does any one raise the little highland cows? i hear they are very hardy and easy to handle, some on once told of a auction place in Ohio that sell exotics and they sell them and the belties , i am looking for 4 or 5 , depending on price.. any help would be great, hubby will cringe...LOL more mouths to feed! LOL Thanks rose [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
I train my dogs at a place a guy has the high land cattle and he has some really serious fences, but I must say he has showed me the cattle and they seem very tame including his bull who walks right up to you asking to be scratched between the eyes. He has a 4 foot horn span. This guy name is ken I do not believe he has a computer but I am sure he would be glade to talk to you. This cattle are really something to look at and the cows are very good mothers and as the bulls get older they get easier to handle is what I have been told. I am no expect.
thanks for reply, i have read so much about them, all say pretty easy to handle, i found some not to far way from me {150 miles or so} the farmer doesnt take the bull out of the field, even when babies are hitting the ground. so they must be pretty good not to want to hurt the newborns,{i was worried about that,} just getting in to the cow thing got lots to learn,guess gonna have to stop thinking like a "mule" and thinking like a cow LOL should be an intresting summer yeehaw! R
I have been doing a lot of research into highlands and it looks like my wife and I are soon going to be ready to take the plunge and start a hobby sized herd - two experienced calver females and a young bull perhaps.
There are several highland breeders within a two hour raidus of where I am. We visited one one who is the secretary of the regional highland association here. He had a fabulous operation. Most importantly we enjoyed hanging out with the livestock. Like you said, they are very very calm and of course I'm sure that regular handling helps. His bull ran among the main herd with older females, heifers, steers and small calves and was super quiet and easily handled - like a puppy dog.
They pretty much seem like an ideal breed for a hobby farm operation up here in Ontario, Canada where it is pretty darn cold right now. They don't need too much in terms of shelter - a loafing barn / windbreak etc. are not too tough on fences etc. and look fabulous to boot!.
In our case we are not looking to make any real kind of profit. We'd be happy to raise two steers for slaughter each year or so. So long as the livestock can pay for winter feed / maintenance and provide some home raised beef for the freezer to offset the food bills - thats all we are looking for.
I don't consider the time spent with small herd doing chores to be time I need to get paid for as it adds to my life - dosen't take away from it.
in april we got our hairy bovine{highland cattle} i am so pleased with them, they are laid back like my mules. we got 4, 2 cows, 2yr old bull and a 7 mo old bull were gonna keep for meat.. now we are looking for a couple more cows.. they will let you walk up to then and hand feed them, they are content and wont leave the field if gate is open. when moving them to other field for a few hours you have to toll them with hay to cross the gate opening.. after them munching around they go back to org field to lay down.. WoW! the one that you can really pet is to one that will be butcherd.. go figure? think he knows? LOL [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] so i dont know if he will be invited to dinner in a year or not LOL [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] Rose
Thanks for the update. We've decided to put our Highland plans off for a year - hope to start next spring. We have another human baby on the way this year and so we figured that the pastures could use a year of rest. Although bushhogging the to keep them clipped sure is making me wonder if we wouldn't have been better off getting the cattle this year :-)
How are they with your fences? I'm told that they are quite gentle.
congrats on your little one comming,hope all goes well. enjoy them cause they sure grow up fast! my 2 are 19 and 22 wow hard to belive..my oldest jsut finished up 4 yr at college here and now going another 4 yr at Ohio St. {vet med} youngest has moved to va to work and go to school there... got empty nest.. got more critters LOL
the highlands are very docile but i have read on cattle board that some are not. it depends if thay have had human contact,i would get some from a farm that keeps them in fields not open range.. they are good with the fence, got 5 strands of barb wire and 1 hot wire on inside they fence was built for the mules not cows at the time.. the new fence im gonna do 5 strands barb w/ one hot wire on inside but put the barb closer togeather. my thereoy.. hand span or a little more. our neighbor{ we farm with built existing fence}other field wont be near his house so i feel that i need it more scure. my highland have not ran the fence looking for trouble even when we first unloaded them.. was really impressed with that ! if it loads heres a pic of Momma D and T bone, momma loves to have her pic taken LOL Rose
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote