The fundamental cattle philosophy of Thorbardin Ranch is that cattle are supposed to work for the ranch and not the rancher working for his cattle.In a nutshell, a ranch cannot afford to have cattle that require significant amount of time in assisting them with nursing a calf due to poor udders, pulling oversized calves, etc.
Cattle need to be complete in all their genetic components which include fertility, nursing, milking, weaned weights, feed efficiency and carcass quality when the animal has achieved its final goal.Thorbardin Ranch was able in a few short years to create one of the finest highland cattle herds in North America through rigorous culling and selecting animals that met our high standards.We expect to achieve similar results in our composite breeding program to produce cattle that meet our high standards that can do it all.
All of our cattle pass through Laramie at some point, grazing and growing at 7200 feet in elevation.This difficult environment has allowed us to develop cattle with excellent heart and lungs with extreme hardiness.(Cattle with weak hearts and lungs develop brisket disease at high elevations allowing fluid to build up in their brisket area resulting in death.) All of our calves are background in Laramie through their first winter.Yearling bulls and our replacement heifers are PAP (pulmonary arterial pressure) tested each spring to ensure our genetics continue to be suited for high elevations.
If you are interested in cattle, please contact us for status and location.Our cattle move from summer to winter pastures and other intense rotations which means sometimes there will be a delay in removing animals for sale due to location and facilities.
Bred Cattle
We do not foresee having bred cattle available for sale in the near future.
Bulls
We had 3 very good yearling bulls that we recently sold. Check back this fall for some mature bulls or next May for our next group of yearlings!
Calves/Yearlings
Currently we have approximately 60 highland cattle heifers, yearlings and 60 highland steers also yearlings available late this summer or September. This is the last of our highland cattle, these heifers are ideal for beef or for future breeding. All cattle are commercial, no papers!
