Armoricaine

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.

Armoricaine
Conservation statusFAO (2007): critical[1]:136
Other namesArmoricaine
Country of originFrance
DistributionBrittany
Usedual-purpose, meat and milk
Traits
Weight
  • Female:
    650 kg[2]
Height
  • Female:
    138 cm[2]
Skin colourpale
Coatred with some white markings
Horn statushorned in both sexes
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus
Cows and calves

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.[2] A herd-book was started in 1919,[3] and the Armoricaine breed name came into use in 1923.[4]

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.[5] It has become rare: it was listed by the FAO as "critically endangered" in 2007.[1]:136 In 2005, the population was estimated at about 240 head,[2] and in 2014 it was 263.[3]

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.[3]

Use

The Armoricaine is a dual-purpose breed, and may be raised both for meat and for milk. Cows produce about 4500 l of milk in a lactation of about 305 days.[2] The young grow quickly, and mature animals fatten quickly.[6]

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gollark: And the government funding means we still get that, so it seems fine.

References
  1. Barbara Rischkowsky, D. Pilling (eds.) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Accessed November 2016.
  2. Étude de la race bovine: Armoricaine (in French). Bureau des Ressources Génétiques. Archived 17 May 2015.
  3. Breed data sheet: Armoricaine/France. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed November 2016.
  4. Armoricaine Cattle Breed. Slow Food Foundation. Accessed November 2016.
  5. Breed data sheet: Pie Rouge Des Plaines/France. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed November 2016.
  6. Beef breeds: Conservation breeds. Institut de l'Elevage and Races de France. Accessed November 2016.


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