Scottish Highlander cattle. Any one raise them?

curious about the quality of the meat. Why does it seem none ever dehorns them. How are they for disease/parasite resistance? Temperment. Will be doing some culling of the cows herd this spring and looking at all options. Everything is for selling as freezer 1/4's. Can they be bred with good results to red angus? How do they deal with heat with all that hair?

Lean to well marbled meat. They don't dress out as good a percent as other bigger breeds. They aren't dehorned as they are usually very well tempered, some bulls are even half decent. The mama's are very protective of the young though, so don't completely ignore the horns.

Don't know about crosses. They can handle some heat but need shade and water, I've read they do much better in the northern half of the US.

They seem to have very few feet problems and have very little trouble birthing without assistance with little to no losses. Parasites I think they are no better off than any other breed. They do well on pretty poor pastures and will forage through some snow for grasses.

I've been debating getting a few as low maintenance pasture maintainers, the sheep we have prefer to browse leaves and weeds and don't touch grass if they have a choice.

Ken pretty well nailed it. They are smaller and most ranchers like the bigger breeds.

I believe you will find that there is decent market for the horns....at least a fellow I know that keeps them says. He also maintains that the meat is leaner than most other breeds but that might be more a result of how they are fed. They have a reputation for being rugged and low maintenace,

I don't have a whole lot of experience with them, but what little I do have has been with some that were not well tempered at all. One of the guys I rent pasture from had a few and they were pretty nasty. He finally decided he'd had enough of them and they got shipped.

Disclaimer - I've had mostly Herefords, which are generally like big dogs, so that might have something to do with my assessment of the Highlands...

Oh and in case you are fencing them with a boundary of water, they can swim fairly well. In scotland they used to drive them between islands with big herds of them swimming.

Not many here. General opinion is that they are slow growing. Compared to other breeds. Meat is meat..depends on the animal, its maturity, and how it is fed.

Dave,

I'm not trying to take away from this forum - I love it and have been on here for more than 10 years. However, there's also another forum that I visit that actually has a segment of it for cattle issues. Many of the folks on there talk about their Highlanders.

The forum is called Homesteading Today. You might want to look at it also, but then come right back here.

Tom in TN

Highlanders,Longhorns....exotic breeds in general,just that,exotic breeds. Something for retired doctors to show off. Stick with the commercial breeds,unless you've made more money this year than you're telling us about and have gone all rich showoff on us.

Wish that were the reason. Mostly just curious.

You know, that is the breed I most often think of going to, but, only being in cattle for a couple years, listen to others I know around home here. According to them they all say to stay away from Herefords. They say, poor calving, poor gain on grain, pink eye, no demand( but I really dont sell at sale barns), mean, you name it. I always thought they were very docile, always seem very fleshy where I see them, and I thought hereford meat was very goopd finished on grain. Here in central MN, it seems only black is worth anything. Sad , but that is the mindset.

Dave you nailed the black thing. We are over near Fergus. We have been looking into the highlanders too. We have mostly found that they havea godd temperment, and will eat grass that other cows will pass up. If you find out anything else let me know please.

Rick

I've had no complaints about mine. Good temperament, easy keepers (eat stuff others won't touch), no problems calving, no loss from coyotes (the mamas are good about protecting the babies). No problem with the long hair, because it really only grows noticeably thick in the winter. The meat is as good as you make it, by proper finishing & handling.

I like 'em.

ive been around them some,biggest complaint ive seen or heard was they couldnt handle the heat here very well. Seems natural with the coats they have. Might be ok if your summers werent over a hundred like it gets here. What few ive been involved with didnt seem to be particularly mean,but i think being good protective mothers are part of the breed. That maybe a problem if you catch and band young calves in the field like we do around here when they are very young,I had a santa gertrudis cow once that was as gentle as she could be until her calf started bawling, then you better have a excape route picked out! I would catch her calf when it was first born and throw it up on back a flatbed to work it over and I thought a time or two she was going to climb on with me! They all can hurt you if they hit you right.Might not seem like a big deal,but if your 20-30 miles from home with a broke leg or back with no phone or no phone service it can be. Something to think about anyway if you handle cattle alone.Around here anyway those are the ones that get sold off for hamburger.Just cant take the chance if your out and not expected home for three or four days. Might not be the case with a highlander,I simply dont know, but if it is its sure something to consider. I raise mostly limousins the last few years but they can be a real pain to work in a pen. They can stand flat footed and jump a fence like a deer and kick you in the head with both back feet at the same time!LOL.I'm slowly trading them out back to angus,and all the replacement cows ive bought are angus.I personally like herefords better,but with my kind of operation where i just turn them out angus seem to work better. If i was setup to check them every day close to home,and had the setup there to put one up and treat an eye problem, i would keep herefords and never look back. They are good cattle ,give plenty of milk for a calf generally, and have a even temperment that makes them pretty easy to work with. Had an old uncle that swore by shorthorns.And the gentlest bull i ever saw anywhere was a gelvich(sp).my grandad very nearly was killed by a jersey bull,and the worst to tear up pens was a limousin.that big old lug would simply take his front hoof to a five foot board fence and stomp it down,wasnt mean at all just would not stay where you put him.Finally had to build a pipe corral to hold him while we were milking,and he eventually even got that tore up.Stupid thing just had to come to the milk barn to get in the way,because he knew the cows were getting feed. They all have kinks,but Bottom line is look them all over,find one breed that matches your setup and the way you work,and above ALL make sure you have a steady market for your calves in your area. That alone knocks out many of the lesser known breeds and is what holds alot of them back.

I don't know how they are straight Dave. I've got a few,really can't say that I have a lot of trouble with the cows,but I breed everything with black bulls,and the cross makes for a mean flighty critter. I finish everything out and can tell you,catching and handling black baldie crossbreds is a nightmare compaired to the straight black. They gain and finish faster and bring a good price. Don't know if you'd get into calving problem breeding straight Hereford or not.
I bought a couple of black bulls on the MSU/MCA state tested bull sale last year and the top gaining and highest priced bull on the whole sale was a Hereford,so there must be something to them.

Biggest drawback with any Exotic breed is if you have to market them in a conventional market you're going to take a beating on the price per lb. exception is large older lean bulls will out sell Black Cattle sometimes.

If it just for your own use or to sell a quarter to a neighbor or friends now and again, there as good as any other breed.

My biggest problems with them is dealing with the horns. They are hard to get into a regular chute and you have to be careful around them as with any horned livestock.

I was helping a friend who raised them move a yearling heifer with short horns at the time. we were moving them near a road when a car roared by the heifer just jerked her head around and caught nbe in the stomach with that short sharp horn. I was sore and had a 12 inch bruise on my abdomen for several months. they are pretty calm and gentle critters but any time you are around horns, you have to be super careful.

(quoted from post at 06:57:18 12/29/11)
I've been debating getting a few as low maintenance pasture maintainers, the sheep we have prefer to browse leaves and weeds and don't touch grass if they have a choice.

Click to expand...

If you can find Shropshire Sheep, they are not the browsers that the others are.... They use them here tokeep nursery's and Christmas tree farms....

woops! should have said the worst one to tear up stuff was a holstien bull.

My friend has 4 Highland cows and an old bull for the last 4 years. Bull seems to be shooting blanks mostly these days, but calves that were born were raised on grass and finished with very little grain. Not fast growth. Pretty easy keepers from his perspective. Meat is lean yet delicious.
We looked into them several years back, but we found prices were too high due to so few advertised being within a days drive. We've since turned our interest to Dexters - a side of that would easily fit in our freezer along with the lamb and pork.
Jay

I have a neighbor that has them, they always seem to be outside, even in winter. They have shelter availible, but don't seem to care for it.

They're small and slow growing... don't get the feed conversion of most other commercial breeds. They're tough. They can live on almost nothing without any real kind of shelter... but what do you get at the end of the day? Answer... about what you put into it or mabey less.
There's a guy in the general area that had a herd of them. They basically live in the woods on spruce bows and late cut hay that he feeds them... and beef like shoe leather. Others have fed them well, gotten very nice meat... at an expense that will break you.
The main problem is that they're not economically viable; hence you see very few of them

Rod

Recalled a few memories about the Limousin's jumping ability. Brother talked Dad into shifting the herd from black baldies to the more "fashionable" continental breeds. Bought a one Limousin and few Charlet cows. Limousin only stayed a couple of years. Seemed it could jump about any fence and she was more dangerous to work around with a new calf. Also very quick moving; they called her the greyhound cow.

