Belted galloways

We just bought a couple belted galloway heifers..this year they are bred to a gelveigh bull. Next year we were thinking going possibly clubbie with them. Has anyone else raised galloway? What are people breeding them to? Thanks

I raise purebred Belties and know of only one guy who has gone clubby on them. 

He used Who Made Who and uses a half blood Who/Beltie as a clean up bull.

Generally, the purebred Belties are more valuable than club calves.  Commercial and half bloods may work very well for you as clubby mommas.

I do have a half blood heifer I may try clubby in a couple of years.  I think I will use Fu Man Chu on her.

Hair on these things is incredible.  Mine grow it without coolers or even fans.

blue said:

We just bought a couple belted galloway heifers..this year they are bred to a gelveigh bull. Next year we were thinking going possibly clubbie with them. Has anyone else raised galloway? What are people breeding them to? Thanks

Click to expand...

I raise the original solid colored Galloway cattle.

We have had success with walks alone, and no surprise.

Eye candy and his sons have worked back over Galloway females.

We sell a lot of semen out of our Moto Moto and Pericles bulls to use on clubby bred females.

I can't believe the hair on these. It is crazy. I do have some fu man chu and Italian stallion in the tank so might give that a try. Thanks everyone.

Belted Galloway is a product of single trait selection (BLACK color & white belt) since Hector was a pup, hence the breed is as near to as ideal inbred as one can get.  Genetics 101 taught me that the expression of heterosis ought to great when crossing Beltys with pretty much any other breed.  So I did that using a Belty cross bull & got 70 calves over 5 years.  I believe there was a greater expression of heterosis in the areas of health, udder soundness, reproductive efficiency, time to stand, time to nurse, and possibly feed conversion.  Notice I said nothing about rate of gain.  Belt is small frame breed, so when you cross a Belty - the offspring are still small. 

It takes at  least 3 generation to get rid of the belt using black Angus as a cross.  The belt is gone in 2 generations using Red Angus as a cross.  My hypothisis for this is there is a little Holstein blood floating around in the Angus breed (or maybe Chianina) which gives the belt trait a place to shine.  If crossing a belt with some black Angus families it is gone in 2 generations, with other families like Fairfield High Guy - the belt actually gets bigger.  EXT Angus bloodlines are prone to have big / hard to get rid of belts.

Breeding a clubby to a belty will get you a hairy dink.  I am getting ready to try Charolais Belty cross to add frame & lose some hair - Bet they come out black too.

Consider the source when obtaining belties.  Most herds are small & micro managed where things like rib eye area, yield, quality grade, rate of gain are rarely considered.  Calving as 3 year olds & grass fed are often the focus...

Gelbviegh might be interesting - go for it

There are different 'strains' within the breed, so picking larger framed cattle
will be in your best interest.

My Beltie cattle are of a larger type than some.  My bull is almost
four now and is not quite a frame 5 and about 1800 pounds on grass
and hay only.  He should get to about 2000 pounds at age 5.

My previous bull stood 57-58" and weighed 2200 in breeding shape.

My cows are 4.8-5.2 frame and weigh 1300 plus, on grass alone.

I breed my purebred cows purebred as the calves are quite valuable as breeding stock.
I also get a premium for the cattle that are not suitable as breeding stock.

I also use my bull on Angus and a Hannibal cow.  These cattle
really grow with steers weighing 1200-1400 at a year of age.
My neighbor has used my bull for past two years on his Angus and Angus
/ Simmental heifers.  They do very well with no calving
issues and vigorous calves.  This year's calves averaged a bit over
550 pounds at about 190 days.  Dams are all two year old heifers. No creep.
I'd say they did well on the dry timber pasture where he runs cows.

I bought his calves at a small premium and have done very well
selling or feeding these calves.

Here are some shots of my cattle.

Bulls

Half blood steers

Half blood heifers

Other purebred heifers

This heifer had 8 inches of hair over much of her body.

And finally meat quality. Untrimmed Beltie beef.

NICE looking cattle LLBUX! And love the way that meat looks!

Not trying to hijack this thread, but anyone selling Beltie females?  ;D

You can find cattle for sale at:

Beltie.org. Classifieds section
Facebook. Belted Galloway Classifieds

Or contact me for cattle in your area.

Good luck!

[email protected]

This cow produced the National Junior Champion from Louisville and the dun
heifers shown above. 
She first calved at 26 months and every January
since, always producing my best show calf.

I plan to flush her this spring.

She is not small and would do very well as a donor for
a club calf.

I would consider flushing her to Fu Man Chu, Monopoly,
or MAB if someone wanted some embryos.