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Belted Galloway

History

The unique advent of Belted Galloway cattle inspires many questions nigh their origins. With black, red or dun colour sandwiched about a white eye, they are familiarly known as 'Belties' among breeders of the animals. Though references to 'sheeted' cattle occur in literature and art as early as the 11^th Century, the Belted Galloway'south first recorded history indicates that they developed during the 16^th Century in the erstwhile Galloway district of Scotland.

The Belted Galloway is substantially the same in origin and characteristics as the Galloway and only differ by the distininctve white belt that is thought to take been introduced by an infusion of Dutch Lakenvelder claret, probably in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, according to "History of the Belted Galloway Club Inc." The Herd Book of the Belted Galloway Guild, Inc. (1951-1971) past A. Mims Wilkinson Jr.

Historians writings differ somewhat, but upon iii points they generally agree regarding the origin of the Galloway/Belted Galloway. The brood is recognised to be a very ancient i, with obscure origins and its name derived from the discussion Gallovid or Gaul. The Gauls were the native inhabitants of the regality known as the Province of Galloway. The cattle of the region were said to be dark, smooth-polled, wavy-haired with undercoats like beavers fur and for centuries they went unnamed, referred to only as the blackness cattle of Galloway.

From this littoral surroundings of winds and clammy cold, combined with an undulating terrain of moors, granitic hills, heathery mountain ranges and fertile glens emerged the Galloway breed of cattle.

Though much has been written of the history of British cattle since the middle of the 18^th century, the menstruation immediately earlier that is almost without a record. Historian Hector Boece (1570), writing nigh the Galloway, says, "In this region ar mony fair ky and oxin of qubilk the mankind is right delicius and tender." Ortelius, the historian writing in 1573, says, "In Carrick (so function of Galloway) are oxen of large size, whose flesh is tender, sugariness and juicy."

The Galloway breed of cattle became of import during the Scoto-Saxon flow, and the breeders of Galloway enjoyed the consign of cheese and hides. Later the cattle were sold in considerable numbers to English farmers who sent them to Smithfield market afterwards a fattening menses on English grass. Information technology is said that the Galloway breed was never crossed with the other breeds. Information technology is not known where the polled grapheme was caused by the Galloway brood because in its beginning many of the cattle were horned. However, many writers during the terminal part of the 1700's and early on 1800's mentioned polled Galloway cattle, and the breeders decided they liked the polled characteristic and started selecting their cattle for the character. Most of the early on cattle in the Galloway district were black, just carmine, brown, brindles, and cattle with white markings were non uncommon.

In 1851, a fire at the Highland Agricultural Museum at Edinburgh destroyed all the historical records and pedigrees of the Galloway collected prior to that fourth dimension. Eleven years afterwards (1862), a Polled Herd Volume was published and it included the Galloway, Aberdeen, and Angus breeds. In 1878 the Galloway Cattle Society of Great Great britain initiated its own volume of pedigrees. The first exportation of Galloways to Due north America came in 1853 to the Graham brothers of Toronto, Canada. Michigan State College, Lansing, imported the first Galloways to America in 1866. The American Galloway Breeders' Association organized in 1882 and Volume I of the Northward American Galloway Herd, published in 1883, listed American and Canadian Galloways.

Characteristics

The Belted Galloway is a very distinctive breed with its feature white belt which encircles the body, the balance of the body being black, dun or red in colour. The distinctive white belt found in Belted Galloways oft varies somewhat in width and regularity but usually covers most of the trunk from the shoulders to the hooks. The white contrast to the black coat, which may take a chocolate-brown tinge in the summer, sets the breed apart with its hit color pattern.

They are naturally polled colina cattle are eminently suited for converting rough grazing into lean meat. Their double coat of long hair, to shed the rain, and soft undercoat, for warmth, eliminates the need for expensive housing.

The cows are long living (17-20 years), regular breeders noted for the corporeality of rich milk they produce, therefore rearing a good calf. They can be used to breed a skillful Blueish Grey by putting them to a Whitebred Shorthorn. These Blue Greys and the pure bred cows cantankerous well with Continental sires, such as Charolais, Simmental, Limousin and Salers.

Information technology is claimed that the Belted Galloways are larger, milk heavier, and grow more chop-chop than the parental brood.

A mature Belted Galloway Bull can weigh between 815 and 955 kilograms although some are smaller and others larger. A moo-cow ranges from 400 to 600 kilograms, new born heifers weigh, on boilerplate around 30 kilograms and a bull calf can be 35 kilograms and sometimes more. "Beltie" calves weaned at 205 days, were most one half their female parent's weight.

The Beltie every bit a beef fauna produces exceptionally lean and flavorful meat, with carcass dressed weights well in excess of threescore per centum of live weight.

These calves, having hybrid vigor, grow rapidly and produce the quality of beef without excess fat similar to purebred Belties. Their about important trait, the economic production of beef nether range conditions, stems from the fact that Galloways have been bred from their origin for beef production.

Statistics

The "Beltie" Breed is naturally polled and when crossed with some other breed information technology will prevent the growth of horns in virtually all cases.

Belted Galloways are known for their ease of calving producing a live calf every year. Some Belted Galloways have had two separate calves in ane year.

"Belties" are able to adapt to a variety of climatic conditions. They have good foraging abilities, ensuring that they thrive where other breeds neglect. The coat is shed in hot weather, thus making the "Beltie" a highly adaptable and versatile brood for a variety of climatic conditions.

The breed was evolved in a harsh environs, resulting in high affliction resistance and the power to survive in the toughest of conditions. Belted Galloway breeders find that their cattle are more resistant to pinkish heart, insects and foot problems than many other breeds. Built problems such as dwarfism are unknown to Belted and other Galloways.

Belties practise not develop much fat under their hides; instead they have a double glaze of hair consisting of a dense, soft, short undercoat and a long, shaggy overcoat, which is usually bandage in hot conditions. This double coat provides first-class protection in cold, wet, windy weather. In contrast, virtually other British beef breeds put on a thicker layer of uneconomical fat nether their hides to provide the necessary insulation for protection against severe weather condition atmospheric condition.

Comparative

Growth

Tests take shown that the Galloway requires the to the lowest degree amount of feed per kilogram of weight proceeds making the cattle efficient converters. Belted Galloways swallow more varieties of flora than any other breed on tests conducted in Germany

Hardiness

The Belted Galloway's heavy, double hair coat means that heat loss is reduced, winter feed costs are significantly less and rain hardly penetrates in cold, wet weather. The Belted Galloway cow has near 4000 hairs to the square inch making the coat resistant to severe cold.

Meat

Belted Galloway Beef has been shown in a research study conducted at the University of Guelph - to have a total fat content of near 2% an extremely low percentage. The same study showed that the Belted Galloway Beef tested merely contained about 1% saturated fat. In addition it showed that Belted Galloway beef had the aforementioned fat content as chicken and fish so fits in well with a healthy nutrition. Belted Galloway beefiness is exceptionally tender, total of flavour and juicy and were the winners of the 2003 Sydney Purple Show "Beefiness Gustatory modality Exam".

Information collected in the U.Southward. has shown that the beef dresses out at 60 - 62% of live weight making information technology a very profitable brood.

The GC & BMA 2008 Annual provides more research and current marketing objectives, a very interesting read.

Distribution

The Belted Galloway is popular in a number of countries ranging from Britain and Ireland to Australia, America, Canada and Switzerland.

References (the higher up information was cited from the following sites)

www.galloway-world.org
www.beltie.org
www.beltedgalloway.org.au
world wide web.belties.com.au

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Source: https://www.thecattlesite.com/breeds/beef/9/belted-galloway

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