(864) 978-4987
Five Oaks Highlands and Spotted Drafts
201 Hickory Road
Williamston, SC 29697
(864) 978-4987
Five Oaks Highlands and Spotted Drafts
201 Hickory Road
Williamston, SC 29697
The Highland cattle breed has a long and distinguished history. The breed originated in western Scotland. The breed has now spread across the world. The Highland Breed is one of the oldest registered breed of cattle in the world. Written records go back to the 18th century. In 1885, the Highland Cattle Herd Book was first published. This herd book lists every pedigree since 1885.
The breed has remained largely unchanged over the centuries. There were originally two classes; the smaller and usually black Kyloe. Their primary domain was the islands off the west coast of Scotland. The other class was a larger animal that was generally red in color, who lived in the Highlands. Today we see many colors of cows: black, red, yellow, dun, silver, white, and brindle. Highland Cattle were first imported to North America in the 1880’s.
The breed was shaped by natural selection and it is best known for it’s hardiness, maternal abilities, reproductive efficiencies, and longevity. They are excellent foragers. They are efficient at improving pastures and clearing woodlands. A case in point is the Oak Savanna Restoration Project in Wisconsin where both the cattle and environment thrived from the cattle’s presence.
Highlands are medium in size, with cows weighing 900 to 1,300 pounds and bulls weighing 1,500 to 2,000 pounds. The horns of the cows sweep out and up and the horns of the bull are horizontal with upturned tips. The Highland breed is associated with the long, thick, flowing coat and sweeping horns. They have a double coat: long, coarse outer layer and a soft wooly inner layer. If you would like to learn more about Highland cattle, please click this name: The American Highland Cattle Association.
Written by Jaylyn Ettinger
There is no such thing as a miniature Highland, and certainly not a microminiature one. Adult Highland cows will average 1100-1400 lbs. Bulls generally range from 1700-2000 lbs. Not miniature.
Rising popularity of Highlands has brought out people trying to market smaller animals as “mini” Highlands, commanding high dollars for “pets”. Most often these are stunted, poor examples of the breed. There are many reasons for an animal to be on the small side. Maybe it is a case of placental insufficiency. Maybe the dam is older and her milk production/quality is declining. Maybe the calf was sick at some point. Maybe it has something congenital going on – bad heart, for example. Maybe the breeding combination just didn’t work – not every pairing clicks. Lots of different reasons.
Maybe the breeder deliberately withheld nutrition to stunt it. Some so-called “breeders” pull healthy calves off of healthy dams and feed the calves just enough to survive. Some misrepresent the age of the animal, claiming it is older than it actually is, so it seems small. I’ve heard of a few cases of people buying a very young calf as a miniature, with no instruction to feed milk replacer – and the calf is dead in a week.
Maybe the animal is not a purebred Highland, rather crossed with another breed – often Dexter. Crossbreeding is fine, as long as it is not being marketed as a purebred – and the sire & dam do not carry the chondrodysplasia (dwarf) gene. Many so-called miniature Highlands are the result of a Highland being crossed with a chondro Dexter. Breeding animals that carry the chondro gene increases the risk of bulldog calves (a lethal genetic defect).
For any reason, other than being crossbred, it is irresponsible to pass on those genetics. Not only do you risk passing on poor qualities, you risk endangering the cow and future calves. A “mini” Highland cow will still have regular Highland size genetics – and will have a normal sized calf, greatly increasing the risk of dystocia.
I think (I hope) the problem is, most of these “breeders” do not have cattle experience and are just jumping on a bandwagon. Inexperience is fine, ignorance is not. Highlands have so much to offer as a hardy beef breed, why on earth would you bastardize a grand old breed to produce substandard animals? If you want a Highland, even if just for a pet – please buy a well bred one from someone who has the breed’s best interest at heart.