Galloway cattle

[RomansRoad]

Looking at getting a galloway x red angus (looks all galloway) bred and due any day to charlois x angus - they want $1300 obo for her. Planning on putting her with the goats to raise our own beef. Question, anyone with experience with galloways? What do I need to ask, look for about this cow? She is halter broke, says respects fences, kids have rode her. Any ideas? Thanks!

[Summerthyme]

AGE? Number of calves? (if the first, minus the second is much over 2... why hasn't she calved every year?). Ever have a history of mastitis? (IOW, do ALL four quarters on her udder milk? An udder infection- mastitis- can cause anything from a "blank" (non working) quarter, which isn't a huge problem as long as it's only one, to chronic infection which can/WILL flare up and make her very sick, or even kill her)

Does she mother her calves well (assuming she's not a bred heifer having her first calf).

I wouldn't necessarily say "kids have ridden her" is a good thing, but it probably didn't hurt her either (depending on how old she was!). It sounds like she was/is a "family cow" who tolerates a lot of handling, but sometimes, they don't have a lot of respect for humans when they're raised that way. Fence respect is VERY important... some beef cows are horrible about that.

Depending on where you live, I'd ask about vaccinations, and brucellosis and TB tests (MOST states are certified TB and Brucellosis free, and you're pretty safe there. Some are NOT... and I'd test any bovine I was bringing onto my farm for at least those two diseases).

Never had Galloways, but I suspect they're (from what I have read) a slightly less tame version of the Irish Dexters we raise. If this is a first calf heifer, I'd be *a little* concerned about the calf size... that's a wide range of genes represented there, and they don't always combine the way you might think!

That's about all I can think of at the moment...

Summerthyme