Angus vs. Highland ?

[Mike Fronczak]

We have 3 mature Highland cows & a Bull. When we bought the cows they were "bred", the guy had sold his bull early in his herd dispersal, so he borrowed the neighbors Black Angus bull, we ended up with 2 heifers & a bull calf (now steer) last season, that are half & half. My question is they seem higher strung, (examples; less respectful of the fences, begging for grain (we primarily feed grass/hay)). Is this a breed trait coming out or just the age ? They are between 10-13 months old now.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

IMHO, could be a breed trait. Some Angus cattle can be pretty high-strung and grain-starving than other bloodlines.

I think you already have a plan for them, but if I were you, I'd get rid of the heifers along with the steers. But, a bit of hybrid vigour from the cross may produce some good meat from those animals...

 

[jhm47]

There are high-strung cattle in every breed, and it is definitely genetic. Angus and Angus crosses are more high strung than my straight Simmentals. Just my observation over the years. Not picking on Angus, they have many great traits. If you see an AI catalog, you might notice that most Angus have a "docility" trait. This varies greatly among the many bulls available. Personally, I have no experience with Highlands. Nearly all the ranches around here raise Angus and Angus crosses. In my current job, I see thousands of cattle each year, and interact with nearly all of them in some manner.

 

[Rachel.And.Yue]

Highlands like Dexters are usually a very docile breed. We raise Irish Dexters and have come across highlands more then once. They seem more like the gentle, calm Dexters then our Angus and Angus cross cattle.

But in all breeds you will get a more high strung animal, especially if they are raised a certain way. Ours are all very friendly but only one cow and my bull are a bit more energetic. We also got one cow that was barely handled so she is very high strung

Angus cattle are high strung ish depending on who they are crossed with

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

We had one Angus cross heifer that was just down right high strung crazy. You could see it in her eyes. She didn't last long here. One that came from the same place, Angus cross when he was younger was high strung out of fear (if that makes sense) he was very leary and nervous - everyone was out to get him. Now that he is older and has "been around the block" a few times, he is actually our best steer, but is still leary of small children. Very different personality compared to our Herefords.

 

[GLENMAR]

I picked Highlands, but now my problem is how to get my cow bred. There are not as many of those around.

 

[Rachel.And.Yue]

I picked Highlands, but now my problem is how to get my cow bred. There are not as many of those around.

That will be a big problem when you choose a breed like this. Especially finding ones not closely related. Keep looking around. Sometimes there is a private farm that has a breed you are looking for but you never see them advertised. I know we have found some breeders just from driving around our area and watching what we pass.

We have the same problem with our Irish Dexters. We love the breed, raise registered stock but we are now having to look further then we would like for ones not related. Sadly we might have to get some non registered cows (but ones that CAN be registered if we feel like doing a lot of paper work, DNA tests etc.).

Forgot to mention in my last post, although it probably does not matter now, but our Angus crosses are not high strung. They can be a bit when spooked or have not been around humans as much as the others while growing but other then that they are friendly cattle. We crossed a Registered Angus bull to our Hereford x Angus cows last year so this year's calves are more like the Angus temperament. Their dams however took mostly the Hereford temperament. We have also crossed an angus with a dexter before and the resulting bull calf was a nice boy to be around.


Good luck finding the right bull!

Rachel

 

[GLENMAR]

Mine are not registered, and this seems to be a problem with some local Highland breeders. They don't want to flood the market with
low quality stock. I don't really understand this with cattle, I just want to raise 1 calf a year for my own freezer. I am not interested in selling
live cattle to anyone else, but I do like this breed.

 

[Rachel.And.Yue]

Mine are not registered, and this seems to be a problem with some local Highland breeders. They don't want to flood the market with
low quality stock. I don't really understand this with cattle, I just want to raise 1 calf a year for my own freezer. I am not interested in selling
live cattle to anyone else, but I do like this breed.

If you are just breeding one calf a year for your own freezer then you can go ahead and cross your cow with another breed. If you want a bigger sized calf go with angus or something similar. If you want to stay small, go with a dexter or dexter like breed. The temperament of the calf will depend on the personality of both parents.

Did you explain to the local Highland breeders what your plan is? Are there any near you with non-registered stock who will not have a problem with this?

Rachel

 

[Mike Fronczak]

Mine are not registered, and this seems to be a problem with some local Highland breeders. They don't want to flood the market with
low quality stock. I don't really understand this with cattle, I just want to raise 1 calf a year for my own freezer. I am not interested in selling
live cattle to anyone else, but I do like this breed.

If you are just breeding one calf a year for your own freezer then you can go ahead and cross your cow with another breed. If you want a bigger sized calf go with angus or something similar. If you want to stay small, go with a dexter or dexter like breed. The temperament of the calf will depend on the personality of both parents.

Did you explain to the local Highland breeders what your plan is? Are there any near you with non-registered stock who will not have a problem with this?

Rachel

Excellent advise. We got really lucky when we bought our bull he is the sweetest of all our cattle, I can already see his disposition in his calves which are all less than 2 months old, they are more friendly, have not been as disrecpptful of fences as last years, they are still rambunctious but all the calves have been when young. It's going to make for some tough decisions going forward as to keeping him or his daughters going forward.
The guy we bought him from I would never deal with again knowing what I know now. He and the two heifers we bought with him were what I would consider abused/mistreated he is the only one of the three we have left on our farm. Last summer was intresting watching him mature/grow/fill in, seeing him now he barely looks like the same animal.