Highland cattle

The Scottish Highland Cattle, Highland Cattle or Kyloe (Scottish Gaelic Bò Gàidhealach "Gaelic cattle") is a breed of domestic cattle. It is the oldest registered breed of cattle (1884).

It originates from the northwest of Scotland and from the Hebrides, where for centuries it has developed the characteristics attributed to it by natural selection - the small-sized and relatively light Highland cattle is considered good-natured, robust and long-lived, it is suitable for year-round outdoor rearing even on soils unsuitable for heavy cattle (suckler cow husbandry), calves easily and a lot, even without human assistance. It provides medium creamy milk and low cholesterol meat.

Originally there were two breeds, the normally black and somewhat smaller Kyloe, which lived on the islands of northwestern Scotland, and a more reddish and somewhat larger breed from the remote Highlands. Through breeding, both breeds became one and attained the reddish-brown coloration prevalent today. The official names of the color spectrum of the long-haired coat are: red, yellow and black, as well as - more rarely occurring - brindle, gray-brown (dun) and white.

The long and very symmetrical horns are usually shaped differently according to sex. In bulls, they typically have a strong, horizontally curved forward shape. In cows, the horns are usually much longer and widely curved upward.

The breed is particularly suitable for extensive pasture management and is often used in grazing projects. When handling the animals, respect for the long horns is required. A "Führigkeit" at the halter must be trained and maintained, as well as the driving into pens.

Today, the breed is bred in many countries around the world. The first Highland cattle were introduced to Germany in 1975, and in the United States they have been used since the end of the 19th century.

So-called Little Highlands result either deliberately from selective breeding or as a by-product of too early mating or very lean forage, as a comparison with breeding in the Hebrides and historical documents show.