Belted galloway

[Muddy]

The official pitch phrase for all niche cattle breeds.

xxxxxxxx cattle are widely known for their docile nature, ability to thrive in harsh conditions, easy calving, small calves and mothering ability, willingness to eat poor forage and produce excellent carcasses, even on grass.

I won't underestimate their foraging ability. Just saying M.Magis. Ours do better job with cleaning up the wooded pastures than our Angus cows. And to be fair, they holds their condition better than Angus during droughts or in poor pastures.

 

[M.Magis]

I'm not saying none of it's true. But it's the exact same thing all the niche breeds make claim to. Longhorns, Galloway (belted and non), blondes, Murray Grey, etc…. According to the breed pimps, they do everything better than angus, Hereford, char. etc…

Except sell at the market of course.

 

[Muddy]

I'm not saying none of it's true. But it's the exact same thing all the niche breeds make claim to. Longhorns, Galloway (belted and non), blondes, Murray Grey, etc…. According to the breed pimps, they do everything better than angus, Hereford, char. etc…

Except sell at the market of course.

And these breed pimps are probably right on most things. There is no such as a perfect breed, but Angus, Brangus, Herefords and Chars do have some drawbacks.

As for the market, AAA did a good job to marketing black hides which caused other breeds went black and became Angus whores. Not saying these black composites were bad cattle.

 

[Rafter S]

More often than not, disposition is more dependent on the individual animal than the breed. I still hear people talking about "crazy angus", but mine are as calm as anyone could hope for. Hereford are known for being calm and gentle, but I've seen crazy ones too.

I wouldn't say they're crazy, but the ones I've been around sure seem quicker to kick than other breeds.

 

[Petercoates87]

Yeah there was a guy here a couple years ago that brought in a belted bull breed with his 5 or jerseys and then butchered him. But the calves that came from him were beautiful. A nice frame n beefier. They were on our local pasture so by the time November came the calves had a beautiful thick coat. It was much better than any of the others (mixed beef breeds). I just wanted to know everyone's thoughts on them cause my plan is to get a jersey heifer this year for sure and of the funds allow I might try to find a beltie bull for everyone. But I have read the same about hereford too that they will do great in my area. I haven't found nothing on the quality of the meat for a hereford to make it out of the norm.

 

[M.Magis]

There is no such as a perfect breed, but Angus, Brangus, Herefords and Chars do have some drawbacks.

Sure, that was my point. NONE of them are perfect. But there is certainly a reason a handful are more widespread than the rest. But at this point we're splitting hairs. Any breed can be made to work well on 7 acres.

 

[Muddy]

There is no such as a perfect breed, but Angus, Brangus, Herefords and Chars do have some drawbacks.

Sure, that was my point. NONE of them are perfect. But there is certainly a reason a handful are more widespread than the rest. But at this point we're splitting hairs. Any breed can be made to work well on 7 acres.

All because of the AAA's black hided market scheme. Black hide sells very good, no matter what breed it is.

 

[M.Magis]

At this point you're just hijacking the thread. Let it go.

 

[Muddy]

At this point you're just hijacking the thread. Let it go.

It went good till someone started to bashing on niche breeds.

 

[WalnutCrest]

More often than not, disposition is more dependent on the individual animal than the breed. I still hear people talking about "crazy angus", but mine are as calm as anyone could hope for. Hereford are known for being calm and gentle, but I've seen crazy ones too.
Personally, I would focus on buying good quality, easy to handle animals and not worry too much on the particular breed. I say that because I assume your selection in Newfoundland is somewhat limited. There are plenty of breeds that will thrive in your environment just as well as belties, but will have a larger selection to choose from.

Probably not, not very many breeds that do well in rough environments other than Herefords.

:bs:

 

[tamarack]

Peter, If you look around should be able to find some good Galloway cattle they come in dun to black in color without belts. The belted variety are somewhat different cattle( like the Dutch Belted ) and the belts carry through for generations even if bred to something different. Not saying Belties are bad cattle just not as popular as solid colors. All galloways should do well on the "Rock" as well as Highlanders and I think Aubac may be good for your area. JMHO. Tamarack

 

[Andybob2]

Highland and Galloway are obvious choices for your environment, both being "Hefted" breeds in the Scottish highlands and Yorkshire moors, Hereford and Welsh black are from similar mountain conditions (West England/Wales) if you want miniature and dual purpose, Shetlands evolved in an Arctic wind tunnel climate.

 

[LLBUX]

I agree with the post above regarding breeds that work
under harsh conditions you describe.

I would only add that you should choose a breed you like,
enjoy it, and be proud of it.

