Galloways

[KANSAS]

Some folks in the beginners board were curious if there were any Galloway breeders in here, and wanted to hear a little about em. I would as well so I figured I would post it here...

 

[JHH]

I personally dont know to much about them other than some polled herfs came from galloway and herf cross to knock the horns off of them. I have a friend that has belted galloways. They are furry little devils. JHH

 

[Australian Cattleman]

Good cattle.Would have some if I had the room. Very underrated breed,like my South Devons. Their temperament is good and they add a nice softness to their progeny. They have done well in our country in steer comps. Not that many people breed them,usually down south in the cooler country.
Colin

 

[KANSAS]

I did some research last night and am under the impression that the angus breed originated with Galloway cattle. I was impressed to see how thick they were, probably 2/3 of their height is body the rest little stubby legs. Appear to have incredible longevity and are very efficient. Anyone out there ever eaten Galloway beef? The critics claim it is remarkable.

 

[simangus5]

here is a link to an established galloway farm--the breed in my opinion looks like an all around winner.
http://www.Beltiefarms.com

 

[dun]

I did some research last night and am under the impression that the angus breed originated with Galloway cattle.

Really intresting since the breed commonly known as Aberdeen-Angus originated in northern Scotland and theGalloway in southern Scotland.

dun

 

[badaxemoo]

I did some research last night and am under the impression that the angus breed originated with Galloway cattle. I was impressed to see how thick they were, probably 2/3 of their height is body the rest little stubby legs. Appear to have incredible longevity and are very efficient. Anyone out there ever eaten Galloway beef? The critics claim it is remarkable.

I don't know if it was the management or the breed or both, but the best tasting piece of beef I ever ate was a porterhouse that came from a 100% grassfed, nearly 3 year old Galloway bull.

Galloways are supposed to be one of the oldest known breeds, so I suppose it wouldn't be surprising if other breeds originated partly out of them.

I have heard that the Belted Galloways don't gain as well as the straight Galloways - but have never seen any research to back it up.

 

[KANSAS]

Dun,
I am just telling you what I read, or atleast the impression the piece gave me. Will try to find the link. Personally, I dont care either way. They look pretty nice though.

P.S. The reason this post even exists is over in the beginners board, on a totally unrelated subject, someone suggested asking if there were any breeders in here. No one had done it so I figured I would post it.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Some folks in the beginners board were curious if there were any Galloway breeders in here, and wanted to hear a little about em.

I have raised a few and prefer them over the fancy black Angus calves that most buyers fight over. Hardy, average rate of gain, do well on grass, discounted in some markets.

 

[purecountry]

I raise purebred Galloways. We only have a few so far, but we've been using registered Galloway bulls on our commercial herd for a few years now. The calves are naturally thicker and easier fleshing than any Angus calves we ever raised, and with the hair coat and bred in hardiness, they just seem tougher all around.

As for their history, I don't believe the Angus breed was derived from Galloways, although the fact that they are the only 2 naturally polled breeds, and both came from Scotland, would lead one to assume otherwise. They are fantastic grazers, and we've really taken the time to study that. They seem to graze pastures completely unselective, meaning they'll grab a mouthful of anything and everything as they go along. I also love the fact that they are a breed that has never gained much popularity, so they haven't been bred up and down and every which way from Sunday like the Angus were. They're still short to the ground, for the most part of course, with alot more flesh and function than frame.

In my opinion, as a grass animal, they're very tough to beat, especially with our winters. It only makes sense to have built in underwear on your cattle when you have 6 months of winter. ;-)

 

[IL Rancher]

What is the hair coat on the half bloods (Say half Angus/Half Galloway) like Purecountry? Is it hit and miss, like some get the wooly type coat of the sires while others just carry a coat like their dame's or is it a half way inbetween, like a wooly maine calf?

Just curious...

 

[purecountry]

For the most part the hair is like that of a thick coated Maine Anjou. It's shiny healthy looking hair, but certainly not as long as the purbreds. I call it wolf pup hair. It's thick to run your fingers through, but wavy to look at. We have some calves that are 50/50 Galloway X Angus, and some 50% Galloway X 25/25 Angus/Tarentaise. Those 2 crosses knock the most hair off of the Galloways. Tarentaise are naturally a slicker haired breed, so even with 1/4 blood in there, they knock it off. But our calves that are 1/4 Hereford or a 1/4 Shorthorn, keep the thicker hair.

When we've sold our calves through an auction, the order buyers came to me afterwards to find out more about them, and they were surprised that they were 50% Galloway. I guess they expected Galloways to have 8-10" guard hairs like a Highland. In the summer though, even the purebred Galloways shed out quite well. They do fine in the heat, and I've only seen one of them ever panting to make me think she suffered a bit. She is of course our shaggiest cow, and come the last week of November when it was blizzarding and -40 C, she was leading the pack to go out and graze while the Angus cows huddled in the bush.

