FAQ

History of Highland Cattle
Colors of the Highland Cattle
Breed Characteristics
Registered Cattle versus Commercial Cattle
Buying Highlands
Buying Calves
Buying Cows
Buying Bulls
Myths of Buying and Selling Cattle
Care of Highland Cattle
Handling Equipment
Positives Attributes of Highland Cattle
Negative Attributes of Highland Cattle
Composite Breeding with Highland Cattle

History of Highland Cattle

The Highland cattle breed is one of the oldest purebred cattle breeds in the world. The breed originated on the outer islands and the highlands of Scotland hundreds of years ago. The breed was originally a dual-purpose breed supplying both meat and milk to the farmers on the cold and windy cost of Scotland.

The original Highland cattle were called Kyloes and were black and smaller than today’s Highland cattle. There are many magnificent stories of moving the Highland cattle from island to island to graze the grass on these rocky pastures, of putting calves into boats and having the mothers swim in the cold north Atlantic ocean moving to fresh pastures.

The Royal Highland Cattle Society was formed in the mid 1800’s with the first herd book being published in 1885. As with all cattle associations, the society was developed to maintain the beauty and uniqueness of the Highland breed along with future development and marketing of the breed.

The earliest importation to America on record was made consisting of 3 rail cars of heifers and bulls that were shipped to Moorcroft, Wyoming. These animals were trailed to the desolate prairie country known as the Powder River. The American Highland Cattle Association was started by a group of western Highland breeders from Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota in the 1950’s.

The first annual meeting was held in 1950 by mostly Montana and South Dakota cattle ranchers who owned these animals. Meetings have been held since around the country on an annual basis.

The Highland breed almost disappeared soon after WWI and through WWII due to lack of interest. The modern cattlemen also viewed their physical beauty of their horns and long hair along with their smaller frame as a detriment. The low numbers of highland cattle during this period resulted in Ayrshires, Shorthorns along with English Longhorns being used to diversify the gene pool and to grow the breed again.

Today the Highland cattle is slowly making a comeback. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy http://www.albc-usa.org/wtchlist.htm has the Highland breed as recovering. The uniqueness of their physical beauty coupled with their isolated and distinct gene pool makes it a valuable animal for the rancher and farmer to raise and to maintain the tradition of this great animal.

Currently there are over 1200 registered Highland breeders around the country including many in southern states who have adapted them to warmer climates. There are many more Highland owners who own and operate them around the country besides the listed members within the Association. There are also numerous county and regional fairs that feature Highland shows for individuals to get a first hand look at these great animals.

Return to top of page.

Colors of Highland Cattle

The Highland breed offers a wide spectrum of registered colors, 8 colors spanning from white to black. Red is currently the most popular and one of the strongest colors. The colors are white, silver (same as white, but with black nose and hooves), dun, yellow, red, brindle, black and parti (only heifers can be registered).

It is important to note that the rarer colors such as white, dun and black have a significant spread in the quality of genetics available. Because of the rarity of these colors, many breeders automatically keep breeding stock due to the strong demand whenever these colors are produced regardless of calf quality. Buyers need to be especially cautious and to make sure that in buying the rarer color animals that the quality is there as well.

Whites and silver highlands are truly spectacular to look at especially on show day. A calf born quite light yellow actually may turn white as it matures, similarly a white calf may turn yellowish as it matures. A silver highland animal will have the same white coat of a white animal but the main difference is the black nose versus pink along with darker black hooves compared to white or pale hooves on a white animal.

Yellow and red highlands are the most popular color today. Both colors probably have the strongest genetics in terms of conformation and growth. A large part of this is that because of the large number of yellow and red calves born each year there is a deeper pool of cattle to select from.

Most brindle calves are born red and after the first shedding of their calf coat, they will start to turn a brindle color especially around the face initially. It may take a full year or two for the full brindle color to take affect.

Duns are brownish or grayish. Many dun calves are born pure grey like a mouse, and it seems like overnight during the first few months they become dun in color. Duns can either be quite light or quite dark.

Black is the original color of the highland breed. In recent times black has become quite scarce. However with the tremendous marketing push of the Black Angus association and most other breeds turning black to become accepted to the modern cattle buyer in the northern states there has been an enormous interest in black highlands, especially black highland bulls to be used as heifer bulls on commercial black heifers. The bulk of this interest has occurred only in the past 5-years.

Parti color animals for a lack of a better description are long haired roan looking pattern highland cattle. There is quite a bit of controversy regarding the purity of these animals; however, it has been well documented that parti colored highland cattle were popular even centuries ago in Scotland. Only parti colored heifers may be registered in the American Highland Cattle Association.

Return to top of page.

Breed Characteristics

One topic of heated debate is breed characteristics. Arguments can be made on just about every point of an animal’s body. The bottom line is beauty is in the eye of the beholder or the buyer. The American Highland Cattle Association has been debating since its inception what is a perfect Highland and has yet reached consensus on this subject.

Thorbardin Ranch’s website has numerous photos of Highlands of all sizes, colors and shapes. The Champion page has many pictures of outstanding cattle and is a good starting point to see animals with above average conformation. http://www.thorbardinranch.com/champanim.html .

Over the past 150 years, Highlands have gone from black with curly hair to red with smooth hair. The show circuit, for better or worse, sets the stage for the next generation of Highland characteristics. The winners go home and breed cows, while many of the losers go home and end up in the freezer. What is in vogue today from color to hair style may disappear in 10-30 years from now as the next fad develops within the Highland breed. Each cattle breed has their own fads, while staying within the breed characteristics different traits are emphasized over time such as changing the animals from short to tall and back down to short just to name a simple one which many breeds have experienced over the past century.

Generally, Highland cows will weigh between 900 to 1,200 lbs at maturity. There are bloodlines, especially in the show circuit, that cows will average closer to 1500 lbs. The Thorbardin Ranch herd averages just slightly over 1,000 lbs with the heaviest cow just over 1,200 lbs. Highland bulls generally run between 1,400-1,800 lbs at maturity. Again, there are some over 2,000 lbs. A general rule of thumb, the more acres it takes to run a cow on, then the smaller the cow needs to be and to wean a calf and rebreed in a timely manner. It is no surprise that the western highland cattle are generally smaller (10-40 acres per cow) than many on the mid-west and east coast (1-5 acres per cow).

In the winter, Highland cattle should have long coats that are shiny. Hair coats that are rough, patchy or dull indicate mineral or feed deficiencies over prolonged periods. Depending on the climate, Highland cattle in hot and humid areas will shed significantly and slick down. The shedding process should be fairly quick and hair mattes in the middle of summer again show a nutrition problem for the animal.

Cows need to be feminine and bulls need to be masculine looking. Just like other cattle, Highland cattle need good conformation to walk the hills, browse, reproduce and to live a long life. Conformation is about good top and bottom lines, clean fronted, deep body, with a square back end. No animal is perfect and there are times that a poor conformation animal throws exceptional calves and vice versa. For those not familiar with cattle conformations there are a number of cattle text books that have the appropriate diagrams.

While we would all like the horns on the Highland cattle to be uniform and symmetrical, many times due to insignificant bruising of the horn during calf hood, horns will grow into funky shapes. Since the horns have no bearing on the reproduction status of the female or that matter the bull, the ultimate shape of the horns really have no functionality except to add beauty to the animal, except if you are operating cows in wolf country. Then horns become an exceptional weapon in dealing with predators.

Historically, cow horns swept up while bull horns swept forward. Working cattle in a corral or confined area, horns that sweep up are safer than those that sweep forward. Horns that sweep forward can easily catch and hurt an individual when an animal moves its head left or right to inspect another animal or is startled hearing a sudden noise such as a gate clanging shut. But, like color, each breeder has their own idea of a perfect set.

Cropped ears is a genetic trait that is quite unique to the Highland breed. To a northern cattleman, these ears look like the calves had their tips frozen off, but the reality is that the calves are born this way. Some breeders find these ears quite distasteful and stay away from bloodlines that carry this trait; to other breeders they are part of the uniqueness of the Highland breed. The American Highland Cattle Society has no opinion on this matter for registration while other societies such as in New Zealand prevents the registration of cropped ear cattle. In the 1800’s, a cropped ear calf was said to be touched by the fairies and was a sign of good luck. To Thorbardin Ranch way of thinking, these animals must be above average, if they were below average they would have said these calves were touched by the devil and most likely terminated at that point avoiding this humorous debate. Just like horn shapes, cropped ears have no bearing on the functionality of the animal to reproduce and to become an outstanding cow or bull.

For Highland cattle being a heritage breed and on the rare side, cropped ear genetics raises an interesting point. Cattlemen can easily see the uniqueness of a cropped ear calf at birth, while this trait is clearly visible without microscopes, DNA testing and other scientific means, it may indicate that in this heritage breed and probably many others that there may be uniqueness and opportunity for beneficial traits that we as livestock producers are not aware of.

Return to top of page.

Registered Stock versus Commercial Stock

Thorbardin Ranch gets this question quite a bit from new breeders regarding what type of stock to buy. Fortunately, there is no right or wrong answer. In theory, registered stock should be better than commercial stock; however, that is rarely the case. Registered cattle stock of all breeds is more about the accuracy of the pedigree than it is about quality. The reality of it becomes quite clear that a rancher is going to give a high dollar animal more chances than a cheaper commercial grade cow. Those more chances will allow problems to be introduced into the breed in question and allowed to propagate such as lower fertility or poor udders. A commercial cattleman has tighter margins with little room for non-producing animals and are quicker to terminate them.

Because of its large size, Thorbardin Ranch has little internal problems in terminating poor producers regardless of age and open cows whether they are papered or not. We treat both the registered Highland cattle and our commercial cows in a similar manner. They either wean a good calf each fall or they are removed from the program. In our program close to 90% of Highland bull-calves for example produced by registered cows end up in the feedlot sold as beef.

If you want to show at any of the regional Highland breed shows, then the Highland breeding stock must be registered. In addition, unlike many commercial breeds today there is a very limited market selling non-papered breeding stock to new individuals. Registered stock is more expensive to buy and to maintain.

There are many Highland breeders around the country who started with registered stock and because of life’s incessant demands from various directions finds it is not worth the time or labor to maintain the paperwork along with the various fees to keep the cattle registered. They may have found that they are good beef producers and do not need or have the market to sell breeding stock.

Over 90% of all cattle operations fall under commercial operation with grade cows. The vast majority of commercial cattle operations of all breeds calve out in the spring and the rancher or farmer then sells the calves in the fall to a regional buyer or through an auction yard. The more progressive operators will enter into retained ownership options of keeping the calf through back grounding and through the feedlot stages and finally selling the animal as a carcass at one of the packing plants.

There are also a number of commercial cattlemen who sell breeding stock at prices that beat many pedigree operations. These cattlemen have sterling reputations built upon years of experience in producing quality cattle that make other owners proud to own them and are highly productive.

The difference between buying registered stock and commercial stock comes down to pricing and your own individual goals of what you want to accomplish with the cattle.

Quality cattle is going to be costly regardless of whether it is papered or not. A good cattle producer knows what they produce and the quality of it along with its value. In many instances a buyer is buying valuable time, years of breeding to get to this point.

Return to top of page.

Buying Highlands

It is important to buy quality Highland cattle from reputable breeders. While there are many quality breeders around the country, there are a few breeders who will take advantage of new ranchers wanting to own Highlands. If you wonder about a breeder and whether there has been any complaints against them, please don’t hesitate to call the American Highland Cattle Association, especially if you are buying registered stock.

It is also highly recommended that a new breeder visits and talks to as many farms and ranches as possible, not just Highland cattle operations but other breeds as well. Every operation has a unique management style. Some are outstanding and some are not.

Here are some signs to look for when viewing animals in anticipation to buying.

• How clean are the corrals? After viewing a few operations, a new buyer should have an idea of good management and poor management.
• Are the animals covered in mud and mud balls? All ranches and farms are at times muddy; however, if it seems extreme compared to other farms in the area, there may be a problem.
• Are the animals primarily in confinement during most of the year? Cattle are pasture animals, the more time they spend grazing instead of being confined and fed hay, the healthier they are.
• Cows should be lazy around the water hole and be relaxed while chewing their cud. Cows need to look content whether they are grazing or laying around. Cattle that are balled up with tails going a hundred miles an hour indicate fly or other problems.
• Cows need to look full, seeing ribs or seeing the backbone indicates a malnourished cow. Cows are like people, you don’t want them too fat nor do you want them starved.

There are some basic questions to ask the seller when buying stock.

• Do you attempt to sell all your bull calves as breeding stock? Quality cattle breeders only sell 10-30% of their bull calves as breeding bulls. The balance of bull-calves need to be castrated (steered) and fattened and sold as beef. Breeders who sell every bull-calf as breeding stock should be looked at very carefully.
• Do you attempt to sell all your heifer calves as breeding stock? Again quality cattle breeders will only keep 20-50% of their heifers as replacements and for breeding stock, the rest need to be marketed as beef heifers (fattened and sold for beef). Again, someone who sells their entire heifer crop as breeding stock should be looked at very carefully.
• What is your vaccination program? All cattle should be vaccinated with 7 or 8-way which controls the major bacteria induced diseases plus some type of virus shield that control BVD, PI-3, IBR and BRVD. Regardless of whether the breeder is all-natural or not, a good vaccination program is not against all-natural rules and is a cheap and wise investment. Heifers should be bangs vaccinated by the vet, the majority of western states will not allow un-vaccinated bangs mature (11-12 months of age or older) females into their states from another state.
• When have the cattle been dewormed? Deworming is essential to good cattle health. It can keep the animal fit with reduced feed input (not feeding a few million intestinal worms). Some parasites such as lung or liver flukes can eventually kill an animal.
• Ask the seller where and how they sell their calves that go into the beef program. Is there a regional buyer? Or do they retain ownership and finish themselves to sell locally to individuals? Don’t expect to get their customer list, but they should provide the regional buyers who will buy their calves each year. This is also a trick question, if they don’t have any beef animals, it means the breeder is keeping all stock as breeding stock.

Return to top of page.

Buying Highland Calves

Buyers need to be wary in buying young animals, especially calves that are younger than 4 months of age. Weaning calves from their mothers is extremely stressful. This stress can in many instances causes pneumonia, scours (diarrhea) or coccidiosis (parasitic disease). The mortality rate of calves at weaning time is much higher than most cattle operators want. All calves should be weaned a minimum of 14 days and preferably 30 days from their mothers before being shipped to a new home.

Calves should be alert with clear eyes. Cloudy eyes mean the calf at some time has experienced pink eye. This may or may not effect how the animal grows and functions. It will depend on the severity of the infection that the calf experienced.

Alert calves hold their heads up and are aware of their surroundings. Lethargic animals are signs that it may be fighting a cold or a fever. Other signs of health problems is loose stools, bloody stools (coccidiosis), snotty noses, and coughing. While many times these are temporary problems, be willing to come back in a few weeks to re-inspect the animals if in doubt.

All calves should be properly vaccinated including their booster shots prior to shipment along with being dewormed. If shipping long distances, a shipping fever vaccination (Pasteurella haemolytica, P. multocida, and Haemophilus somnus) a few days prior is highly beneficial. Shipping fever is pneumonia caused by stress.

Buyers should be aware that in buying six or seven month old calves, it is truly impossible to determine how they will mature and how productive they will be. It is not uncommon for a heifer calf to mature and never become bred; similarly with a bull calf of never being able to breed a cow because of fertility issues.

Young bull calves need to be examined to insure they have two testicles. Thorbardin Ranch does not believe in buying bull calves as breeding stock; however, many breeders like to gamble in this area. One way to improve your odds is to check that the prospective bull has two testicles. Even a novice should be able to feel the scrotum and feel the two individual testicles. To avoid being kicked, please be gentle.

Some questions to ask the seller when buying calves.

• If there are multiple bulls on the property, are the calves being sold been DNA tested to certified parentage? More and more reputable breeders are using DNA testing over the honor system to verify sire parentage of the calf. All of the natural sired calves sold as registered stock for example by Thorbardin Ranch are DNA’d to certify who the sire is.
• Are the heifers bangs vaccinated or will they be prior to pickup? Young heifers under the age of 11 or 12 months depending on the state should be bangs vaccinated regardless of them being registered or not. Only veterinarians can bangs vaccinate heifers.
• Are any of these calves being sold been bottle babies? Bottle babies are calves that have been taken from their mothers due to a number of reasons such as bad udders, bad teats, twins, or other strange reasons and fed by hand by the owner using milk replacement formula. While bottle calves are quite friendly, they rarely ever achieve their genetic growth potential and many are quite stunted and a bit pot-bellied. Few people can truly replace nature’s perfect milking machine in a mother cow that is available 24/7 with the best milk of all.

Return to top of page.

Buying Highland Cows

A cow is by definition a female that has given birth. A bred heifer on the other hand is about to give birth for the first time. A heiferette is typically an open heifer after given birth once. Heiferettes normally end up in the feedlot because they have lost their calves or did not rebreed after the first calf.

Heifers need to be watched closely during calving. These are new mothers. Their gestation is quite random compared to a mature cow with multiple calves under her belt. It is not uncommon for heifers to be plus or minus 2 weeks from a normal gestation period of 281 days. Heifers are typically a headache to calve for ranchers. Their pelvic has yet to be expanded and all sorts of problems can result with a new mother. Death losses will run the highest in calving heifers compared to a group of mature cows of similar genetics.

In the cattle industry, females are bought in quantity quite often. It is routine for most major auction yards to sell 2,000 to 4,000 bred cows in a single day. Most ranchers buying females know that if they buy right and buy enough head, it will work out in the end. Buying a single female is a gamble.

Yearling heifers are young heifers about 12-15 months of age getting ready to be bred for the first time. Thorbardin Ranch breeds all replacement heifers at the age of 15 months to calve at 24 months of age. The majority of Highland breeders don’t breed their heifers until the age of two with them to calve out near three years of age. Yearling heifers offer the most potential to buyers, it allows the buyer to set the upcoming calving season along with using their own bulls.

Bred heifers are often sold in the fall and early winter. A fancy lot of bred heifers will normally be top selling bred cows for the day at an auction yard. Fancy meaning great conformation, uniform size and weight, excellent breeding and excellent reputation of the seller.

Bred cows are often available in late fall, winter and through the spring. Cows are further broken down by age by calling them solid mouth, spreaders and broken mouth or short term (few or no teeth). Pricing is of course the highest for solid mouth animals and is reduced downward from there. Many young and new ranchers have gotten their start by buying quality broken mouth cows and building from there.

Pairs are cows with calves at the side, these typically start selling in late January through the spring and early summer. Cows normally sold this way are usually open and have not been exposed to a bull.

The cattle industry rarely sells cows that have been exposed but not confirmed pregnant or open. Exposed cattle are a losing proposition for one of the parties either the seller or the buyer. The buyer wants to hedge their bets that not all the cows are pregnant, while the seller wants to achieve maximum value assuming they are.

Some questions to ask the seller when buying cows.

• If buying mature cows that have calved, ask to see the udder scores that the breeder keeps. There are very few cattle owners who want to be putting a cow, no matter how nice, into a chute and milk her out so the newborn calf can finally get those massive teats into their hungry mouths.
• Ask for as much information regarding the cows as possible such as disposition, calving history, etc. A good breeder either in a book, spreadsheet or AHCA worksheet will have detailed information regarding the cow’s life history. Thorbardin Ranch scores all its cows for udder, teats, disposition at birth along with good estimates of calf weights and calving ease. There are some very friendly cows that will still try to stomp the owner for the first few days after calving until the hormones clear out of her system, these trivial facts are nice to know before hand.
• If buying bred cows or heifers, ask what is the calving season. When did the bulls go in and when did the bulls get pulled. Reputable cattle breeders have set breeding seasons. Cows need to be watched carefully during calving time. Breeders who leave bulls in on a year round basis can result in having calves born at anytime of the year, which may make it quite inconvenient for a family vacation or some other special event that can be interrupted by a cow calving with problems.
• If the cows you are interested in are older animals, ask to see the registration papers if you are buying papered animals. Older cows should already be registered, the fees go up sharply for registering older animals. Many buyers of supposedly registered animals have been burnt because of a wide variety of reasons and papers are never received by the buyer.
• Ask who is paying for the registration transfer of the papers to you? A reputable seller will pay for all the fees to transfer the registration to you.
• Ask the seller where they sell their cull cows? Cull cows are sold through the local auction yard because they are no good anymore or slaughtered for burger by their owners. Cull cows are no longer breeding stock. Cull cows are bought by packinghouses for burger purposes. Thorbardin Ranch sells approximately 10% of its cow herd each year as culls. There are lots of reason why cows get moved to the cull list, some of them are: not being pregnant, poor udders or teats, weaned calf weights have dropped significantly, old age, and poor body score in the fall. If the seller indicates they have never sold a cull cow, guess who is probably buying one.

Return to top of page.

Buying Highland Bulls

Buying a bull is a major investment. A bull will represent over 50% of a herd’s genetics. Taking the time to find the right bull is important and buying a quality bull is critical. It is far better to buy average cows and put an exceptional bull on them, instead of buying exceptional cows and putting a poor bull on them.

Small and large ranchers always need to have a Plan B in the back of their minds in the event that one of their bulls get hurt just prior or during breeding season. The cattle business is about getting cows bred and weaning good calves. The bull is what makes this work. So even though you may have a bull and no current need of another, it is extremely wise to be aware of other bulls that you like or sources that you can acquire a good bull with minimal notice.

Conformation is all important in buying a bull because your replacement heifers will also carry this trait along with your steers.

Look for bulls with large scrotums. One of the best correlations in the cattle business is that bulls with large scrotums produce females with high fertility rate. Which means, large scrotum bulls mean fertile females. And fertility is the number one economic trait in the cattle business.

Some questions to ask when buying a bull.

• In buying bulls, the buyer needs to ask that the seller as part of the seller’s expense provide a breeding soundness exam of the bull. Prior to pick up, the buyer should have the results of the breeding soundness exam. If the seller balks or is unwilling to do this, run and find another breeder who will. Thorbardin Ranch as a matter of practice provides a breeding soundness exam for all bulls sold. A breeding soundness exam is conducted by a license veterinary, who measures the scrotum circumference, semen quality, and insures that a bull can fully extend his penis. A bull passing his breeding soundness exam insures that the bull is capable of breeding cows.
• If it is a mature bull, ask to see some of his offspring such as steers or heifers. Nothing helps more in buying a bull than seeing his offspring. If you like the offspring that helps a lot. In theory, a bull should produce a calf better than him and great bulls do that. Poor bulls no matter how good they look fail at reproducing themselves.
• If buying a mature (non-virgin) bull west of the Mississippi River, ask the seller to conduct a Trichomoniasis test of the bull. Trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted parasite and causes abortions in bred cows. It cannot be cured which will require any bull testing positive to be slaughtered. The majority of the western states such as Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho and others for example require all non-virgin bulls entering to be tested for trichomoniasis, so you should too.

Return to top of page.

Myths of Buying and Selling Cattle

Thorbardin Ranch buys and sells over a 1,000 head of cattle each year through many different channels that are available to us. It has provided us with a certain perception and knowledge of the cattle trade that is invaluable.

