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Belted Galloway are a very old Scottish breed of
cattle with one of the earliest recorded
references being 1673 in the Kirkcudbright
Sheriff Court Deeds.
Belted Galloway are naturally polled,
long-lived, highly fertile, very easy calving
and with excellent mothering abilities having a
rich and plentiful milk supply often breeding
into their late teens. Added to these qualities
Belted Galloway are exceptionally quiet if
managed properly. They have a double coat of
hair with a fine undercoat and long outer hair
which allows them to remain outdoors in the most
extreme weather. In hot weather the outer coat
is shed making Belted Galloway an adaptable
breed for Australian conditions.
Lord David Stuart in his book “An Illustrated
History of Belted Cattle” describes Belted
Galloway in the following manner:
“of typical beef conformation. A good head,
especially in bulls, is considered important and
this should be broad with the crown low and
flat. The nostrils should be wide and the eyes
large and prominent, the ears moderate in
length, broad, pointing forwards and upwards
with a fringe of long hair. The neck should be
fairly long and fit well into the shoulders. The
body should be deep and full through the heart
with a level top and straight underling, the
shoulders fine and straight, the breast full and
deep, with the ribs well sprung, the
hindquarters long. The flank should be deep and
full. The thighs should be deep and fairly
straight, the legs short and clean with fine
bone, and the tail well set on. The skin should
be mellow and moderately soft, wavy hair with a
mossy undercoat. The coat is most important, as
it protects the animal from the cold, damp
conditions which it meets wintering on the
hills. Hard, wiry hair, with no undercoat is
objectionable, and so is a jet black coat in the
black coloured animals. This should be black
with a brownish tinge.”
The belted and polled characteristics of Belted
Galloway are very strong and when a Belted
Galloway is crossed it usually produces a polled
and belted calf. This is a persistent
characteristic and can continue for generations.
However, such animals produced are by no means
Belted Galloway.
Belted Galloway are non-selective grazers and
thrive on pasture and hay. Lord David Stuart
says in his book that Belted Galloway are a
breed which are well-known for foraging and
their characteristic of eating roughage.
It is often said that the Dutch Lakenvelder
feature in the origin of the Belted Galloway.
Lord David Stuart on pages 83 and 84 of his book
tells of his investigation into blood testing
all his Belted Galloway in the hope of finding
out whether Belted Galloway were related to the
Dutch Lakenvelder. Dr JG Hall of The Animal
Breeding Research Organisation Edinburgh did the
blood testing and reported “they were of the
normal British type to which all our breeds
belong with the exception of the Jersey,
Guernsey and South Devon ... and as Mochrum were
the only Belted Galloway that had been tested up
to that time he was unable to make further
comparison” That was 1964. In 1967 Dr Spooner of
the same organisation did more blood testing of
Belted Galloway and wrote that he was “of the
opinion that marked differences between the
breeds could be found in time and that it was
quite clear from animals that had been tested so
far that the blood groups of the Belted
Galloways were certainly very different from
those of our dairy breeds ...”
Belted Galloway were first imported into New
Zealand by Mr Ian Donald, Knowlai, Martinborough,
North Island in 1947. In 1958 or 1959 a Mr
Blackwell of Echuca Victoria imported Belted
Galloway from New Zealand. Unfortunately at that
time the Australian government banned the
importation of cattle from Great Britain for
fear of blue tongue, a disease which did not
exist there then.
Belted Galloways have won many awards for
carcass competitions and taste tests and are
becoming more widely known for the quality of
their meat. Belted Galloway presented finished
at carcass competitions dress out at a high
percentage of their live weight.
For eye appeal there is no other breed that can
match the Belted Galloway. Belted Galloway come
in black, red and dun (brown). |
