These include the most flavoursome and juicy meat of any breed, raising more calves to weaning than other breeds, having excellent feed efficiency, being non-selective grazers and, most importantly, producing great quality meat without the need for grain feeding/finishing.
Added to this are longevity, hardiness (especially winter hardiness), great temperament and of course, the breed’s distinctive looks.
These characteristics, combined with imparting strong hybrid vigour, make the three distinct Galloway breeds suitable for both small and large scale livestock production and support the Galloway breeds’ dual suitability for broad scale grass production and more intensive production.
Galloways are an ancient ‘landrace breed’ — breeds that develop naturally over time, without human intervention.
The Galloway evolved in south-west Scotland with a unique genetic profile including a double-haired coat — long hair on the outside and a mohair-like inner coat.
This coat makes them ideal for challenging climates.
Research has shown Galloways require less feed intake (energy) for maintenance than shorter haired, single-coated breeds.
Their evolution also resulted in their laying down marbling fat rather than external fat, a great bonus to those who love juicy, succulent beef.
They evolved a non-selective grazing habit, happily consuming coarse roughage as well as grasses and are successfully used to clean up degraded paddocks in Australia and overseas.
Belted Galloways are a separate breed to Galloways, and are the result of an ancient cross with the Lackenvelder (Lackenvelder in old Dutch means white sheet) about 400 years ago.
The Belted Galloway Stud herdbook (stud animal register) remains totally separate from the Galloway herdbook, however, both herdbooks are among the oldest in existence as you would expect for such distinctive animals that have inherited many of the Galloway characteristics.
White Galloways are also a distinct breed and have a herdbook separate to Galloways.
Miniature Galloways have been bred specifically to create a small easy-to-handle animal suitable for hobby farmers. Fully grown Miniature animals are not higher than 125cm at the hip for males and 120cm at the hip for females.
There is no specific miniature gene in the Galloway breed and extreme care is taken to ensure that animals listed as Miniature have a known ancestry of at five generations of animals meeting the Miniature standard.
The colour patterns and breed type for the Miniature Galloways is the same as for non-miniature animals and include Miniature Galloway, Miniature Belted Galloway and Miniature White Galloway.
Visit Galloways Australia at gallowaysaustralia.com.au, email questions to gallowaysaustralia@gmail.com or mail to PO Box 309, Hall, ACT, 2618.