• My highland cattle are unbranded (slick) so I don’t need brand papers to sell them in the west. A brand state requires all cattle whether branded or not to have brand papers for transport. Some states like Wyoming and Colorado actually require brand papers to move animals across county lines regardless of whether a change of ownership has occurred. A Wyoming brand paper can also provide title to the animal in possession. Brand papers are cheap ($1.50 to $3.00 per head) compared to the fines (many hundreds of dollars) given out.
• I only have a few head crossing state lines, so I don’t need health papers. Health papers are required for all cattle crossing state lines. Health regulations can change suddenly in response to a disease outbreak. Most health papers are quite simple and require your local vet to call the receiving state for a permit number. This allows the receiving state to track the cattle in the event there is a disease outbreak. It also makes sure that all appropriate tests have been conducted for the cattle to enter the state in question.
• I have non-bangs vaccinated cows that I want to sell into Wyoming. I’ll just call the State Vet to get them in. Honestly, if the State of Wyoming Vet could reach through the phone and grab the caller by the neck and wring him, he probably would do it. Wyoming has lost it’s bang’s free status in the past year. Health regulations changed overnight as a result, both internally and for shipping to other states. Thorbardin Ranch is not going to buy non-bangs vaccinated cows from outside the state and try to bring them here. And the Wyoming State Vet is not going to make an exception for anyone at this time.
• Pasture exposed cows are equal to bred cows. If you like buying the lottery tickets each week, buying pasture exposed cows and expecting them all to be bred is the same. While the odds are slightly better, they are not close to a 100%. The cattle industry standard for bred cows with a 60-day breeding season is around 80%. There are many reasons why a cow that calved out may not rebreed again in the appropriate time or ever. A slight infection in the uterus or ovarian tubes etc as a result of calving can cause permanent sterility in the cow. There are literally hundreds of reasons why a cow is not pregnant when you wish she was. A good vet especially with ultrasound can verify that a cow is bred as early as 30 days.
• A bull-calf is equal to a bull. Thorbardin Ranch has never quite figured out why someone would pay enormous dollars for a bull-calf. There are no guarantees that a bull-calf will grow up and become a bull. A bull is by definition an animal that has passed its breeding soundness exam and is capable of breeding cows.
• I’ve let my membership dues slip the past few years, but all my cattle can be registered. There are many sayings that come to mind when we hear breeders say this. The most prominent is that a fool and his money are soon parted. We won’t say they can not ever be registered in all cases, but if a breeder has slipped in their membership for a few years it is going to be costly and extremely difficult. The American Highland Cattle Association frowns upon this type of paperwork and one of AHCA’s chief responsibilities is maintaining the accuracy of pedigree papers. AHCA may require significant DNA testing to verify parentage within the herd. If the all important herd sire is dead or gone to another ranch it may be impossible to get the appropriate DNA testing done. And depending on the size and number of animals it can easily run into thousands of extra dollars to test and register these animals if it is even feasible and if AHCA approves it. If you have questions regarding an American Highland Cattle Association member or the potential to register a particular animal or herd, please give them a call at (303) 292-9102 or email them at ahca@envisionet.net

Return to top of page.

Care of Highland Cattle

The care of Highland cattle is quite similar to other cattle breeds with regards to vaccination programs, deworming, sound mineral usage, and most importantly the better the pasture the better the cattle.

Most breed associations stretch the truth to promote the breed. Hearing individuals talk about this great breed, many newcomers believe that Highland cattle can gain weight with minimal feed and care and almost walk on water.

The Highland breed is a great breed of cattle, but like all cattle it does take some work to make them good cattle. At all times the cattle need a steady supply of quality water. Quality water is low in total dissolve solids (TDS), low salt content, low nitrates, low sulfates along with no other toxic impurities. Essentially, if you can drink or want to drink the water with no problems, it is ideal for your cattle.

Feeding: good pastures make good cattle. Highland cattle love to browse especially willows, cottonwoods and poplars along with many other shrubs and occasionally some weeds. However, Highlands still need great pastures with quality grass and legumes (alfalfa and clovers). Highland cattle can bloat on pure pastures of clover or alfalfa like regular cattle. Highland cattle can also incur pine needle abortions if allowed to eat pine needles due to snow cover. In an over grazed pasture, Highlands like other cattle will be forced to eat poisonous plants and can die as a result.

Winter feeding will require 2.2 to 2.5% of their body weight in feed. Therefore, a 1,000 lb cow will require 22-25 lbs per day of quality hay. Quality hay does not need to be second or third cutting alfalfa, but simply hay that has protein ranging between 8-12% in content. The hay should not be moldy as it can be toxic and cause abortions to pregnant cows. Small grain hay should be checked for nitrate levels before feeding, especially oat hay.

While Highland cattle are a calving ease breed, calving problems can still occur. With its large numbers, Thorbardin Ranch experiences a few breaches each year including a leg back. Calves still have to be checked to insure that they have nursed. Scours can still claim calves soon after birth if not properly vaccinated for them.

For more information on the care and keeping of cattle, please check our newsletter archive where past newsletters deal with a multitude of issues involving animal care, http://www.thorbardinranch.com/newsletter.html

Return to top of page.

Handling Equipment

A cattle owner has certain responsibilities for the care and well-being of their stock. In order to handle cattle safely and responsibly, an owner must have certain equipment such as exterior fences (neighbors like these); interiors fences are also helpful for pasture rotation, corrals and finally a tight alleyway that an animal can be confined in to give shots by either the owner or a vet.

Large animal vets are becoming scarcer as the bulk of the money is made on dogs and cats. We know that our vets are slow to respond to ranchers with minimum or lacking facilities to handle a sick animal or for routine vaccinations. Tying a cow to a fence post or a tree in the middle of the pasture or having the sick animal out somewhere in the pasture and not in the corral does not endear yourself to future service.

