Galloway cattle

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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. It is now found in many parts of the world. The steers can reach weights of about 800 kg (1760 lb) and a height of 1.28 m (50 in), while cows weigh an average of 550 kg (1210 lb) and a height of 1.20 m (47 in).

The Galloway was introduced in Canada in 1853, first registered in 1872, and the first Galloway registry was introduced in the USA in 1882.

The Galloway is naturally hornless, and instead of horns has a bone knob at the top of its skull that is called a poll. This breed's shaggy coat has both a thick, wooly undercoat for warmth and stiffer guard hairs that help shed water, making them well adapted to harsher climates.

The Galloway breed comes from the cattle native to an entire region of Scotland, so originally there was much variation within this breed, including many different colours. The original Galloway herdbook only registered black cattle, but the recessive gene for red colour persisted in the population, and eventually dun Galloways were also allowed into the herdbook. As a result, although black is still the most common colour for Galloways, they can also be red and several shades of dun.

In more recent times, two sister breeds to the Galloway have been created—the Belted Galloway and the White Galloway. Both of these sister breeds are differentiated by distinctive colour patterns, and both can be either black, red, or dun.

The Belted Galloway features a wide white stripe around its midriff, and is often affectionately referred to as a ‘Beltie’. It was created by crossing Galloways with Belted Dutch cattle, which are a dairy breed. Belted Galloways are often smaller than Galloways, and often have more of a dairy or aesthetic focus than Galloways.

The White Galloway is mostly white, with its colour restricted to its ears, feet, and around its eyes. They will also often have colour on their poll, tail, and udder. The genetics for this colour pattern were introduced from an unknown source, and has happened at least three times - once each in Britain, the USA, and Canada.