About Us
We're Sarah and Hugh, the faces behind Koolah Creek Highlands. As registered breeders with the Australian Highland Cattle Society, we are committed to upholding the highest standards for purebred Highland cattle, preserving the heritage of Highland Cattle, and improving the quality of the breed in Australia. Our breeding program prioritises docile temperaments, sound structural conformation, pedigree and overall Highland breed character. Since establishing our fold, we’ve been carefully selecting cattle to form a foundation breeding herd that we are very proud of! We use technology like artificial insemination and embryo transfer, which allows us to utilise the very best genetics from Australia and internationally as we continue building our fold.
At Koolah Creek we breed purebred Highland cattle for stud, show, and companions. We place a strong emphasis on exceptionally docile temperaments and sound structure in our stud breeding program - we aim to breed the kind of cattle that we enjoy working with and are a pleasure to own and handle. The welfare of our animals is at the centre of everything we do; we care immensely for all of our cattle.
Our History
Our journey began with a tree change and a vision: to regenerate our 63 acres with cattle that were not only hardy and practical but also a joy to be around. Highlands were the obvious choice – their resilience, gentle nature, hardiness and adaptability ticked all the boxes. What we quickly discovered was their incredible personalities. Little did we know, the magnificent Highland breed would steal our hearts and become our life's passion. After many requests, we decided to open our farm to visitors, offering unforgettable experiences that allow you to connect with these magnificent animals in a truly special way.
Frequently Asked Questions
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We honestly can’t believe that this needs to be said, but our website content is NOT available for reuse by other Highland breeders or agritourism operators. (Yes, our content has been directly copied multiple times).
Our website has taken a huge amount of time and effort to develop, and all content has been written and rewritten by us over the course of years to truly reflect what we do and what sets us apart.
Please observe the copyright notice on this website. All content on our website in under copyright and may not be reused.
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Yes! All of our cattle are registered with the Australian Highland cattle society.
We have a range of breeding cows with Fullblood (Fully Imported Bloodlines), Purebred, and Graded registration. This allows us to produce calves for both stud homes and pet homes.
Click here to see individual photos of our cows and their AHCS registration numbers.
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Our Highlands are quite small, but they are not bred to be miniature - there are many other important traits that we breed for.
Our mature cows are around 115-123cm tall. They are definitely a lot shorter than standard beef cattle breeds, and ours are on the small side for purebred Scottish Highlands, but they are not true miniatures (which are often bred for small size at the expense of other traits like structural soundness! Or sometimes stunted by purposeful underfeeding at critical growth periods)
Purebred Scottish Highlands are a heritage breed. Our stud cows have traditional bloodlines and pedigrees that can be traced back to Scotland! As a smaller sized breed, they are ideal for acreages and hobby farms.
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Yes - incredibly!
Our goal is to breed quiet, calm, friendly, confident cattle. All of our calves have extensive handling and training before they are ready to leave us.
By the time they leave for their new homes, our calves are friendly with people, enjoy handfed treats, love pats and brushes, and can walk on the lead (halter trained).
We do everything we can to set them and their new families up for success!
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Our mailing list - click here to register!
If you have signed up to our mailing list, you will be one of the first to know about any cattle available for sale (before they are advertised publicly on the website or social media pages!).
When we are ready to start taking deposits on calves, those who have signed up to our mailing list will receive an email with all the details, and have first priority to buy.
This is normally when the calves are all a couple of months old - but they will stay here with their dams until at least 6 months old.
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This is a question we receive so fequently that we’ve written a whole page about it! Please read through and feel free to get in touch with any further questions you may have:
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There’s lots to love about the Highland breed - here are some of our thoughts!
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Yes, of course!
We actually insist that anyone buying from us must have met us and seen the cattle before we will accept any deposit.
We certainly prefer in person visits, but can also organise video calls if distance is an issue (eg interstate buyers).
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We keep calves with their dams (mum) until they are ready to be weaned at around 6 months old.
However, we start taking deposits on calves from when they are a couple of months old - sign up to our mailing list to be one of the first to find out!
After weaning, the calves spend another few weeks here with us doing extensive handling & training. This is to ensure they are happy, friendly, quiet, calm and confident with people before they leave for their new homes. All our calves are also halter trained.
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Our farm is located on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, between Taree and Port Macquarie.
We are just 2 hours drive from Newcastle, and 3 hours from the northern side of Sydney.
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Our steer calves are priced around $5,000-$5,500. These make ideal pets.
Our heifers are priced from $10,000-$15,000+, depending on many factors like pet or stud quality, structure, bloodlines, registration, and temperament.
Please keep in mind these prices include our extensive handling program, and halter training. Our calves are friendly and confident with people and make ideal paddock pets - they can be hand fed, brushed, patted, walked on the lead, etc. We spend a huge amount of time producing our calves, which is reflected in the price. They also come with their halter and lead, brush, and favourite treats.
All our calves come NLIS tagged, with an NVD, up to date with drenching, fully vaccinated (7-in-1, and Pestiguard) and have complete husbandry records.