Exterior fences need to be solid. In the open prairie, a 4 or 5 strand barbed wire fence is standard. A properly installed barbed wire fence will last 40-50 years. The old saying that good fences make good neighbors is quite true. Electric fences such as high tensile wire with a powerful charger can also work. Electric fences work not by the strength of the wires, but by the shock. If the charger is not working or the fence gets grounded out (which they do), your cows could end up in the neighbors fields or garden.

Interior fences can often be electric. Thorbardin’s Buffalo Ranch interior fencing is entirely electric and based on the substantial cost savings between barbed wire and electric fencing, all interior fencing at the Laramie Ranch will eventually be electric.

Corrals come in all shape and sizes depending on the herd size. Corrals need to be connected into a corner of a pasture fence line. Corrals sitting by themselves in the middle of a pasture don’t work all that well. Picture threading a needle and that is quite similar with trying to get a cow through a gate in the middle of nowhere when she knows she is about to get a shot.

Corrals can be constructed out of wood or pipe. All large operations are typically pipe. It is actually amazing what a small group of cows can do to wood posts when confined. Corrals need to be designed appropriately for the size of herd that one expects to have. A hundred by hundred cell for 5 head can be quite a work out depending on their mood.

There are many design books, the most noted and freely available is by Dr. Temple Grandin, professor at Colorado State University. Her website has numerous designs that are freely downloaded at www.grandin.com. Her website is loaded with lots of good articles and thoughts of how to handle and move animals in a safe and calm manner.

New corrals being built today should have their own water source from a tub or an electric waterer. Corrals should not be built adjacent to and near live water or even that matter to a pond. There is a growing concern over animal waste entering the watershed and it is highly probably over the next couple of decades that cattle will be prevented from accessing any streams or rivers.

All corrals should have a working area where single animals can be processed such as in an alley way or leading to a squeeze chute. A small operation can get by with a simple homemade alley way of railroad ties as posts with pipe panels wired to them with maybe with simple head catch at the end of the alley way. Alley ways need to be 29 or 30 inches in width to work mature cattle, 400 or 500 weight calves can still turn around in this size alley way.

Larger operations should have a squeeze chute. There are a large number of manufactures of these. Thorbardin Ranch prefers a Pearson branded squeeze chute. A Pearson unit uniformly squeezes the animal from both sides allowing the easy working of any size animal from calf to mature cow and most large bulls. The Pearson can also have a side release panel that is beneficial when working large bulls. The Pearson also comes in many sizes and with numerous options. Horned cattle should have horizontal bars on the chute to make it easier for them to walk through.

Thorbardin Ranch has also used a Powder River Longhorn Chute for many years with great success. We avoid using the head catch as much as possible with horned animals. Even preg checking, we just slide a pipe behind the animal while she is in the chute, allowing the vet to easily and safely get behind the cow to determine whether she is pregnant.

Other general equipment that all cattle owners should have is vaccination guns, OB chains, basic antibiotics on hand such as penicillin and tetracycline. If you expect to use boluses then a boluses gun is also quite handy. Iodine is also important to have around, the treatment of abscesses require them to be drained of puss (sharp knife, strong stomach) and then rinse with an iodine/water solution followed by a shot of tetracycline.

Return to top of page.

Positive Attributes of Highland Cattle

Highland cattle have a number of very positive attributes that can aid a purebred cattleman or even improve a commercial operation with the appropriate selection and use of Highland genetics. Maternally, Highland cows are impressive coupled with calving ease. They are protective of their calves and are quick to get their calves up and ready to nurse. The calves typically weigh 65 lbs for heifers and 70 lbs for bull calves. These calves have a tremendous amount of vigor at birth and their ability to get up and get moving and nurse with minimal assistance makes them valuable to range operations.

Hardiness is one of the most publicized traits of this great breed. With their long coats and thick hides, they are ideally suited for the northern cattlemen. The bulk of the Highlands are easy keepers during the winter months. Easy keeping as a result of their hardiness saves overhead, feed costs and maintains good body condition for quicker breed back.

One important aspect in looking at buying cattle that is hardy, a buyer must look at the environment and the management of the cattle. Breeders who provide shelter and barns along with other amenities to protect and baby their cattle are going to have less hardy stock than those who operate cattle on the range with no shelter on a year round basis.

The big 3 traits that attracted Thorbardin Ranch to this breed was mothering, calving ease and of great importance carcass quality. There is a difference between a cattle rancher and a beef producer. A cattle rancher worries about pounds delivered at weaning time to his calf buyer, while a beef producer worries about the quality of the steak on a family’s table. Generally, the Highland cattle breed has produced exceptional carcasses for the company. With its large carcass quality database, Thorbardin Ranch consistently produces high quality carcasses both on quality grades but of equal importance on yield grades.

