Highland coos are Scottish and are the oldest cattle breed in the world, appearing in the 6th century in the Outer Hebrides (Scotland).

 

Highland cattle are often referred to as coos instead of cows. This is because they originated in Scotland and in Scotland they were called coos, a Gaelic word meaning cow.

 

Their lifespan is up to 20 years. That may not seem like a lot, but that is a longer lifespan than most all other breeds of cattle. 

 

Highland coos are often identified by their very impressive horns.  Aside from steering off predators, their horns also help them to rake up the snow and forage for food in the winter. Horns with purpose! 

 

Both male and female highland cows have horns. Male horns are thicker than female horns, and they curve forward with a slight upwards rise near the tip of the horn. Female coos have thinner horns that have a more obvious upwards curve.

 These coos have two layers of long shaggy fur, the warm undercoat and the oilier overcoat.

• Highland coos were originally mostly black in color. The Victorians preferred ginger cows, so they selectively bred them until they were lighter in color.

Highland coos are slow growing and mature at 4-5 years old. They are not ready to breed until around 2 years old. 

 

Highland coos come in various colors including black, red, yellow, white, silver, dunn and brindle

 

There is various sizing in highland coos as well. There are standard size coos, those are most notably like their ancestors ranging from 49-54" at the back. Over the years smaller highland coos have been bred together to make a smaller highland known as a mid-miniature in size which range from 42-48" at the shoulder. Some have been bred to be even smaller at the miniature cattle range of 36-42" Some highland coos in this range are mixed with other smaller type cows, this is always true for any highland coos in the micro mini range of under 36". Most of these crosses are done with Dexters, which are most notably chondro + cows. 

 

*You can research more about chondro in cows, we do not currently work with any chondro cows and therefore will not produce any cows in the micro miniature range.