Best wishes sir-

 

[ez14]

Ive read (no first hand experience) that highlanders have very diffrent meat they may or may not sell well in your market the belted should be a normal type of meat

 

[torogmc81]

The official pitch phrase for all niche cattle breeds.

xxxxxxxx cattle are widely known for their docile nature, ability to thrive in harsh conditions, easy calving, small calves and mothering ability, willingness to eat poor forage and produce excellent carcasses, even on grass.

I agree with this comment and some of the following statements thereafter in the thread.

When we first started out, We had some Scottish HLs. Then we had some Belted Galloway Momma cows. We've had Reg. Angus ever since.

Docility, no difference. The difference IMHO is where and how they were raised, exposure to humans.
Thrive in harsh conditions, depends, but not hard to figure out. The long hair on the belties and highlands, very obviously works well in cold. But when it gets hot and very humid here for 4-5 months, it's brutal on them.
Easy calving, yes I agree, but starting out with a BW too low for me IMO.
And the biggest load of crap IMO, willingness to eat poor forage??? How can you prove that? What's different aside from their exterior appearance? Different taste buds?? They are 'tougher'? C'mon now
If you have to sell to private buyers or at sale barn you'll get clobbered. There's no versatility. Both Belties and ScottH grow very slow.

If you're selling only freezer beef, especially in the northern states/Canada, I can see it working. Other than that, I wouldn't recommend the grass breeds to anyone wanting versatility ....... :2cents:

 

[Muddy]

The "biggest load of crap" is that they eating poor forage might not be load of crap after all. Our belted cows already proved it against our Angus cows. I've noticed that some breeds are a bit fussy eaters than other breeds. As for the summer, they will be fine since they will slicked up as usual. Some belted Galloway bloodlines, they have better gain than other belted Galloways. As for sale barns, I'm not sure if Newfoundland has them but with just 7 acres, he will be fine with the belties or raising freezer beef.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

Have limited experience with Galloways -- very limited -- and none with Belties. We used a black Galloway bull on our British Whites when I couldn't find a BW nearby, and we weren't yet set up for AI. He was a nice, mild-mannered reporter, and we got nice X-bred calves. There are some Beltie breeders in the Pac N.W. From what I've read, they seem to be good beef cattle, hardy, good dispositions. Raise what you want to raise and look at and feed, but as with the BW's, if you plan to commercial market them, you'll get run over by the black cattle.

 

[WalnutCrest]

The "biggest load of crap" is that they eating poor forage might not be load of crap after all. Our belted cows already proved it against our Angus cows. I've noticed that some breeds are a bit fussy eaters than other breeds. As for the summer, they will be fine since they will slicked up as usual. Some belted Galloway bloodlines, they have better gain than other belted Galloways. As for sale barns, I'm not sure if Newfoundland has them but with just 7 acres, he will be fine with the belties or raising freezer beef.

A friend of mine raises SH -- he uses them to rehabilitate run-down farms by eating / destroying all the cedars that are in the middle of overtaking otherwise good pastures. After about five years, almost all the cedars are gone. Some are browsed and some are 'horned over'. Our Aubracs will eat thistles and will occasionally browse on cedar, but they won't take down cedars like the SH's my friend runs. Our Hereford recip cow never browses the cedars (or eats thistles). Neither did our Amerifax recip cow (while we had her).

Different breeds have different strengths.

 

[Muddy]

WalnutCrest, I still have one SH cow here and boy she will eat everything, even sedge grass, reeds and poor quality hay. I live by wildlife refuge so I'm surrounding with swamplands and heavily woodlands. We didnt have much grazing areas for our livestock and the best grassland were reserved for hay crops. I gets frustrated when the angus cows bellows and demanding us to feed them hay even there is plenty of good greens in the pasture. I think the breeds that evolved in harsh environment, they were meant to not afford to be fussy to survive.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Yeah there was a guy here a couple years ago that brought in a belted bull breed with his 5 or jerseys and then butchered him. But the calves that came from him were beautiful. A nice frame n beefier. They were on our local pasture so by the time November came the calves had a beautiful thick coat. It was much better than any of the others (mixed beef breeds). I just wanted to know everyone's thoughts on them cause my plan is to get a jersey heifer this year for sure and of the funds allow I might try to find a beltie bull for everyone. But I have read the same about hereford too that they will do great in my area. I haven't found nothing on the quality of the meat for a hereford to make it out of the norm.

If this is a legitimate question, why not use artificial insemination? I can't see how maintaining a bull to breed 3 cows would be feasible, much less the initial cost and freight. Paying someone to AI for equal life expectancy of the bull you would have to be ahead, without knowing all other factors. Especially, if you only desire crossbreds.