Gunner Calves

Ghost Face Gunner

Gunner was our first chondro positive bull and I spent months looking for very specific qualities before finally selecting him.  Chondro or Chondrodysplasia means that he has a single copy of a dwarf gene.  This makes him approximately 4-5" shorter than if he'd been born without it.  When chondro positive mini highlands are bred to full size highlands, the result can be a large bodied cow with very disproportionately short legs and back.  This isn't ideal for the chondro highland as the wear and tear on their joints can lead to painful mobility issues as they age.  If you plan to own a chondro positive highland, look for proportional balance.  Gunner is perfect.  He's not too thick, his back isn't too short, his legs are short but proportionate to the rest of him.   Gunner appears to be full grown at roughly 37-38".  This is a pretty good indication on it's own that he came from small parents.  Had he been non-chondro he would have been 42-43" right now.  This is the height range we use to guestimate his non-chondro calves. This past year, we paired him with our two gorgeous, non-chondro mini silver highlands; Milani who's 42" and Silver Shimmer who's currently 40".  They both had incredible bull calves. We are "guestimating" that Milani's non-chondro bull calf, Casper, will be 42-43" as this is the non-chondo height of both parents.  Shimmer's bull calf, Boomer, inherited the dwarf gene and she's a couple of inches shorter than Milani.  As he was the same size as Gunner when he was born (18"), we're guestimating that he will be roughly the same size. Averages don't seem to work the same way for predicting the adult height of a chondro cow but by breeding two small cows like Gunner and Shimmer together, the chances are high that the chondro calf will be small as well.  One cute little side note about Gunner is that he leaves his mark on his calves. Both Casper and Boomer were born with a cute bright white splash on their head and tipped white tails!  This Fall we are adding a dun and a white pure mini highlands, Cheyenne and Lorelei, to Gunner's breeding group.  I can't wait to see the four calves this group brings us next Spring!

2024 Calves:

Mr. Bombastic (left)  18” silver chondro bull (retained from Shimmer) & Casper - 22” white mini highland bull - Sold (from Milani)

Calves Coming in 2025:

Gunner / Milani

Gunner / Silver Shimmer

Gunner / Cheyenne

Gunner / Lorelei