Galloway X Angus

[Jabes0623]

I was wondering if you all had any thoughts & or experience with a Belted Galloway X Angus cross as a maternal cross in a terminal operation. It seems to me there would be some real benefits to this cross but I can't find much information on it so clearly people aren't doing it much so maybe I'm wrong.

Also what bull would you breed to? Would a Hereford still produce black baldies or would you get some crazy coat patterns that would get docked big time? Thanks for your input.

 

[WalnutCrest]

One of the nice things about experimenting is you can always put the ones that don't look like you want them to in your own freezer ...

Regarding belted galloway x. black angus x. hereford coat patterns ... I have no experience with that.

Good luck!

 

[M.Magis]

I've not seen a lot, but from what I have seen it's hard to hide the belt. It seems to keep popping up, and I assume results in a smaller paycheck unless selling freezer beef.

 

[Taurus]

Belted Galloway x Angus cows make a great momma cow and can wean off big calves. The momma cows are always hold their condition better than straight angus. Also we do not get any dock at the sale barn for belted calves in recent years. I went to sale barn a little while ago, there was a small group of white faced belted steers (assuming simmi x beltie cross) ran in the ring and they brought same price as solid steers at same weight.

As for a Hereford bull breed to a Beltie x Angus cow, you can either expect a black baldy or a belted BWF or just a BWF with partial belt. A non belted cow won't give you any belted calves, only belted or partial belted cow will give you a belted calf. So in reality it's easy to remove a belted gene if you keep any solid calves out of beltie cows and we never have any belted calves out of solid Angus x beltie cows.

I would breed them to either simmental, limousin or charolais for terminal calves.

 

[Rahe Family Belties]

My experiences in Belted Galloways-

Using Belties will reduce birthweights and calving issues.
The belt gene is strong and will often survive several generations.
Calves will certainly grow if using the right genetics.(Terminal bull)
You still might get stung at the sale barn with a belt. They will use every excuse in the book to not pay you what they are really worth.

You should wind up with belted BWF calves.

If you have the means to do so, feed them yourself and earn a premium for Belted beef. My purebred and crossbred belted calves earn me about a 25 cent premium on beef I sell. I have a waiting list. I guess I should raise my price.

Several folks in New England, Illinois and Wisconsin feed these for private markets and do very well. ($4-6/pound dressed weight)

One of my bull customers raises organic grass beef and averages well over $5000 per steer when selling the beef.

Using Belties is definitely a money maker for them.

 

[Taurus]

My experiences in Belted Galloways-

Using Belties will reduce birthweights and calving issues.
The belt gene is strong and will often survive several generations.
Calves will certainly grow if using the right genetics.(Terminal bull)
You still might get stung at the sale barn with a belt. They will use every excuse in the book to not pay you what they are really worth.

You should wind up with belted BWF calves.

My personal experiences with belted cattle. You are right that belted gene is strong in many generations, but its really easy to remove the belted gene. That said, the reduced BW do not pass to the F1 or F2 cross. When I had some F1 cows, they throws 85-100lbs calves.

Yes you can get belted BWF IF you cross Hereford with a straight belted Galloway. Otherwise you won't know what you will get from Hereford x (Angus x belted Galloway) cross. Bad thing about polled Hereford is that some of them may not fullblooded and some Hereford bulls will add too much white on calves that you only get black hide on butt and head.

 

[Galloways1]

If you use the Fullblood solid colored Galloways (Non Belted) on Angus, you get solid colored calves with absolutely no worry about crazy marked calves. You can then breed those to Hereford and get your perfectly marked black or red baldy/brockle face calves.
We sell black Galloway bulls and semen on black Galloway bulls to commercial Angus producers. Some Angus producers use our Galloways and sell them as non papered Angus bulls, with a little more structure and hair.

The maternal traits of both breeds really create an very good low input female. The 3/4 Galloway 1/4 Angus are even better.

Go tour website www.blegengalloways.com or Blegen Galloways on Facebook and you will see lots of Galloway X Angus calves and production age females.

 

[torogmc81]

Belted Galloway x Angus cows make a great momma cow and can wean off big calves. The momma cows are always hold their condition better than straight angus. Also we do not get any dock at the sale barn for belted calves in recent years. I went to sale barn a little while ago, there was a small group of white faced belted steers (assuming simmi x beltie cross) ran in the ring and they brought same price as solid steers at same weight.

As for a Hereford bull breed to a Beltie x Angus cow, you can either expect a black baldy or a belted BWF or just a BWF with partial belt. A non belted cow won't give you any belted calves, only belted or partial belted cow will give you a belted calf. So in reality it's easy to remove a belted gene if you keep any solid calves out of beltie cows and we never have any belted calves out of solid Angus x beltie cows.

I would breed them to either simmental, limousin or charolais for terminal calves.

That's surprising. Our sale barn will dock the living S**T out of anything with a belt.

 

[Taurus]

Here, we preferred 1/2 to 1/4 Galloway cows for less hair on calves but still retain Galloway traits.

Both solid and belted Galloway cattle have lot to offer in crossbreeding programs for commercial operations since both breeds are free of Angus genetics and not watered down like other black breeds did.