Highland cattle

The Highlander has a long and distinguished ancestry, not only in its homeland of western Scotland, but also in many other parts of the world. It is one of Britain's oldest, most distinctive and best known breeds, with a long, thick, flowing coat of rich hair and majestic sweeping horns - a breed that has remained largely unchanged over the centuries. Highland cattle in their native Scotland thrive on areas of poor mountain land with high annual rainfall and bitter winds. They breed where no other cattle could exist. Making the most of poor forage, calving outside and seldom, if ever, being housed, they make a real economic contribution to hill and upland areas. The breed is exceptionally hardy with a natural and

unique ability to convert poor grazing efficiently. Highland cattle can even be found foraging 10,000 feet up in the Andes (and strangely enough so can alpacas!). They are remarkable for their longevity and many Highland cows continue to breed to ages in excess of eighteen years having borne fifteen calves.

Our own introduction to Highland cattle came when we were living in the Scottish Highlands. These wonderful, docile creatures were our neighbours for a number of years but we never

had the space to keep them ourselves. When we found our “bit of space” here in New Zealand, we were finally in a position to own some of these magnificent animals. We had a very definite idea, based on our time in Scotland, of just what a Highlander should look like (not red-haired, wearing a kilt and wielding a claymore!!). The Highland Cattle Society of Scotland established a breed standard in 1884 in which they are described as follows:

“..... generally, the quarters should be square between the hips and the tail, and from between the tail right down to between the hind feet. The legs, both before and behind, should be short and strong, the bones strong, broad, and straight, the hoofs well set in and large, and the legs well feathered with hair. The animal should be set wide between the fore-legs, and it should move with great dignity and style, as this is considered to be one of the most reliable evidences of careful and true breeding.”

Our preference is certainly for a shorter, stockier beast, with a broad, triangular head. There are, however, some breeders who seem to be breeding up from larger cattle whose shape is more conducive to maximising beef production whereas, originally, the Highlander’s preferred compact shape evolved to enable it to withstand a harsh environment.

We own and run the Creag Bhuidhe fold in partnership with our friends, Lois and Graeme Warburton, and have nowproduced our first pure-bred animals. However, our definition of a purebred cattle beast will be one which exhibits our conformation preferences irrespective of how many generations it may take to reach this point. Having now sold all of our foundation animals, we are currently only running our three pure-bred yearling heifers (called Muck, Eigg and Rhum after three Scottish Islands). They are beginning to show those characteristics that we are looking for, so we have high hopes for their progeny.