An example of a commercial kill of Highland and Highland composite cattle is given on the following link carcass data . The one problem with purebred Highland cattle is their ability to grade and finish at times too light with a penalty incurred for producing carcasses below 550 lbs. This problem is eliminated in the composite breeding of the Highlands with Angus. The kill data shows even with a few penalties for light carcasses, Thorbardin Ranch averaged a bonus of $52 based on its high quality.

Return to top of page.

Negative Attributes of Highland Cattle

There is no perfect cattle breed and the Highland breed is no exception. In general terms, the Highland breed is considered an unimproved breed in that it was never developed as one of the major commercial breeds in modern times like the Shorthorns, Herefords and the Angus to name a few. It is also known as a heritage breed. This means that the selection process was not for growth or efficiency nor are there EPD’s like many of the modern commercial breeds. They are slower growing than the commercial breeds of today.

Thorbardin Ranch currently operates the largest performance testing program in North America for the development of Highland cattle. Thorbardin Ranch puts its Highland and Highland composite bulls on test in Laramie, Wyoming on a simple ration of chopped grass hay and high protein sources such as brewers pellets and/or oats. The bulls are periodically weighed, with a final breeding soundness exam along with ultrasound of the bulls to determine their ribeye areas, marbling and backfat. To see previous year’s results or to see this years progress click on the following link: http://www.thorbardinranch.com/bulltest.html

More specifically, many of the Highland owners today have them for the uniqueness and beauty and own them more as a hobby than as a ranching business. This in turn has led many sub par animals to be kept as breeding stock. This in turn has bred some problems into the breed such as poor conformation, bad udders, and low growth rates. The most notable is poor udders that many highland bloodlines have. Thorbardin Ranch has worked hard over the years to terminate these particular bloodlines and to only develop bulls from cows with exceptional udders.

Finally, a large negative to the breed is the lack of financial liquidity that is comparable to the commercial cattle of today through auction yards and traditional venues of marketing cattle. Taking purebred Highland cattle through an auction yard can be a recipe for financial disaster.

The only approach to market highland calves that are not kept or sold as breeding stock is through retained ownership with direct sales to individuals or to contact Thorbardin Ranch or other regional Highland calf buyers to buy your calves. Thorbardin Ranch, through its own feedlot, finishes the animals and sells on the rail and the value received depends on the quality of the carcass and whatever the day’s market rates are.

Retained ownership of steers and beef heifers requires feeding and care for the animals up to 20-30 months before receiving your income check. It also requires a significant amount of marketing to individuals and may limit opportunity to own more cows. Not all breeders have the skills to market nor the time and desire.

The cattle business is a slow business to establish a reputation. It can easily take 5-10 years to develop known bloodlines and a reputation for producing quality breeding stock, which means in the meantime, the bulk of the calf crop will be going for beef. Be practical and conservative in an approach to market your calves. Talk to other breeders and identify where and how and when you can sell your calves.

Return to top of page.

Composite Breeding with Highland Cattle

Thorbardin Ranch has a number of years and much experience in composite breeding with Highland cattle. We have equal experience using Highland bulls on commercial cattle of all colors along with non-Highland bulls on Highland cows. The general rule that quality bulls breeding quality cows produce quality calves is extremely true. We have used both Red and Black Angus bulls along with Simmental and Shorthorn bulls on Highland cows and have achieved some remarkable calves. The Ranch has also used many Highland bulls on commercial cows including Herefords, Black and Red Angus along with many composites also with very good results.

Hybrid vigor in using Highland genetics with other breeds is a given. Because of the distinct gene pool of the Highland breed compared to other commercial breeds today, composite Highland calves do remarkably well with growth because of hybrid vigor.

The most common question is whether to use an Angus bull on Highland cows or a Highland bull on Angus cows. Both methods work; however, one is averaging birth weights up while the other approach averages birth weights down. Putting an Angus bull on Highland cows will average those birth weights up, assuming it is a normal Angus bull. While a Highland bull on Angus cows will average those birth weights down. Because of the limited numbers of Highland cows, it is far easier to buy 100 Angus cows and find a few good Highland bulls than to find 100 Highland cows. Therefore, for those reasons, it is preferential to put Highland bulls on Angus cows.

Some of the benefits of composite breeding with Highland bulls is reducing the frame size of the Angus or most commercial cattle frames. The birth weights are also reduced using a Highland bull. It does not mean that there will never be a big calf born, but it will mean a significant reduction in birth weights over the long haul.

Both the hair and the horns are recessive traits in the Highland cattle. This means that a polled cow will take the horns off the resulting calf. In addition, the hair coat is greatly reduced.

Thorbardin Ranch has not experienced much, if any, of a discount selling Highland cross calves through an auction yard (we will never be top seller for a particular day). However, we have a growing reputation for having a good vaccination and mineral program, and the calves are fully weaned for 30-days prior to going to a sale barn.

We expect in 2005 to use only Highland and Highland composite bulls on all our cows.

Return to top of page.