PEDIGREE HIGHLAND COWS

Today you will find Killochries cattle breeding well in many of the best folds around the world from Australia to Germany and their offspring are often class winners, regularly in the top prices at pedigree sales. Genetics, not feeding is key. We breed working cattle who are continually performance monitored to ensure we only have fertile cows. We insist that our cows calf every year and this year’s PD testing (January 2020) showed another year of 100% in calf (based on our herd of 66 cows).

All Killochries cattle are signet recorded and have shown continuous improvement over the years, to the point where we are struggling to find any weak links to trim the herd! Our heifers calf at 3yrs and our steers finish at 2yr old. In addition, we do not to creep feed the calves as we are trying to measure the cow’s ability to raise the calf. Pedigree and breed conformance are paramount, but commercial viability must go hand in hand.

In addition to signet numbers, we are expanding our use of DNA sampling. Having experimented with DNA years ago, we are finding it increasingly useful today due to advances in technology. DNA sampling enables us to measure growth rates, tenderness and general performance at the time the calf is born, rather than wait for the time lag of performance recording.

The herd is performance recorded, health (IBR, BVD, Lepto and Johnes) and fertility status is guaranteed.