Glenhead of Coachford
Family-Owned Smallholding in Aberdeenshire
We recently moved to Glenhead to further our hopes and dreams of sharing our beautiful fold of Highland Cattle. We are the McDonald Family, Darren and Sarah McDonald and 3 sons Harry, George & Dougal. Together we look after our fold of 14 Highland Cows, 40 Herdwick Sheep, Pigmy Goats, Horses, Hens, Ducks, Dogs & Cat!
At Glenhead we offer Highland Cow Experiences where you can meet our cows up close and personal. Goat Trekking where you can take our cheeky goats out for a stroll.
Kids Birthday Parties, we offer themed private parties for up to 12 children, offering either fun on our mini race track or playtime with the animals.
During the school holidays we offer regular camps where kids can come and learn about looking after the animals and participate in crafts and outdoor projects.
Plans are also well underway so that we can soon be offering our very own home reared Highland Beef, Lamb/Hogget and Pork Boxes for sale.
OUR STORY
Welcome to our Smallholding!
We bought our first Highland Cows, Winnie & Fiona in 2023 at aged 6months. They are super friendly and were already well handled and halter trained. Soon after saw us purchase the next 3 older cows, Seonaid, Una & Cassie. These lovely ladies gave birth to our first calves Wally and Honey in 2024 after spending some quality time with Benji the Bull! The start of 2024 also saw us welcoming 3 yearling bullocks and yearling heifer Cailidh after a fold dispersal sale, with Hilda and her calf at foot joining us later that year too. Hilda was an impulse buy at a local sale as she has a "wonky" horn that I fell in love with straight away.
2025 has seen Hilda give birth to her next calf, a wee white bull calf who is absolutely gorgeous! Another visit from Benji this Spring and we hope to be welcoming more calves at the start of next year.
Part of my other work is taking in and rehoming collie dogs at A Helping Paw, this led me to getting my first dozen Herdwick Sheep. As always, this has grown after I then purchased a tup and now we are up to 40 sheep altogether. Herdwicks are stunning to look at in all their different stages of colours, very hardy they are low maintenance and thrive on the grazing conditions we have on the hill here. We now sell all our ewe lambs and keep the boys as either tups for selling or lamb boxes. Last year saw family friend Lisa and I attending a wet felted back sheep fleece rug workshop in Falkland. We now run Cozy Sheep Co where we make and sell felted back sheep fleece rugs and pet beds. This a beautiful way to make use of the wool fleeces we shear every year.
Over the years we've continued to grow with hens, ducks, horses and recently some Pygmy goats! These guys are quite the characters but love nothing more than human company.
We feel very passionately about the livestock in our care and look forward to sharing our journey with you as we learn and grow.
