Coo(l) facts

  • Highlands use their long and distinctive horns to forage for food during snowy winters. They can dig deep into pastures that have been covered with snow to eat the grass underneath. Frozen food.
  • The hair or “bangs” on their forehead often covering their eyes is called a “dossan”.
  • The outside of their double coat of hair is the longest of any cattle breed. Guess that makes them Coo Rapunzels.
  • For show purposes, Highland cows are sometimes groomed with oils and conditioners to give their coats a fluffy appearance. It leads some outside the industry to call them “fluffy cows” or “hairy cows”.
  • Today Queen Elisabeth II is the patron of the Highland Cattle Society. A Royal treatment the majesty of Highland Cattle worthy.
  • Heilan Coos are eco friendly. They are smaller and thus lighter than other cattle. They have a natural light-footedness that makes them ideal for conservation grazing. They trample areas of bracken, allowing flowers to flourish, their dung provides excellent fertilizer for the ground and they don’t trim the vegetation as closely as nibbling sheep do because they pull up grass and plants with their tongues. And by becoming attached to their coat, wildflower seeds are spread all over.
  • That said, they can eat up to 70 kg of plant matter a day. Per coo. Because "food is life”.
  • These coos are real landscapers: they create a browse line on the trees, by eating the leaves and twigs within their reach.
  • Scottish Highlanders are extremely intelligent and though their appearance may hide it, very athletic. They jump over a fence as elegant as a jumping horse would (yes, ours have done so too…) and they can reach a running speed of 40 km/h.
  • Highland cattle has not changed in over 200 years and is one of the purest breeds in the world. They’ve been aging gracefully.
  • The horn spread of an older cow can be 90 to 120 cm wide. Talking about a crown worthy of the breed.
  • The mother of a calf is called a Dam. Papa is called a Sire. Really, everything about this breed is regal.
  • The Highland breed is primarily a female breed for it is the unique qualities of the female that are passed on to her offspring. So being able to follow the female line is important. Girls on top.
  • Highland coos make everyone go lyric. Even the breed standards reads like a declaration of love: “Of all the representatives of our British bovine breeds, the Highlander has the grandest and most picturesque head. It is, indeed, to his head that he owes his great favour among artists. As a rule, it is most proportionate to the body of the animal, and is broad between the eyes, while short from the eyes to the point of the muzzle. The forelock between the eyes should be wide, long and bushy, and any nakedness or bareness there is certain to detract from the appearance of the animal. Some would almost have the hair so wide there as to obscure the eyes, but this in many cases would be allowing one good point to over-shadow another.”