Galloway cattle
Galloway cow with calf
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| Country of origin | Scotland |
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| Use | Beef |
| Traits | |
| Weight |
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| Coat | Black, some countries recognise red. Dun |
| Horn status | Polled |
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The Galloway is one of the world's longest established breeds of beef cattle, named after the Galloway region of Scotland, where it originated, during the 17th century. It is now found in many parts of the world, such as Canada, the United States and Australia.
It is now found in many parts of the world, being exported to Canada in 1853, the US in 1882 and Australia in 1951. The breed enjoyed success during the 1950s but this subsided during the foot and mouth crisis. Today, the breed is enjoying a revival, due to the demands of the beef market. The breed is considered average size and they have a thick coat, due to the climate of their native Scotland.
Galloway is an ancient region located in the south-west of Scotland. The word 'Galloway' is derived from the words Gallovid, or Gallgáedil.
The Galloway breed comes from the cattle native to the south-west region of Scotland, first fully developed in the 17th century. Originally there was much variation within this breed, including many different colours and patterns. The original Galloway herd book only registered black cattle, but the recessive gene for red colour persisted in the population, and eventually dun Galloways were also allowed into the herd book. As a result, although black is still the most common colour for Galloways, they can also be red and several shades of dun. In 1877 the Galloway Cattle Society was formed.
The Galloway was introduced in Canada in 1853, first registered in 1872, and the first Galloway registry was introduced in the United States in 1882. In 1911, 35,000 cattle were registered in the American Galloway Herd Book which was first created in 1882. The British Galloway Society formed in 1908. They did not recognise dun coloured Galloway cattle, which was met with outrage and this ban was later lifted. In 1951, Galloway cattle were introduced to Australia.
In the 1950s the breed enjoyed much success because the beef market demanded low input (feed) cattle with high quality meat. However, the BSE crisis (commonly referred to as mad cow disease) caused an export ban in 1990, although there were no cases of BSE found in Galloway cattle. This created a fear associated with cattle, so breed numbers declined.
Recent years have seen changes as bigger leaner carcasses were demanded. This issue of size featured in Galloway circles causes great debate. Some of the adjustments made was the adoption of AI and Embryo Transfer. Today the breed's original characteristics are now back in demand. This is due to the demand of high quality meat that requires economical production.
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Wikipedia