Galloway cattle

[docgraybull]

Anyone have any discouraging words about the Galloway breed of cattle? Other than "they're not Angus" or "they're not Hereford" or "they're not [fill in the blank]"! I've heard and read some of good things about the breed and their history and characteristics, but have not heard nor read about much downside. Maybe somewhat heat intolerant?

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I guess it depends what latitude you are at but Galloway cattle do quite well up here. They seem to be very efficient eaters, and produce nice calves. I had a few black and a few white. I recently traded the white ones for black angus only because I'm getting funny colored calves (white with black spots) off my Simm-Angus bull. The only other problem with them is that thick hair coat seems to get docked a bit at the salebarn when I send my calves in. They are very calm cattle and have an excellent disposition. A real pleasure to work with from my experience. Good Luck.

 

[btfakralc]

unassisted births are a lower percentage than i'm looking for don't remember for sure somewhere in the 80's

 

[docgraybull]

btfakralc
Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:09 am Post subject:

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unassisted births are a lower percentage than i'm looking for don't remember for sure somewhere in the 80's


Is that with heifers or mature cows? And did the female's frame score play a factor? Am considering using a couple of Galloway (not Belted Galloway) bulls and am trying to decide whether to use them on some mature cows or on a group of heifers. Females are all crossbred cattle with varying degrees of Black Angus influence.

 

[btfakralc]

560 f1 females exposed to red poll bulls to produce first calves at 2 years of age and 312 f1 females exposed to simmental bulls to produce thier second calves at three years of age. %calving unassisted 74.9
% of calves weaned 80. that's 60%of cattle bread that produce a calf that survives to weaning in this us meat animal research center evaluation 1988-89

 

[docgraybull]

I think I found that study. It was dealing with females of certain breeds. The Salers had the highest unassisted birthing percentage at 85.7%. The Galloways were, in fact listed at 74.9%. What was a surprise to me and will probably surprise most people on these Boards is that the Hereford/Angus crosses were listed at 68.9%. That seems like a mighty low percentage for such popular breeds. Makes me wonder about the valididty of the study?

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

I think I found that study. It was dealing with females of certain breeds. The Salers had the highest unassisted birthing percentage at 85.7%. The Galloways were, in fact listed at 74.9%. What was a surprise to me and will probably surprise most people on these Boards is that the Hereford/Angus crosses were listed at 68.9%. That seems like a mighty low percentage for such popular breeds. Makes me wonder about the valididty of the study?

I think it depends what sort of bull those cows were bred to and the size of the cows. To expect a little Galloway cow to calve out a big Simmental calf without some help is probably asking alot. If they are all bred to the same large bulls, it would only make sense that the larger breeds of cows would have an easier time of calving.

 

[mtnman]

Just because the study doesn't give us the results we think it should does it mean the study is bad. Maybe we are wrong and just need some hard facts to prove it to be that way. Other places hve done research and come up with pretty much the same conclusion. The popular Herefords,a nd Angus are not the maternal wonders they are cracked up to be, mostly we are just dealing with old conceptions and breeders.

mtnman

 

[PATB]

Bull selection has alot to due with calving problems. If one uses a bull with a high birth weight epd one would expect more calving problems. It is my understanding that galloway cattle normally are not noted for birthing problems. There is always an exception to the rules.

 

[RenFarms]

Hi. New to this board, and while looking around discovered the thread on Galloway. We've been raising solid Galloway since 1998. Out of 56 calves one was assisted. We now calve 15 to 16 per year, and calve our first calf heifers with the rest of the cows at our main pasture 13 miles from home. I just try to get to the calves to tag them before they get too rambunctious to catch. Overall we have had two
calf mortalities, one at 3 days which was a calf with obvious problems (very tiny at birth and poor suckling instincts), while the other
was probably related to an accidental inbreeding. We've been quite pleased with the natural efficiency of the breed. Since we direct market grassfed beef we don't worry too much about what others think of the haircoat (a winter thing). We just enjoy the savings in energy/feed costs. Half of our herd is still grazing pastures, grubbing out old brome and fescue wherever they can find it. They are bred back and nursing 5 month old calves.

 

[greenwillowherefords]

I think I found that study. It was dealing with females of certain breeds. The Salers had the highest unassisted birthing percentage at 85.7%. The Galloways were, in fact listed at 74.9%. What was a surprise to me and will probably surprise most people on these Boards is that the Hereford/Angus crosses were listed at 68.9%. That seems like a mighty low percentage for such popular breeds. Makes me wonder about the valididty of the study?

What percentage of Herefords and Angus actually survived to weaning? I believe you'll find they do quite well in that respect.