Honestly, I grew up a die-hard Angus boy, but I've become a through and through Galloway man. I love my shaggy little beasts.

 

[KANSAS]

PureCountry.. How bout a few pics...

 

[purecountry]

OOOPS!! I always forget that I posted the pics of my purebreds on Ranchers, not over here. I'll try and do that as soon as I get some more time.

 

[S.R.R.]

PureCountry.. How bout a few pics...

Here is a link to some! Check out the sale cat. aswell.
http://www.westernrancher.com/CelticCattle.html
I like them but perfer the Welsh Black.

 

[Dean the hobby farmer]

There is a belted galloway breeder that I work for in my spare time has at least 60 head of them loves them & he claims that they taste pretty good to.I think that if I was going to try different breed I would try galloways 8)

 

[VanC]

For the most part the hair is like that of a thick coated Maine Anjou. It's shiny healthy looking hair, but certainly not as long as the purbreds. I call it wolf pup hair. It's thick to run your fingers through, but wavy to look at. We have some calves that are 50/50 Galloway X Angus, and some 50% Galloway X 25/25 Angus/Tarentaise. Those 2 crosses knock the most hair off of the Galloways. Tarentaise are naturally a slicker haired breed, so even with 1/4 blood in there, they knock it off. But our calves that are 1/4 Hereford or a 1/4 Shorthorn, keep the thicker hair.

When we've sold our calves through an auction, the order buyers came to me afterwards to find out more about them, and they were surprised that they were 50% Galloway. I guess they expected Galloways to have 8-10" guard hairs like a Highland. In the summer though, even the purebred Galloways shed out quite well. They do fine in the heat, and I've only seen one of them ever panting to make me think she suffered a bit. She is of course our shaggiest cow, and come the last week of November when it was blizzarding and -40 C, she was leading the pack to go out and graze while the Angus cows huddled in the bush.

Honestly, I grew up a die-hard Angus boy, but I've become a through and through Galloway man. I love my shaggy little beasts.

In your opinion, what would be the best breed to cross them with to make good F1 cows, and what kind of bull would you put on those F1's for good feeder calves?

 

[Stocker Steve]

The strangest looking crosses I have seen are belted Galloway and Hereford. They looked like they were painted by clowns.
The Angus crosses came black as you might expect. To make $ in the feedlot I would try black Galloway x Angus cows with a Charlois bull.

 

[purecountry]

For the most part the hair is like that of a thick coated Maine Anjou. It's shiny healthy looking hair, but certainly not as long as the purbreds. I call it wolf pup hair. It's thick to run your fingers through, but wavy to look at. We have some calves that are 50/50 Galloway X Angus, and some 50% Galloway X 25/25 Angus/Tarentaise. Those 2 crosses knock the most hair off of the Galloways. Tarentaise are naturally a slicker haired breed, so even with 1/4 blood in there, they knock it off. But our calves that are 1/4 Hereford or a 1/4 Shorthorn, keep the thicker hair.

When we've sold our calves through an auction, the order buyers came to me afterwards to find out more about them, and they were surprised that they were 50% Galloway. I guess they expected Galloways to have 8-10" guard hairs like a Highland. In the summer though, even the purebred Galloways shed out quite well. They do fine in the heat, and I've only seen one of them ever panting to make me think she suffered a bit. She is of course our shaggiest cow, and come the last week of November when it was blizzarding and -40 C, she was leading the pack to go out and graze while the Angus cows huddled in the bush.

Honestly, I grew up a die-hard Angus boy, but I've become a through and through Galloway man. I love my shaggy little beasts.

In your opinion, what would be the best breed to cross them with to make good F1 cows, and what kind of bull would you put on those F1's for good feeder calves?

No offense VanC, but forget breeds for a moment, and look at it like this....if you take good deep-bodied, easy fleshing frame 3-4 Galloway cows, and cross them with a good quality bull built the same way, you're going to have calves that do well in ANY situation. They're going to gain well on grass, or in the feedlot. I really do believe that if you use quality animals on both sides of the equation, it will work.

I just can't bring myself to say that one breed is the ultimate cross on the Galloways, because my cow herd has some different flavors, and our half Galloway calves have been very uniform, thick, and fleshy. I've always wanted to try a real tank of a Hereford on some Galloway cows, or a White Shorthorn to make some Blue Belles, but my focus is more on the traits of the specimens, not the breed.

 

[dun]

I'm curious how much hair these crosses have. Our non-galloways have 3 inches of hair and a wooly undercoat. How much does a cow need even in northern climes if they can get out of the wind.
Granted we didn;t have severe weather for the north, but we had a couple of inches of ice with a couple of inches of snow for insulation, temps in the low single digits and 20-30 mph winds. Cows were out laying in the open, most with no wind break, and appeared contented as clams.

dun