Black Galloway

[Andyva]

Anybody have any experience with what salebarns do to black galloways? I'm not talking belted here, but wondering if you get docked for extra hair. Wondering how much hair Hereford would knock off of the calves, too. My goal would be having a black animal without having to deal with angus in the equation.

 

[Muddy]

Same problem as Belted Galloway. Their small statue and extra hair is what it gets them docked, belted or not. Another problem is finding quality black galloways that can fits in your goal.

What's wrong with Angus?

 

[Andyva]

My biggest problem with angus is that I have a pretty good demand for "local grassfed" in my area, and when I get too much angus, they seem to melt in the wintertime when I just feed hay. That is just comparing them to the Herefords that I have in the same conditions, and some of them don't do as good as others. I have no trouble marketing some holdovers if they are not what the market wants, but I can't market my whole herd as freezer beef, thus the need for a black animal. The last several angus bulls that I have used it seemed that the black hide was the only thing they brought to the table. Seems like some of the thick galloways would fix a lot of what's wrong in my black cattle, wonder if you could make a composite bull with Galloway and knock some of the hair off.

 

[glacierridge]

Maybe you need an Angus x Galloway...

The calves would have less hair being 1/4
But might be enough to help you for wintering.
I know Blegen Galloways do sell mixed bulls for this reason.

I have a 1/2 blood calf that I'm very satisfied with.

 

[Jake]

My biggest problem with angus is that I have a pretty good demand for "local grassfed" in my area, and when I get too much angus, they seem to melt in the wintertime when I just feed hay. That is just comparing them to the Herefords that I have in the same conditions, and some of them don't do as good as others. I have no trouble marketing some holdovers if they are not what the market wants, but I can't market my whole herd as freezer beef, thus the need for a black animal. The last several angus bulls that I have used it seemed that the black hide was the only thing they brought to the table. Seems like some of the thick galloways would fix a lot of what's wrong in my black cattle, wonder if you could make a composite bull with Galloway and knock some of the hair off.

May look for some different angus genetics than the main stream. There are several out there that would fit what you're looking for.

 

[Muddy]

I would looking at Ohlde lines of Angus, they will meet your goals. But so are Blegen galloways.

 

[AllForage]

Yes in my experience, my Herefords knocked the hair off enough that they looked like typical baldies. There are appropriate angus out there for grass fed.

Melting in the winter is a bloodline problem not a breed problem!!

 

[Muddy]

Yes in my experience, my Herefords knocked the hair off enough that they looked like typical baldies. There are appropriate angus out there for grass fed.

Melting in the winter is a bloodline problem not a breed problem!!

That's debatable. Blegen galloway hair sure shows up in F1 crosses, even if its Angus.

 

[AllForage]

Yes in my experience, my Herefords knocked the hair off enough that they looked like typical baldies. There are appropriate angus out there for grass fed.

Melting in the winter is a bloodline problem not a breed problem!!

That's debatable. Blegen galloway hair sure shows up in F1 crosses, even if its Angus.

Muddy, come on bro, I posted pics in the other thread clearly showing angus looking baldies. You are a sales barn groupie right? Have you seen out wintered angus calves in the north?? Some of them look Galloway. I have many more pics to prove this. Not to sound like a broken record but one must use prepotent sires to effect change beyond common cross breeding expectations.

Not interested in going beyond here with this.

 

[AllForage]

My biggest problem with angus is that I have a pretty good demand for "local grassfed" in my area, and when I get too much angus, they seem to melt in the wintertime when I just feed hay. That is just comparing them to the Herefords that I have in the same conditions, and some of them don't do as good as others. I have no trouble marketing some holdovers if they are not what the market wants, but I can't market my whole herd as freezer beef, thus the need for a black animal. The last several angus bulls that I have used it seemed that the black hide was the only thing they brought to the table. Seems like some of the thick galloways would fix a lot of what's wrong in my black cattle, wonder if you could make a composite bull with Galloway and knock some of the hair off.