Most cows are good jumpers, with the right motivation. I had a Hereford, about 1200 pounds, who could do a standing jump over a four foot gate. Hard to picture how it could be done until you saw it...

I have a friend that has had them for a long time. He sold a bunch to another friend, who moved away so he sold them to another friend. I agree with most of the info here but I really think that they are a pyramid scheme like elk and llamas. nobody makes their money back except for those selling the breeding stock.

Back in the late 60's and early 70's a Colorado breeder won the carcass contest at the National Western Stock Show several times.

been raising them for about 12 years now ,the cows weigh 1000 to 1100 pounds,I cross them with herefords,they grow faster that way,very easy to take care of,no problems in the heat as long as they have some shade,they do great in the winter,never go in the shed even on the coldest snowiest days,I live in NW Wisconsin

No experience but did consider Santa Gertrudis at one time. Decided against it as wife did not want to get into cow calf operation.

Now I just buy my beef from a buddy of mine that raises black angus.

Here in Maryland few people raise them, mmainly because the market just isn't here, as for most exotic breeds. They're neat to look at, but if you go to an auction, they don't bring much. I've been raising Angus for over twenty years . About twenty years ago one of my first bulls was a hereford, and there is still some whitefaced influence in my herd from that bull. Some say the baldies are a great hybrid, and I won't argue that point. But if we have a handling problem, I can almost swear it will be one of the white faced calves. But, I have concentrated on black for years and have been very happy with them. A limo can be pretty mean, and the cross can be a pain- I have a neighbor who will attest to that. The hereford is a gentle breed, and fairly large. But at the auction will bring 20 cents less than a similiar Angus animal. Another aspect for my choice was horns. They look neat, but can be dangerous and are hard to work with in a chute. Even the auction barn has to run them down an open aisle because most chutes are designed at 30". Angus are good mothers, and very easy calving. Knock on wood, but I haven't had to pull a calf in about ten years, and we just had two more today. Angus also bring about a 20% better price at the auction, and more seems to have been done at the Association level to promote the breed. Yep- I like Angus.

only buffalo meat is leaner. skulls w/horns sell for $75 for biggest ones. De-horn a 1000 lb animal & you still have a 990 lb. animal. Horns aren't the most dangerous part of them. Anyway it makes it easier to rope 'em when they've got their head in the feed trough. they eat multiflora rose, thistle, locust. Take a beating at livestock sales tho. Have to have a niche market like West Virginia. Can't make any money in big cattle states except in the west.

i have a small herd of them and i love them!
easy keepers they will do good on hay that others won"t look at. you don"t need much of a shelter for housing most of the time they won"t go in the barn unless it a really nasty day like a blizzard or ones of those that is drizzle all day that soaks them to the skin. with all the hair they have i would think they get cold as they have very lttle body fat.
you don"t want to feed them much if any corn as they will get fat pdq.
don"t want to calve them until they are 3 year olds.
if you are interested send me an e-mail or call in too deep as he has my phone number.
i have some friends that have some heifers to sell.
i don"t have any of my own to sell as i sold everything i want to sell this year. i will have some calves to sell next fall.

I raise a few purebred highlands and some highland/gelbvieh crossbred cows. The purebred are ok to handle, mothers are protective but they handle well. They shed most of the long hair for summer and will handle heat into the 70's and 80's ok. As with any cattle, its good to have shade available if they want it.

I would think they would cross very nicely with angus. The calves are born on the smaller side though mature cows will have 80 to 90 pound calves. I have had no problems calving 2 yr old heifers bred to an easy calving gelbvieh bull.

I've never butchered any highlands myself but from what I've been told, it is very nice meat, lean and tasty.

My bull, though he has big horns, has never threatened me with them but I am wary of where those horns are when in close proximity to him. He likes to be scratched on the back and will stand like a big dog to get his fill of attention.

They take to the cold well, will be out eating in the coldest weather while the other cattle are hiding in the bush. I have noticed that the highlands will walk out into the slough and stand there on a hot day where the other breeds will not. They seem to love water. Also independent; they don't care what the other cattle are doing, they do their own thing when they feel like it.