Reasons you may want to register your calves

Regardless of their similarities to pure blooded highlands, our mini highland cross cattle community has a diverse genetic pool.

So you may be thinking “why register my mini at all?” There are a few reasons you may want to consider it.

1) Do you plan to breed your mini cow? By registering them, you’re holding yourself accountable. You’re saying “I stand behind the animals in my program and here they are”. This is pure credibility to your buyers.

2) If you maintain multiple generations of registered breeding animals and calves, you establish a “standard” within your own breeding program. While your calves will never be AHCA standard, you will be able show that you have consistently produced quality calves with known genetics in your own herd. This too is pure credibility.

3) You’ll maintain good diversity within your breeding program. By maintaining records, you can avoid unintentional inbreeding. For example, there are a handful of very well known bulls who’s owners have sold this bulls semen and embryos en mass. Unlike the days when one bull and one cow equal one calf, today one bull and one cow could mean hundreds of calves a year. You could literally buy a calf from a breeder in Missouri and another in South Dakota that are full blood siblings. Embryo transplants is a relatively new practice but it’s in full swing now and bound to introduce some serious inbreeding concerns. If you only buy calves that are registered, and you as a breeder register your calves, then this will go a long way toward ensuring genetic diversity within your herd and the mini-cattle community.

4) Multiple generations of registration data (assuming it’s honest) can also go a long way toward helping you estimate outcomes in your breeding program. You can see if calves are consistently sized, colored, haired and so forth. So can your buyers... it may help them decide to buy your calf rather than another farms calf where this information is unknown.