day and dissipate heat at night when it is cooler. During extreme weather conditions with insufficient environmental cooling at night cattle will accumulate heat that they cannot disperse.

http://nimss.umd.edu/homepages/home.cfm?trackID=11616

Over the past two decades black has become the preferred color of feedlot and slaughter cattle in the USA, including the Southern Region. As a result, not only has the influence of Angus cattle increased, but the black gene has been incorporated, through upgrading and selection, into a number of previously red breeds such as the Simmental, Limousin, Gelbvieh, etc. This is in spite of the fact that black colored cattle will absorb more solar radiation than red or other lighter-colored cattle. Studies by Mader et al. (2002) and Davis et al. (2003) both showed rather dramatic (up to 0.5º) lower body temperatures while under heat stress for white (dilute-colored Charolais crossbred) as compared to black feedlot steers. This advantage is comparable to the effect of the Slick hair gene for heat tolerance reported by Olson et al. (2003).

　

[opportunity]

Originally Posted by DJ in WA

I'm not sure the attraction to Highlands, other than the looks. As Haypoint mentioned, you would get more beef for your feed using another british breed. If the idea is to get a slow growing breed that won't make much beef, you might try jersey steer calves.

People mention how well Highlands do in the cold, but that isn't the problem for most cattle in the U.S. The bigger problem is the summer heat. The rumen in cattle produces heat from fermentation (think steaming compost pile). They struggle to get rid of this heat in the summer. Every year, hundreds or thousands of cattle die from heat stress.

Even in the northern states heat is an issue. I was reading of stressed cattle in Wisconsin last year. A couple factors that make it worse for cattle is black and long hair. I read a guy from Wisconsin who quit raising long haired galloway cattle because he got tired of watching them stand by the water trough panting.

The Highland cattle come from the Scottish Highlands, which is a cool, cloudy and rainy climate. It does help that they are more scrawny than the more popular beef breeds. Some say the long hair keeps the heat out, but for some reason I don't see them wearing a long, shaggy coat in the summer.

Red angus or hereford would work well.

To better appreciate heat stress, here's some reading. This site often likes to split up the quotes, so we'll see how this works.
　
http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2007/June/CT1033.shtml

http://vetmed.iastate.edu/vdpam/extension/beef/current-events/heat-stress-beef-cattle


http://nimss.umd.edu/homepages/home.cfm?trackID=11616

　

Highlands do have great flavor in the meat. I will choose a highland or jersey for my own meat, I always sell the herfords.
My highlands shed out in the summer they do not seem to have an issue with the heat, other then the black ones they do get hotter, the angus will look hot first though.

[Tubby]

Highlands are just what's available. I've read some things online that say they do well in harsh winters, like here in the UP. Summers are maybe 70s and 80s for the most part. The farm is right near Lake Superior and always has at least a 5-7mph breeze and stays cooler than town a couple miles inland. The neighbor down the road has some but won't talk to me for reasons already stated.

I'm not in it for looks, I'm in it for meat and when we start selling animals, profit. Not that I'm a profiteer, but I want to make money raising and selling animals for supplemental income. Breaking even for providing work to others is not acceptable for something like this. Our plan is to raise animals, then sell live animals and deliver them butchered to the buyers. My BIL will be the ranching part of it and I will be the butcher.

[haypoint]

There is at least one good sized Angus herd in Ontonogon, owned by a cattleman from around Grand Rapids. Right on the highway. I think it is Wilson Michigan, anyway, north of Manisteque that raises high quality Angus. Stevenson is home for some fine Herefords. You could check with the Vet Mike Brunner, MDARD Escanaba. He's TB tested the whole area and would know where some beef farms are.

You are a few years late for the Higland breeding wave. Now I just see them as low priced cull cows. Deep discount for horns and not real beefy under the hair, IMHO. I recall Rodale Press had a story about how wonderful they were, 40 years ago. But that bubble has burst.

[Tubby]

Thanks! I'll look into those. I'm kind of riding his coat tails with what he wants to buy. He's off today so I'll have time to talk more about it with him.

[Tubby]

Got to chat with my BIL today. The Highlands were some he was looking at, but he's open to anything. He was just window shopping and the details I heard second hand were more urgent than that.

We talked about getting some weaned calves, or getting some a little older that can be bred, or just getting a single cow and butchering it right away if ready or this fall. Pretty much have options open. Weighing up the price savings of calves but having to feed them two years until butchering versus a higher purchase price of an older cow that can be butchered this fall.

We were thinking of even getting three cows; two to breed and butcher the third and make into grind for burgers. There's supposed to be a mini Highland a couple hours away for $500 we were thinking of buying, me doing the slaughter/butchering, and then grind all the meat.

[farmallmom]

I loved my highlands, but we didn't beef them. We were given the cows and heifer in exchange for work. They never got breed so we ended up sending them to auction. We never did sluaghter them, but I imagine their meat is similar to Belties; lean, flavorful and excellent for a grass fed program.
I am not a fan of English/Continental breeds myself and prefer the more rugged/primitive breeds. They certainly can be wild if they are not handled properly though!
Good Luck with your search!

[SpaceCadet12364]

highlands we have 13 yr. olds cut into steaks so this if they are so old hamburger does not apply. If your have a good butcher he can tell what can and what should not be cut into steaks. and do not grain finish you will just pour money down the drain.

[Tubby]

Originally Posted by SpaceCadet12364

highlands we have 13 yr. olds cut into steaks so this if they are so old hamburger does not apply. If your have a good butcher he can tell what can and what should not be cut into steaks. and do not grain finish you will just pour money down the drain.

I'm the family "hitman", butcher, and chef. If something needs killing, cutting, or cooking, I'm the one everyone points to for the task. We get "grain" for free from spent brewing grains.

Not a formally trained butcher, but I can butcher an animal to suit needs. Backstraps (ribeye and NY strip) and tenderloins for steaks. One hind quarter for roasts, the other for sirloin tip, top round, bottom round, eye of round steaks. Neck is a roast. Shoulder is burger as is the flank. Leave the brisket on for rib meat. Shanks and bones for stock. Cheeks, tongue, and hanger steak for the wife and I as a treat.

[SpaceCadet12364]

Then You should know by feel and look if something is going to be tough and dry. and what will be tender and juice. Highlands Have a long double coat of hair so only so much will go to marbleing then the rest goes to waist fat or un-wanted fat so you don't need all that grain to finish one just saying I have seen people give to much grain to heifers and they ruin her for breeding quickly. So be carefull with the grain.