Welcome to A Farm, LLC. Belties!
The Belted Galloway is a traditional Scottish breed of beef cattle. It derives from the Galloway cattle of the Galloway region of south-western Scotland, and was established as a separate breed in 1921. Belties are adapted to living on the poor upland pastures and windswept moorlands of the region. This region is known to be damp and wet and sometimes a colder climate. They are naturally polled meaning with out horns. This can make Belties safer for other livestock who live in close proximity of them.
The Belted Galloway cattle are very healthy animals with strong immune systems and tolerate many climates. They have strong resistance against pink-eye, and congenital problems like dwarfism, Water head (internal hydrocephalus) when excess fluid is present in the brain, Hairlessness (hypotrichosis) and Rigid joints (arthrogryposis) etc. All of which are almost unheard of in the Belted Galloway breed. Belties can handle all types of weather like the frigid cold with their long hair and they also have a soft undercoat to keep them warm in colder temperatures. The head of the Belted Galloway has long hair around its ears, preventing frostbite as well. Even with all that hair they do well in the hottest of summers. Belties shed their hair when it gets too hot in the summer but not until it gets above 70 degrees daily from our experience. They enjoy swimming in our pond when it gets too warm or there are too many flies.
Our A Farm Belted Galloways find forge from everything around them. They will eat a lot of the forge other cattle are not interested in or leave behind. Our Belties are very docile, gentle and mostly very responsive to direction and herding. Really very gentle and easy to handle.
Our Belted Galloway dams also have strong mothering instincts, which is a plus for farmers who worry about the safety of vulnerable calves. Any nearby predators can be warned off by our protective Belted Galloway dams; however, as with every breed, this kind of aggression should be treated with caution, and extra care should be taken around a volatile dam of any breed and her offspring. In the case of our Belted Galloway bulls, visitors should always be alert and be wary of the danger! But our A Farm Belted Galloway Bulls are dog gentle and very easy to handle. 🙂
Our Belties come in red, dun and black colors. Most of our A Farm Belties are completely full of curly hair and some have a little straight hair mixed in with the curly hair. Either way, I am sure you will find a Oreo Calf, Cow or Bull that you will love – they are hard to resist!
Keep an eye out for any of our “Oreo Cows” that come up for sale. It is hard for us to let go of our A Farm LLC Belted Galloways!