Caring for Your Boutique Babies

Upon pick up of your baby you will receive a packet that walks you through all best practices for caring for your calf. If you're looking to get a headstart on purchasing products that they will need this link will take you to my amazon store front which has my recommended products.

I also have a playlist on my tiktok account called 'So You Want a Mini Cow?" which is basically a crash course in everything you'll need. Watching those videos should give you a pretty good ideas on what life with your new babies will look like. Here is the first video...

Cows are herd animals & therefor we do recommend that they have some sort of buddy. However that does not mean that this has to be another mini! It could be all kinds of things such as a full sized cow, horse, donkey, or even goat. Just keep in mind that they are highly social animals & in order to be happy & healthy they need lots of social interaction.

Highland cows live in all parts of the United States from Virginia to California & from Texas to Michigan. Our recommendation for warmer temperature families looking to add a fluffy cow to their herd is to make your purchase sometime between Late Spring to Early Fall. Since our calves come from Michigan they hair up a lot in the winter. Transferring them during this time frame would allow for them to be adequately shed out prior to coming your warmer climate. The good news is Spring & Fall are the primary calving seasons! Another recommendation is to stick with a lighter color highland as they black ones tend to heat up faster. Or choosing a Highpark which generally have less hair then Highland cows.

Our farm is located in Midwestern Michigan just 2 miles from the Lake, which means we get all of that weather rolling off the lake. This past year our minis were wading in snow much past their bellies out in the pasture. Highland cattle were bred from the Scottish Highlands, them being small can't change that genetic. As long as they have somewhere dry & out of the weather with fresh water & adequate hay to keep their bodies warm, they handle the cold just fine. If you live in the mountains or somewhere with extreme cold we recommend choosing a mini Highland over a Highpark because they hair up a lot better.

Chrondo is short for Chrondoplasia which refers to a genetic condition that stems from dexter cattle. Cattle that have one copy of this gene from their parents are 'Chrondo Positive' which results in them having them being very short, these are typically Micro Minis, aka the tiniest of the minis. A chrondo negative calf does not carry this gene, while they are still miniature they slightly bigger than their micro friends. All 100% Highland cattle are Chrondo Negative as the gene comes from dexter cattle. This is important to test for in mini cows because breeding two Chrondo positive genes together will result in a calf that has severe health issues.

If you are not looking to breed your little guys then this can be ignored!