RARE BREEDS TRUST OF AUSTRALIA
powered by TidyHQCattle : Blonde D'Aquitane
Cattle : Blonde D'Aquitane
Country of Origin
Aquitaine, France
Australian Status
International status
Safe. Half a million in France. Some in Sweden and the USA. Those in the UK became a breed called British Blonde.
Uses
Beef
Breed Traits
Now a beef breed, they inherited the powerful muscular structure and strong frame of their working ancestors, with excellent quarters and shoulders, together with its quiet temperament. A long back and robust frame, well-muscled, yields plenty of beef and a big eye steak area.
Good looking, they are mainly blonde in colour, usually lighter around the eyes, belly, legs; some are tan and some white. Bred now for beef they're a typical European breed, being big in size and heavily muscled. Calves are small and slender giving ease of calving, then grow rapidly. Often used as a terminal sire over English beef breeds to add size, muscling, fast growth and easier calving. Known as a great feedlot breed as they grow super-fast in the feedlot.
Plenty of meat and not much fat. The meat has some marbling. Double-muscled (hereditary muscular hyperplasia), not extreme as Belgium Blue (Reference)
Good natured. Most are horned (usually dehorned while young), there are some polled lines. Highly fertile. Good foragers and adaptable to a range of climates - thought to be the most adaptable breed to climate. They can use their muscles to move their skin to ease heat.
History
Blonde D'Aquitaine cattle were hardy strong draught cattle right up to the end of WW2. Developed in Aquitaine, the south west of France, from three French breeds - the Blonde des Pyrénées, the Blonde de Quercy and the Garonnaise.
History in Australia
They were brought to Australia in 1975 via semen and embryos; there were 281 registered animals on 16 studs in Australia that year.
In 1989 17 calves were successfully calved at Victor Harbour from 23 embryos from Canada.
Breed organisation
Blonde d'Aquitaine Society of Australia and New Zealand
There is also have a Facebook page at Blonde d'Aquitaine Cattle Australia which seems active.
Additional Notes
Interesting to see a black bull posted on their Facebook page recently (Aug 2022). Also, seems to be plenty here in commercial herds so registered numbers obviously a lot less than overall population.
Australian Population
2022: Males: 20; Females: 220; Herds: 19
Photo Credit
Une blonde d'Aquitaine et son veau à La ferme en ville, by Aubujoy, Wikimedia Commons
Page by Janet Lane
