Highlands?

[GREEN_ALIEN]

We are looking for a couple of Highland cow calf pairs for this spring if anyone has any for sale. We are in WA but can drive to ID,OR,MT if we have to no problems.

Thanks
GA

[SpaceCadet12364]

You might take a look at this website if you havent already,
its for the American Highland Cattle Association. They are
based out of Denver, but there is a member list that you can
click on and see who all are members in your area. And links
for other information too.

http://highlandcattleusa.org/

Good luck, you will LOVE Highlands! They are addicting!
(we have 10 head right now...its a start!)

Judy in KY

[Christiaan]

Here is where I got mine, they are wonderful people and produce wonderful cows.

Hemlock Highlands
26524 Helmick Rd
Sedro Woolley WA 98284
360.856.5817
360.854.0405 FAX
Highland@fidalgo.net

If you're in Eastern WA, he takes calves to Montana fairly often so he might be willing to deliver for a very moderate price.
You'll love Highlands, gentle, cool looking, easy to raise, and very tasty.

[.netDude]

Not really a response to your question, but a followup question. I have been reading these posts for a while, and have seen quite a few posts of highlands 'jumping the fence'. I, too, would like to buy highlands (that is, after I actually buy the land and farm...) Well, I went to the web site listed above, and took a look at some local farms listed as having highlands. One had a single electric wire about 4' off the ground and the cattle seemed as content as could be. This was the only fence between the paddock and the road. Is it how the cattle are raised? Are they trained (as pigs would be with an electric wire in a corral?) to respect the electric fence? I have seen many posts where it has been suggested that to keep highlands you would have to have 4 - 5 strand barbwire with at least one electric. Yet, the paddock I saw completely dispelled this. How do you current highland owners fence your pasture's?

[SpaceCadet12364]

Well, we currently have the high-tensile 6 strand....with 3 hot wires. Solar charger hooked up to it, and oh yeah it works good (personal testing, by accident...really!).
The DH said, if we are going to refence/fence in new areas, he wanted something that should be able to hold them in. The way he has it set up, its supposed to be good to hold in BUFFALOES!

When we got our first 2 Highlands, two holstein steers we had spooked them and they went THRU the older fencing (barbed wire) that was in place. Rookie mistake of not keeping them confined for a few days after moving them to our place when we bought them, so they could get used to us/their new home first.

They can, like any animal, be taught to respect the fence. They are intelligent creatures tho, and as the posters can witness are able to jump like a deer when they are properly motivated. The key thing, in my opinion anyways, is to keep them content.....plenty of good water, pasture to graze and browse in.....so that way hopefully they are never motivated to try to leave in the first place.

Make sure you get at least 2 however....they are social creatures and I think sheer boredom would set in and more likely to escape if they are the only cow you have.

JMHO

Judy

[lilsassafrass]

I have spent 18 years trying to outsmart highland coos when it comes to fencing , after much trial and error we fianlly switched to 6 strand high tensil , with the top five wires hot.

Our first refencing job was replacing all the old exsiting barb wire .. hmm the 25 strands that were just nailed up to fix sagging wires and patches of a 75 year old boundry fences ...wicked stuff ... have installed far more than I care to admit , and have the scars to prove it !!! It was totally satisfactory for the first year , but then the beasties discovered tha ohh my such a nice place to scratch our necks and bodies .. thank you very much !!! there by stretching and snapping brand new wires .. tightening and repairing became and endless job !! Then .. a small herd of unregistered highlands came up for sale and because at theat time we were interested mostly in producing finished fat cattle .. we purchaced them to add to our herd of registered beasties ..
about 25 head in all counting yearlings and calves ..teh females came in on one truck and we hauled all teh steers and bull calves .. teh driver of the first truck decided he could not back down to the barn entrance in the dark , and he wanted to get home .. back to southern ohio .. so backed up to gate in front paddock and opened the trailer door .. all we heard in the dark was rumble rumble rumble ... ping ping ping ping ping as the mass of hairy bodies hit the new fencing at bottom of hill .. it took us a week to get them back into an enclosure .. and then two years before i could get the last of those beasties corraled and into a paddock and trucked and to the butcher ... ... we called them the herd from H*** today when I buy a new beastie .. it better be young enough for me to drag around at the end of a lead .. or walk off the trailer on the end of a lead rope

I have one old cow .. who was part of my fondation herd , that if she is in a field that I have divided with a single strand hot wire , and she takes it in her head she prefers to be on the other side .. well .. she just hooks her horn under the fence flips her head the right way and tosses the whole line over her back ... and goes where she wants ..
I have one or two who solve the problem of getting to the luscious clover in the hay meadow by taking standing leaps over hot wires .. these wise old cows no longer are put into temporary grazing ...

It is only to well worth the money to put up high tensile with a good hot charger ( I am sold on gallaghers (sp ) ) as far as I am concerned barb wire is worthless and evil stuff .. i fought the high tensil for many years because of fear of it .. I once saw a very expessive thoughobred colt panic and try and run through one and snapped a wire and it came around and decapitated him ... that was over 23 years ago , and I think there is much improvement on instalation since those times ....

It is of coarse wise to lock up in the barn or close corral any new arriving beasties for a week or so ... but of coarse not always feasible ..

but dont let horror stories diswade you from highlands , ther really are no more trouble than any other breed of cattle , all things considerd I have had nasty rangey cattle of other breeds too .. it truely is how they are raised and treated!
as to how they will act around fencing !

Paula
Hyde Park Farm
NE Ohio

[wr]

I love my Highland cattle and have had no fence jumping issues but I do find them like our longhorns in the sense that they aren't really fond of small areas. If they feel they have enough space, mine have never even crowded a fence.

[Christiaan]

My experience with my own Highlands and from talking with other Highland owners is that they are among the easiest of cattle to fence. It is rare for them to push or force a fence, no matter how weak. My perimeter fencing is probably about 25 years old. It consists of 4 strands of barbed wire, a top smooth wire from when only horses were raised here and three and four foot rabbit fencing. My cross fences are single strand hot wire on T-posts or pigtails. I have had only one cross fence run through when the cow took after a coyote and the young calves can go under the cross-fence when its on a pigtail.
When I first got my cow and a 5 month old beef steer I kept them in a small paddock near the barn. As they came in December, this was the sacrifice pen for the winter. The steer went exploring the neighbors field one day, this was before I put up the field fence, but was very eager to come back home. That's the only excape attempt I've had in three years.
I find Highlands to be docile, gentle, very protective of their home and very inquisitive. Now, if I could only get Beth to give me heiffer instead of a bull each year.........

[moonwolf]

Originally Posted by wr

I love my Highland cattle and have had no fence jumping issues but I do find them like our longhorns in the sense that they aren't really fond of small areas. If they feel they have enough space, mine have never even crowded a fence.

How many Highland cattle can you keep in a 25 acre pasture? The pasture is moderate quality mixed red clover, trefoil, and some scrub willow here and there.

[lilsassafrass]

Originally Posted by moonwolf

How many Highland cattle can you keep in a 25 acre pasture? The pasture is moderate quality mixed red clover, trefoil, and some scrub willow here and there.

In NE Ohio , we figure 1 head ----3 acres , for the grazing year with in a well maintained pasture , just like any other breed of cattle .Highlands will also browze to add a bit of variety to their diet .. so your willows will eventually become history, but so do many other cattle


Paula

Hyde Park Farm