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The Middle Ages: The Blonde D Aquitaine

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-The current name is blond d'Aquitaine, french blonde d'aquitaine, aka blonde, and blonde d/ blondey. As their name indicates, they come from the Aquitaine district in France.
-there is no previous names for this cattle.
-Blondes d'aquitaine originated in the Aquitaine district in south west of France. Three separate strains including the Garonnais, the Quercy, and the Blonde des Pyrenees, (from the plains, hills and mountains) were used to develop the Blonde breed, which explains their great adaptability. There have been infusions of Shorthorn, Charolais, and Limousin breeding but this was followed by selection back toward the original types.The Blonde d'Aquitaine trace back to cattle that were used during the Middle Ages. Cattle were used …show more content…

Calving ease has been improved through development of a longer calf.

-Blonde muscle development, hardiness and docility remain from the breed’s days as draft animals. Unmatched Blonde adaptability results from the diverse climate in the area of their development. It ranges from a hot and humid coastal plain to hills with hot dry summers to the rocky and cold Pyrenees mountains with sparse vegetation.

-Blondes were predominately working animals until the end of the Second World War. This developed their big eye muscles and rump and their long, strong backs, and was an excellent tool for natural selection and genetic superiority. They were always hardy lean animals with light but strong bone structures and as you would expect, very quiet. Blondes show some variation of colour ranging from almost white to …show more content…

All three were principally draught breeds. The Garonnaise had been numerous in Aquitaine 400,000 head were recorded in 1880; a herd-book was started in 1898. The Blonde des Pyrénées was itself an amalgam of several other breeds, including the Béarnaise, the Race d'Urt, and the Basquaise, its herd-book was started in 1920, the same year as that of the Blonde de Quercy.
-The Blonde d'Aquitaine includes almost all the traditional blonde cattle breeds of southern France, although remnant populations of a few of them have allowed them to be reconstituted. The moving force behind the creation of the breed was Raphaël Trémouille, a veterinary surgeon and member of the lower chamber of the French parliament. From about 1970, concerted efforts were made to improve the beef production attributes of the breed.
-The Blonde d'Aquitaine is the third beef breed of France by numbers, after the Charolais and the Limousin. In 2013 there were about 560,000 head in more than 18,000 farms.The Blonde d'Aquitaine has been exported to many countries of the world, including all countries of the European Union. It is much used for crossbreeding in Oceania and in Eastern Europe, and has shown particular promise when crossed with zebuine cattle breeds in South

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