Andy here are a few of my thoughts. Trying to breed for grass fed and the sales barn crowd is a no win situation. If grass fed is the majority of your income then concentrate on it and work to find alternate markets for your others. As far as melting in winter goes, I have seen that the older slower growing types are more suited to lower planes of nutrition and seem to hold there "beef quality" much longer than modern stuff. I have had this confirmed by friends who finish up to a thousand head a year. I raise my beeves low input and much different than the SGF crowd promotes and I am still successful. If you are in VA and have good calves I bet even Joel Salatin will buy your calves at a premium. I prefer to stay straight bred for the consistency, but I see the benefit of growth with the F1's. If your Herefords are working why mess with it?? Personally Galloway is not a good choice in my opinion due to your heat.

 

[Muddy]

Yes in my experience, my Herefords knocked the hair off enough that they looked like typical baldies. There are appropriate angus out there for grass fed.

Melting in the winter is a bloodline problem not a breed problem!!

That's debatable. Blegen galloway hair sure shows up in F1 crosses, even if its Angus.

Muddy, come on bro, I posted pics in the other thread clearly showing angus looking baldies. You are a sales barn groupie right? Have you seen out wintered angus calves in the north?? Some of them look Galloway. I have many more pics to prove this. Not to sound like a broken record but one must use prepotent sires to effect change beyond common cross breeding expectations.

Not interested in going beyond here with this.

I've seen some F1 Galloway x Angus crosses and they sure didn't looks like wintered up Angus calves, only hairier than these Angus calves. Like I said, its debatable on hair genetics as it may/may not show up in F1 cross.

 

[Andyva]

I got trapped in a situation where there were too many sires used that were "terminal sires" and not "maternal sires". Cattle that look great as long as there is mother's milk or commodity pellets involved. My personal opinion is that if you couldn't keep a heifer out of it, it shouldn't have nuts. My Herefords don't even seem to be holding up like Herefords used to. As far as low planes of nutrition, my hay tests out at 12 percent protein on the top end, granted the majority of my round bales won't do that. It's not like I'm feeding them bad hay, that is what makes me want to try new things, such as the shorthorn sire that I'm using now. I know that I would be getting into way too much hair if I crossed shorthorn influenced stuff with straight Galloway, but maybe my Hereford and baldie stuff would work.
I was just looking for something to make the 75% of my calf crop that I don't have freezer beef markets for black, without having to use too many different bulls. Sounds like the Galloway is going to make a bunch of 400 pound weaning stubby, hairy, freaks, though. I've always admired the rumps on the balancers. How hard is it to find one that is homo black? How do they do in a grass only situation?

 

[Muddy]

Blegens do have F1 Galloway x Angus bulls for sale and you'll like them and the heifers out of them.

 

[BIZIN]

Our Welsh black x Hereford females look like Angus, just better. Problem is the dirty sheath on the steer calves makes em look bully underneath

 

[AllForage]

Andy,

You have to move beyond breeds and look into "lines" within the breeds. You are just throwin shyt at a barn without getting specific. It takes effort and time but will pay off in the end

Good luck

Ryan

 

[Rahe Family Belties]

Use Harley Blegen's galloways and you will not have the stubby stature you are worrying about. His cattle grow and are actually penalized for being too big at times. (Denver heifer show)

Hair on crossbreds has not been a problem with my Beltie x Angus or Beltie x Maine calves. These out of a giant of a Beltie bull though. Growth has been great.

 

[Andyva]

I just looked at a picture of Blegen's Moto Moto sheared. I would hate to have to shear a load a couple months before taking them to auction, but gosh what a bull.

 

[Muddy]

I just looked at a picture of Blegen's Moto Moto sheared. I would hate to have to shear a load a couple months before taking them to auction, but gosh what a bull.

Why not using Galloway x Angus bulls out of Moto Moto or Pericles? The commercial folks loved them and 1/4 galloway calves do excellent at the sale barn. Excellent calving ease bulls on heifers.

 

[Lucky_P]

Andy,
Have a look at Green Garden Angus... you'll get the moderate frame and high $EN, similar to Ohlde genetics... that seem to be what the grassfed crowd is looking for - but better marbling/ribeye/tenderness - and, IMO, better maternal calving ease from most GGA bulls than from Ohldes.

 

[cbcr]

I was recently talking with someone about grass-fed beef. Yes it is in the genetics. He said that you can take an animal that has been used to a grass-fed environment and if you start feeding concentrates, that by the third generation the offspring will be unable to work in a grass-fed situation.

As some have said there are some Angus breeders out there that there genetics is focused more toward grass-fed.

Another breed, even though they are not black, is the Red Poll that is supposed to be good in a grass-fed environment.