The Galloway and Belted Galloway cattle breeds are essentially the same , with physical appearance being the primary preeminence between the two . Aesthetics aside , though , both breeds — with gentle dispositions and distinctive bitch smack — are excellent fauna to total to diminished farms .
Galloway
Galloways are an ideal strain for foraging - based beef production . Efficient grazers and browsers , they pronto consume and in full utilize brush and coarse grasses that most breeds spurn .
Galloway bitch is flavorful . The stock is noted for produce well - marble carcasses with big rib optic and very little internal fat .
When Galloways shed their wintertime coats , their soft undercoat can be combed , combine with other fibers , and twirl into yarn . And , due to their protective nature , a few Galloways in a pastureland are as effective as domestic ass or llama for guard sheep and Capricorn from wandering firedog .
Origin Story
Galloway cows originated in the Scottish Lowlands in the six shire horse that made up the Province of Galloway . record indicate that most other Galloways were black . But cherry-red , browns and brindles , with or without white markings , were also fairly mutual .
Most were then as now naturally polled ( hornless ) .
According toAmerican Galloway Breeders Associationregistration rules , Galloway come in three patterns : solid , bloodless car park and belted . Solids are black , red or dun ( in shades ranging from silver medal to brown ) .
Belted Galloway Society
What all three colour phase have in common are depth , thickness , length of body , and intermediate sizing . cow weigh 1,000 to 1,300 pounds and bulls 1,800 to 2,000 pounds . A hallmark of the stock is its handsome wintertime coat consisting of a level of soft , insulate undercoat top off by a covering of coarse , wavy outer hair pure for shedding wind and rainwater .
Calm Cattle
Galloways are favorable , docile Bos taurus . Even bruiser are noted for their serene behavior . Cows are whitish , maternal and long - lived , with a well - deserved reputation for getting in calfskin every year .
And , though Galloways are a quintessential unfearing Northern breed , they adapt well to Southern climates , too .
Galloway are list by The Livestock Conservancy under the Watch category ( “ Fewer than 2,500 one-year registrations in the U.S. and a spheric universe of less than 10,000 ” ) .
Belted Galloway Society
Belted Galloway
The unique appearance of Belted Galloway kine animate many question about their origin . They can exhibit a opprobrious , reddish or dun color sandwiched about a white centre .
The Belted Galloway ’s first immortalise history indicate that they developed during the sixteenth century in the former Galloway territorial dominion of Scotland . In this rugged and hilly seacoast region , hardiness was necessary for selection .
The British Isles then and now provoke self-coloured - color , polled , shaggy - coated Galloway , generally study to have evolved from an other Gaelic strain . Precisely when and where selective breeding of the Belted variety of Galloway began is shroud in mystery . Belted Galloway Society
Weights & Measures
Weights for mature Belted Galloways in North America vary in accordance with their environs . In general , the mature Belted Galloway Samson at age 5 weighs within the 1,800 to 2,000 - pound kitchen stove .
The Belted Galloway heifer is generally bred at age 14 to 18 calendar month . Many breeders , however , elect to breed at 700 to 800 pounds without regard to months of long time .
The fledged cow at eld 3 or 4 averages 1,100 to 1,300 pounds . She can be wait to per annum produce a intelligent sura well into her stripling twelvemonth .
A Distinctive Meat
The Belted Galloway produces exceptionally thin and flavorful gist . Carcass - dress up weights generally baby-sit well in excess of 60 pct of live weight .
A double coat of hair , rather than the level of back fatness most strain want , provides winter warmness . Their heritage has condition them to subsist in very harsh climates . Breeders , in twist , have chance upon that the thrifty , medium - sized animate being more than earn their way in any beef herd .
Small-Farm Favorites
Though the breed is not well - suited to feedlot , they are idealistic animal for the little family farm and the lifestyle of country populate . The stock ’s temperate size , docile disposition , easygoing calving and good mothering are characteristics they value .
Those jump newfangled herd often pay a insurance premium for their bringing up stock .
As breeders become more serious , they commence to recognise some of the unparalleled characteristics that make Belties suited for unmediated selling of gripe in organic , grass - fed or grain - Federal Reserve markets . Direct marketing has the greatest potential for profit to the small farm producer .
Many raise Belted Galloways just for the pleasure of it , but the popularity of the stock has spurred many pocket-size farms to raise the strain as a serious enterprise on their mob farm . Find out more at theBelted Galloway Society website .
This article originally appear in the September / October 2020 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
