About Blue Grey Cattle

Blue Grey cattle hybrid traditionally from south-western Scotland and north-western England. They result from breeding a black Galloway cow to a white Shorthorn bull.

In south-western Scotland and north-western England, Shorthorn bulls were used from the early nineteenth century on black Galloway cows to produce vigorous hybrid calves. If the bull was white, the calf was blue roan in color; these were easily recognizable and were much in demand. In the later nineteenth century, selection of the White bred Shorthorn was begun specifically to supply white sires for production of these calves.? Blue Grey cattle are blue roan in color, and are polled (without horns). Cows have high amounts of body fat compared to other hybrids in similar overall condition, and are able to produce adequate quantities of milk even on poor grazing.

They are used principally as a suckler cow on uplands where grazing is sparse, where cows are nevertheless able to produce adequate quantities of milk for their calves. They have also been used for conservation grazing in the Yorkshire Dales, where it grazes more lightly than sheep and is able to survive the winter on the coarse grasses of the limestone hills.