Most folks familiar with Belted Galloway cows assume they’re black, wrapped by a white belt. But in fact, while black is the most prevalent color, Beltie hair can also be dun (a brownish grey color), silver and red.
Fearrington’s herds have always been black, until now. This summer, two dun calves were born, and they can be seen in our pastures. Both were born to Alfalfa, our prize-winning bull, who is also dun. Alfalfa has won several awards at the North American International Livestock Exhibition (NAILE), including, in 2009, Grand Champion Bull and in 2008, Grand Champion Cow/Calf pair. Alfalfa’s mother was bought at a sale in New England, where dun Belties are more common, and we suspect she introduced the recessive gene that causes dun coloration.
Our Beltie farmers Bob Strowd and Robert Flynn say that just as black Belties with the dun recessive gene can have dun offspring, it’s just as frequent that dun Belties can have black Belties. In fact, Alfalfa has sired several black Belties already.
Our dun calves have raised quite a few eyebrows from visitors, but they are Beltie in every way. They can be entered into competitions, have the same personality, feeding habits, and while we don’t eat them, the meat tastes the same.
How do dun calves add value to our herd? First, they add to the variety and visual interest of our herd. Second, because they’re just a little bit unusual, they tend to do well in the show ring. Third, we sell select Beltie bulls to other breeders, and dun Belties can command higher prices, which in turn helps support the cost of maintaining our herd.
We are now on the hunt for a red Beltie to add to the herd. Those are quite rare, but if we find a good one, you will definitely be able to spot that in the pasture!