Other Breeds

[bjreroberts]

I have no plans to give up Dexters, but I do sometimes consider other breeds and I really like the look of Belted Galloways.

Just out of interest does anyone else on this forum keep any other breeds of cattle alongside their Dexters?

[ann]

I to like the look of belted galloways however they have a reputation of being rather wild and not easy to handle and accord.
ing to one person who keeps them at a rare breeds farm the meat is not up to much. his words not mine

if you want a nice quiet breed, the welsh blacks are lovely to deal with

[domsmith]

i keep angus, and some ayrshire bulls. the angus provide a foot in the real world of cattle. easily sold and very commercial at the moment. they also fit in with my grass fed policy. 4 recent bullock averaged 500kg at 17 months. they were literally abandoned on our hill for the summer with very little attention and they thrived. another was 740kg at 27 months.
but the beef is not as good as dexter, and beasts dont put on weight well over winter outside on silage only, dexters do! they are heavy on the ground, heavy on the silage and heavy on me at calving(easily calved but can be mad as hell)
also when you butcher one is a lot of meat to get rid of in a week!!
but they do have acertain regal majesty that i love and i hope to always keep some.

horses for courses

arent galloways wild?

dominic
ps all my stock get on very well to gether, they stick together in their breeds almost tribal but they all live happily most of the time

[domsmith]

the meat is not up to much. his words not mine

i disagree with meat not up to much. i have a lucky position to be able to pick up on my travels most breed of meat and have done extensive taste tests (its been hard but someone has to do it)
my last was dexter, galloway, highland, angus and holstein. you would not send any of them back at a restaurant!
galloway and dexter were clearly above the rest, galloway was very good, and i have done this several times. Holstein by the way should not be disregarded, too lean as it was bull beef but very good, ayrshire is good also. angus can be hit and miss in comparison to dexter.

galloway is very good beef

dominic

[monica waltho]

Hi, We have BGs and yes some can be fiessty especially at calving but you get that with any breed others are quite amiable. Lets face it some dexters are vicious<dont think these are much worse just bigger. As for the Meat our butcher is very Keen, can be abit slow to finish and to breed you dont tend to expect to calve til at least three years old but will carry on until until their teens. Very hardy, best kept outside or well ventilated shed and will do well on poor quality grazing.

We have finished a variety of rare breeds although have not tried WBs, Red Polls are a nice breed and generally very quite and do finsh quicker than alot of breeds especilly if given corn but will finish off grass.
Beef shorthorns are quite early maturing will finish off grass in fact have to watch dont get too fat, have very good temperaments but are quite a large breed. Gloucesters are quite a striking animal to look at and provided you go for the more beefy strains they can finish at good weights, most of the steers we have bought have had excellent temperaments but some of the heifers have been a bit loopey. Shetlands are a nice underestimated breed just need you go for a beefier strain as some are a bit dairy but have been pleased with the few we have tried. Our butcher doesnt like White Park or British White so we havent bothered with these. Not had Longhorns as plenty of other people supply our butcher with these and Highlands tend to be slow to finsh.

[Sylvia]

I don't think Welsh Blacks are uniformly a nice quiet breed. Some lines have a very nasty reputation. I've got quite a lot of WBx calves in the barn at present, I hope they come from the nice quiet lot.

[Penny]

I have very recently got my first belted galloway heifer, and she is lovely! The sweetest thing you can imagine. However, I did buy her because she had been orphaned and therefore hand-reared, so good reason for her happy, trusting nature.
Galloway beef has a good reputation around here, the restaurants like it, but it is different to the dexter in that it is promoted for being lean ( but still full of Omega 3)
I find it milder in flavour, but good. Definitely prefer Dexter beef.!
Have also liked the idea of British Whites, but found the beef incredibly bland, so gave up on that idea.
My BG heifer will be crossed with dexter anyway, so will see what she produces.
Penny

[Martin]

In the South East there is a growing band of people moving toward the Sussex. They are docile, long lasting and good breeders. they are also renown for good feet and legs, can be finished from grass at eighteen months at good weights.
There is growing interest from local butchers and they fetch above average prices at Ashford fatstock market.
It is a breed that is attracting my interest and I hope in the near future to own a few.
The breed sale is at Ashford market on the 21st October with about 80 females forward, I'm just sorry I can't be there as I will be away on business that week.

[Broomcroft]

My farming friend started with Galloway and got rid of the lot because he couldn't handle them. That's all I know about them other than in the new book "BEEF", the meat just reads as good bit nothing special.

What is apparent reading what has been said above and other chef's books, and BEEF, is that the breeds that have been really honed for beef have all lost their quality in return for volume.

In our beef herd, we are deliberately NOT breeding for beefiness, we are breeding for an average build milky animal that is beefy enough but not over the top. This is what the massive grass-fed beef producers of Argentina do as well I read.



Edited By Broomcroft on 1223019527

[justmalc]

Ben,

That's a coincidence, we keep about 80+Dexters but, like you, have always liked Belted Galloways. We'd always planned to have a few and bought our first at the Rare Breeds sale at Melton. She's 13 months old and very steady and easy to handle. We're so pleased with her that we're going to look at another from the same breeder later this month.

No plans to give up the Dexters but thrilled to bits with our first Belted Galloway and can already picture a paddock full of them.

Regards,

Malcolm.

[clacko]

there is a herd of sussex about 4 miles from me, they are calving at the moment along a roadside meadow, they catch my eye every time i go past, they look in stunning condition and look a picture in the autumn sunrise/sunset in the mist. a real credit to the owners.

[Broomcroft]

Looking at the Sussex, their web site says that the beef EBV is going up dramatically, but their calving value is going down. What does that mean?

[Rutherford]

Calving value. Length of gestation, ease of calving, and birth weight give you a combined estimated EBV for your bulls which can be translated into pounds and pence which he should earn for you. Not much use to the Dexter show breeder who only calves their cows every second year as some do!
Beryl (Woodmagic)

[bjreroberts]

An interesting range of responses. I do wonder how much temprement has to do with the breed and how much with how they are raised. I heard just as many comments about Dexters being wild and escape artists.

There is a sale of Highland and Belted Galloway cattle at Worcester on 1st November http://www.mccartneys.co.uk/agriculture/sales-diary I think I will pop along and have a look.