Belted Galloway cattle
Another hardy Scottish breed the belted Galloway cattle from the uplands of the Galloway hills. They are a medium-sized stocky breed of cow and another breed well suited for conservation grazing on hills and bogs. I keep mine on purple moor grass and heather diet from may to October and they always seem to put on weight.
Out Wintering
In winter, they are quite happy to be outside too as like the highlands they have a double coat of hair the outer coat to keep the rain out and an inner coat for insulation. Unlike the highlands however they are naturally polled and don’t grow any horns which makes them easier to handle at testing or when going to the mart.
History
You can also get black Galloway which look a bit like a hairy Angus or white Galloway that look like a hairy Speckle park cattle but the belted Galloway are the most striking with the white belt with some people giving them the nickname “Oreo cows” the belt comes from crossing some Galloway with the Dutch lakenvelde breed at some stage around the 17th century and were established as a separate breed in 1921.
The white belt makes them very easy to spot at a distance on a hill or mountain and there is some discussion that it was the reason for the belt. Galloway cows are very fertile and easy calving having small hardy calves every year that quickly put on weight during their first year of life. I personally feel like the Galloway are very similar to the Aberdeen Angus but with less maintenance as they will thrive even on very poor grassland.
For more information see
wikipedia.org/wiki/Belted_Galloway
When ever I have belted Galloway cows for sale I will have them on this page below or contact me anytime
12 thoughts on “Belted galloway cattle”
Hi DJ.
We are in West Cork on land that looks similar to your place in Kerry.
For some time now have been thinking of changing away from the usual Charolais, Limo & Simme x type animals.
Can we chat or email offf line when you have a free five minutes?
Regards. Pat
I will send on my contact details and you can call or email me for a chat whenever you get a chance.
Hi DJ,
I have been looking into changing our suckler herd (cross-bred) to Galloway / Beltie or Galloway cross purely for the reasons you have identified – will live off poor grazing, good conservation grazer and will live out all year and in addition the quality of the meat. We are on Valentia Island and I would love to have a chat with you or possibly visit you (Covid restrictions taken into account).
So pleased I found your blog when I was researching.
Regards,
Vanessa
No problem I will send you an email with my phone number
Hi DJ
Would it be possible to contact you about the Galloways. I am looking to increase my stock and would like to see if you have any available. If you could send me a number I can give you a call. Regards Stephen
Of course I sent a PM Stephen
Hi dj
I am looking for some information on starting a herd of belties in west mayo, be great if we could talk
Hi Andrew
I sent you an email with my phone number call anytime
Myself and My family have been very interested in getting some belted galloway cattle for the last few years but sadly our ground cannot handle their weight so we are looking into getting miniature belties but I can’t find any at all in england if you have any ideas I’d be very greatful.
Hi Clarice
I am not too sure if there are any miniature galloways in the UK but if you could get the short type of dexter cattle and cross them with a galloway you would get a small animal that should still have the appearance of a galloway. The traits of being polled (no horns) and the white belt should be passed on from the galloway shire
Hi DJ, I’m interested in getting 2 galloways or highlands. Do you have any coming up for sale? which would you say is better suited to someone starting off with cattle? I’m based in Donegal with a small farm.
I dont have any purebreed highlands for sale at the moment. I only keep a small enough number. I probably will be selling some gallawoys over the next few months. Kerry is a long ways from you. I have seen some highland cattle on tic toc in Donegal but not sure what part. maybe the highland society website has a list of breeders that could be closer to you.
As for starting off I would say any cattle that are quite and will follow you with a bucket of ration would be a good place to start. Even some cull dairy cows or older bullocks that would be well used of being handled will do fine.
If its just numbers to draw farm payments try to get some quite cattle first what ever the breed.
One thing I have noticed is any calves born outside tend to become wild very quickly so if you dont have regular contact with them maybe some older dry cattle would be a good place to start.