Can Highland Cattle Be Pets?

I get asked all the time if Highlands make good pets, and I get it. They're fluffy, they're cute, and the internet makes it look like you can raise one in your backyard or even your living room. But that little fluffy calf is going to grow into a cow that weighs well over 1,000 pounds and carries a set of horns, and she can live 15 to 20 years. A Highland can be a wonderful pet, but she's still a cow, and I'd rather you hear the real version from me before you buy one.

Can Highland Cows Live Indoors?

I can't believe I'm having to answer this one, but I get asked. No. The only time a Highland should be in the house or a small pen is a temporary emergency with a newborn calf, like a calf that's sick, cold or recovering from surgery, and even then only as long as it has to be. Cows need land. I won't sell cattle to anyone who doesn't have at least 2 acres of pasture. They also need good fencing, hay, minerals, fresh water and a vet who works on cattle.

They Need Another Cow

Highlands are herd animals, and one by itself is a lonely, stressed out cow. A goat, horse, donkey or dog is not the same as another cow, so if you want a pet Highland, plan on two.

Can Highlands and Dogs Be Friends?

People see videos of my dogs out in the pasture with my cattle and ask why they can't bring their dog on a farm visit. Cattle are prey animals and dogs are predators. Cows can learn to live with guardian dogs or the farm dogs they grow up around, but Highlands still have a lot of their natural instincts, and when a cow sees a strange dog, she's going to either run or attack. When we have new babies on the farm, I've got quite a few mamas that would kill a dog in a heartbeat.

My dog knows the property and the cattle. She keeps her distance, doesn't bother them, and if a cow chases her, she runs off. That's why she can be off leash in the pasture. There's no way I would walk through my field with a dog on a leash among the mamas and new babies. If a cow came after her, she couldn't get away, and I'd be standing right there holding the other end. Your dog may be friendly and well trained, but my cows don't know that, so dogs stay home.

You may have also seen videos of one of my calves playing with my dogs. He was an orphan with health problems who needed surgery, and he spent about his first four months confined away from other cattle. The dogs were the only company I had for him. When they licked him, it seemed to help him take his bottle, kind of like a mama cow licking her calf. But he outgrew them fast, his playing got rough enough to hurt them, and the dogs started barking and nipping back harder. Once he was healthy enough to be with other cattle, he did great and lost interest in the dogs altogether.

A dog might be better than nothing in an emergency, but it's not a substitute for another cow. If the only long term friend you can give a calf is a dog, please find it a home that can give it a herd. Some of my old videos show things I wouldn't do today. Nobody taught me when I started, and I learned a lot of this by trial and error, so I'm sharing it to save you from making the same mistakes.

Why Steers Make the Best Pets

If you just want Highlands to love on and enjoy in the pasture, get steers. Bulls can be aggressive, and a bull that has lost his fear of people is about the most dangerous animal you can have. Heifers and cows are hormonal. They come into heat every month, and when they do, they want to go find a bull to breed, and a fence doesn't always stop them. A steer doesn't have any of that going on, and steers are usually the cheapest to buy, too.

Why I Don't Recommend Bottle Babies

Bottle calves, bulls especially, tend to grow up thinking people are just other cattle, and cattle are rough with each other. A little calf butting you for his bottle is cute. That same calf doing it at well over 1,000 pounds is not cute anymore. We've been hurt way more by bottle babies than by cattle raised on their mamas, and my friend Judy Ligo was almost killed by Bandit, a Highland bull she bottle fed from the time he was a few days old. That's why we don't sell calves until they're weaned. I wrote a lot more about this on my bottle fed Highland cows page.

Does Your Kid Really Need a Cow for Christmas?

When someone tells me they want a calf for their kid, I get a little nervous. Back when I fostered dogs, "we want a puppy for our kid for Christmas" was the biggest red flag there was. I watched those Christmas puppies get bought from a breeder, opened under the tree, and dropped off at the shelter a few months later, while other dogs were put down to make room for them.

I see the same thing starting with Highland calves. Some people want a cute calf for the photos and the videos, so they take it off its mama and bottle feed it like a puppy. Then it grows up, and they're on to the next trend or the next baby calf.

And then there are farm kids. Those kids absolutely need a cow for Christmas. Watching the youth show at our Southeast Highland Cattle Show & Sale, I saw five year olds kicking butt in the ring with heifers that could drag me around the arena. They put in hours feeding, washing and working with those animals, and they have parents and experienced cattle people right there with them.

The cute pictures you see on my page of little ones with calves come from photo sessions, with a calf I know well and a bunch of grown ups helping just outside the frame. A farm tour is different. You're out with the mamas and their new babies, so our tours are for ages 10 and up.

So if you want a cute present your kid can take pictures with until the newness wears off, please don't. But if your family is ready to raise cattle and you want your kid to learn what it takes to care for them, that's one of the best gifts there is.

Be Careful With Minis

A lot of pet Highlands are sold as minis. There is no recognized mini Highland, and the label is mostly used to raise the price, so please read what I think you should know about mini Highland cows before you pay for one.

Where to Find a Highland

We sell registered Highlands, including pet quality animals, to approved homes, and you can tell me about your farm on my Looking for Highland Cattle page. You can also find Highland cattle from breeders all over the country on HoofnHorn, the livestock marketplace I co-founded. And if you just want to pet a Highland without owning one, come see ours on a farm visit.