Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Armoricaine

French breed of cattle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Armoricaine
Remove ads

The Armoricaine or Armorican is an endangered French breed of domestic cattle. It originated in Brittany in the nineteenth century. It has a red coat with white markings, and has short horns.

Quick facts Conservation status, Other names ...
Thumb
Cows and calves
Remove ads

History

The Armoricaine was created in the nineteenth century by cross-breeding animals of the local Froment du Léon and the now-extinct Pie Rouge de Carhaix breeds with imported Durham (now known as Shorthorn) stock from the United Kingdom.[3][4] A herd-book was started in 1919,[5] and the Armoricaine breed name came into use in 1923.[6]

The Armoricaine was used, with Meuse-Rhine-Issel and Rotbunt stock, in the creation of the Pie Rouge des Plaines dairy breed of cattle in the 1960s.[7] In the later twentieth century it became rare; by 1978 there were no more than forty cows remaining. Following the discovery of a reserve of frozen semen in the 1980s, a programme of recovery was launched.[2]:113 In 2001 there were 61 cows registered, and 10 bulls; semen from 18 bulls was preserved and available for artificial insemination.[4]

The breed was listed by the FAO as "critically endangered" in 2007.[1]:136 The population was estimated in 2005 to be in the range 230–248 head,[3] and in 2014 was reported at 263.[5] In 2020 there were 301 cows on 81 farms.[8]

Remove ads

Description

The coat is red, with some white markings. The horns are short. Cows weigh about 650 kg, and stand about 138 cm at the withers.[5]

Use

The Armoricaine is a dual-purpose breed, and may be raised both for meat and for milk. Cows produce some 4500 kg of milk in a lactation of about 305 days.[3] The young grow quickly, and mature animals fatten fast.[8]

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads