Oreo cows that is! We are ready to add cows to the pasture here at Blueberry Acres and I’m wondering if any of you out there in the blogosphere have suggestions for finding Belted Galloways, aka oreo cows. We have contacted breeders but are finding that so many of them are more interested in show cows vs. hamburger cows that I’m not confident that we are contacting the right people! So, other farmer/homesteaders…have you had experience in researching and buying the “alternative” breeds? We would love to hear from you!
pic courtesy of wikipedia
The only advice I can give you is to contact the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (http://albc-usa.org/). They maintain a list of breeders of many threatened and recovering breeds.
Yep-we’ve been in contact with some obviously very well informed breeders, but even they are a little tapped out on supply! Thank you for commenting!
Wow. That’s good, in a way, because it means more people are taking an interest in heritage breeds. I would love to see so many of these threatened breeds make a comeback. When we get animals, they will all be heritage breeds.
amen!
There is a farm here in NC, it is called Farrington Farms in Pittsboro, you could look them up on Google and see if they breed and ship their Belted Galloways. Good luck!
Wow-they have an inn, restaurant and wedding facility all on a farm-talk about diversification!
Looks like they have great heritage with their belties-we will check them out. Thanks for your comment!
I’m in Australia, so I can’t help, but I have the same trouble with people breeding for show instead of practicality, both in cattle and chickens. We went to a local Dexter cattle show and the breeder were more interested in shampooing their “pets” than discussing meat and milk, most hadn’t milked their cows or eaten one of their beasts! I hope you find some tasty ones, I love the Galloways, they are gorgeous!
Amen to all of your comments! We had one breeder tell us that it doesn’t cost more to feed a show cow which may be the case, but it certainly costs more to EAT a show cow! Thanks for stopping by!
I read an article about these cows in Mother Earth News last year…a couple had started a farm and was raising this breed. Can’t remember the issue but you might find it online with the breed as keyword
Thanks!