Christmas Hill Farm - Rare Breeds

CHRISTMAS HILL FARM
Lakenheath, Suffolk

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Belted Galloways

Belted Galloways (or ‘Belties’ as they are affectionately known in the cattle world), have been part of the Baker farming enterprise for many years. The acquisition of Christmas Hill Farm brought the opportunity to expand this attractive and eye catching herd. It was our luck that, at the same time, Mrs Sheila Clarke of Dorset had decided to part with her herd so the “Lagan” herd of Belted Galloways travelled up to join the Woolpit cows at Christmas Hill. The combined herd now numbers about 30 and heifers are already in great demand. The Breed The first thing you notice about this hardy little breed of cattle is the striking white belt that encircles the body. To be register-able with the Society, all pedigree Belties must have complete belt with no breaks. If it is wintertime, the next thing you may notice is the shaggy, hairy coat and powder puff ears. Originating from the exposed uplands of the South West of Scotland, these cattle have a soft inner coat to keep them warm and the distinctive outer-coat of long hair sheds the rain and insulates them against the harsh weather. In summer, they shed the hairy outer-coat and take on a sleek glossy look. This breed is suited to living out all winter, and fare better in the fresh air than being housed inside. There are two main colours in the Belted Galloway breed – black and white and dun and white. The are also the rarer colours of red and whites, and white. Being polled, there are none of the problems associated with horned cattle. Galloways showing three colour variations	Shaggy, hairy coat and powder puff ears Better outside Winter coats for everyone
Calving The cows are long lived. Amongst the Woolpit herd are cows of 12 years old that are still producing excellent calves. Belties rarely have problems giving birth – often the first sign of a calving is the sight of a calf lying contentedly in the field!
Calving is easy. A calf just appears in the field!	Black and white calf from red and white mother
Meat They are very thrifty and easily convert rough or poor grazing into lean meat. In fact, one of the problems at Christmas Hill is that we have too much grass and our Belties do become rather plump! As a suckler cow, the Beltie mother looks after her calf well, and the calf matures slowly to produce excellent, lean meat. In time, we hope to be able to supply meat from Over Thirty Months of age cattle because that is when the animal has reached enough maturity to create the finest joints of beef. Please contact us to ask about availability of this very special meat.	Bull calf with milky nose doing well at 6 months old
The Woolpit Herd Mosshayes Morgan is the stock bull at present and has a good record for throwing well marked and well proportioned calves. Unfortunately, for me, 2006 produced more bull calves than heifers, so, though they are in great demand, I will not have any females for sale this year. We will, however, have more delicious meat to offer in a couple of year’s time! Needless to say, with an old, slow growing breed such as this, the meat quality is very special and highly in demand from specialist restaurants. A breed society was founded, in 1921, to promote and preserve the breed. They can be found at www.belties.com and the secretary can be reached at myrna@beltedgalloway.co.uk	Bull, Mosshayes Morgan, and his chosen lady of the day, Butterfly
Crossbreed Herd We also have a group of Belted Galloways for cross breeding. Many dairy farmers choose to use a Beltie bull on their young Friesian herd replacements to help the young cows with their first time of giving birth. The Beltie calf is smaller at birth and gives the first time mother an easy calving. The calves are vigorous when they are born and have a great will to live. During 2005, we bought in a group of Belted Galloway-Friesian crossbreeds that were in calf to a Charolais bull. They have been a tremendous success. The milkiness and docility of the Friesian cow combined with the ease of calving and hardiness of the Galloway has produced an excellent Suckler Cow. The Charolais cross calves have grown quickly and show good conformation and meaty qualities. For super-easy calving, we plan to put the pure bred Galloway bull on these cows in 2006. It will be interesting to see what sort of meat calves this combination will produce during 2007.	Calf nearly as big as his mother
Galloway Cross mother and calf in February	Eight months later …..