At our field day on October 1st I handed out two articles with
information relative to Galloways. One was an article "What is a
breed?" from Beef magazine (July 2006) written by Harlan Ritchie
(Michigan State Univ. Professor) and Roy Wallace ( vice president of
beef programs at Select Sires). This article mentions that the
Galloways were used to improve many of the other british breeds but
remained free of outside blood. The Scotch Highland was the only
other british breed to remain pure like the Galloways. And as many of
you may know, the Galloway is recognized as the oldest breed of beef
cattle in the british isles.
The second article was printed in 1888 in the Wisconsin Farmers'
Institutes and is titled "Merits of Galloway Cattle". This article
claims that the Galloway has 25% more liver and lung than other breeds
which accounts for an increase in vitality and endurance. (no
reference listed) The article also mentions that a Galloway cow was
kept at the observatory on the summit of Pikes Peak (elev. 14000+ ft.)
for military purposes and unlike most animals it was able to survive
because of it's superior tolerance to cold and altitude.
This article can be found at
http://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/USAIN/WFIn02/M/ Then click on
00000153jpg, 00000154jpg, and 00000155jpg for the 3 pages of the
article.
Has anyone heard similar claims about the increase in liver and lung
tissue in Galloways. Could this possibly be related to their
tolerance to brisket disease?
Kevin Fulton
Litchfield, NE
