 | |
| Conservation status | FAO (2007): critical[1]: 136 |
|---|---|
| Other names | Armorican |
| Country of origin | France |
| Distribution | Brittany |
| Use | dual-purpose, meat and milk |
| Traits | |
| Weight | |
| Height | |
| Skin colour | pale |
| Coat | red with some white markings |
| Horn status | horned in both sexes |
| |
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.
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 in 2005, the population was estimated at about 240 head,[3] and in 2014 it was 263.[5] In 2020 there were 301 cows on 81 farms.[8]
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]
The Armoricaine is a dual-purpose breed, and may be raised both for meat and for milk. Cows produce some 4500 L of milk in a lactation of about 305 days.[3] The young grow quickly, and mature animals fatten quickly.[8]