If you have enjoyed our website and are interested in keeping Shetland cattle, we are delighted. Shetland cattle are wonderful and quite rare; the breed is deemed “At Risk” by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
While Shetlands make great suckler cattle for cross-breeding, the small numbers and limited genetic pool mean that it very important that breeders continue to breed pure and in such a way as to preserve the genetic diversity as well as the physical characteristics of the breed. While the language of genetics may seem daunting, the Shetland Cattle Herd Book Society, which is based on the Shetland Isles and is the registering body for the breed, has a network of regional representatives who are happy to share their expertise with new breeders.
The Shetland Cattle Herd Book Society maintains pedigree data and publishes the Herd Book.
There is a Shetland Cattle Facebook page. This is a private group, not affiliated to the breed society.
We produced a short video about Shetland cattle for the Scottish Smallholder Festival in 2020.
And we were lucky enough to play a supporting role to Bonnie, when she appeared on BBC Scotland’s Landward and at the Royal Highland Show.
If you want a book on small-scale cattle keeping, we would recommend “Caring for Cows” by Valerie Porter. It was first published in 1991, so is a wee bit out of date but cows haven’t changed much in that time – and certainly not for small-scale keepers.
If you are interested in the history of the Shetland cow and its place in the social fabric of the Shetland Isles, the Shetland Cattle Herd Book Society published in 2010, to celebrate its centenary, a wonderful book called “A Dander Trowe”. There may still be copies available from the SCHBS.