Willow Springs
Well-known member
VLS Guy, don't know where you are getting your info about the origin of the breed from, but you're not even close. Anazi has it right in that they were a combination of three different strains of "Blonde" cattle. Two of the strains were very different in their type. The Blonde des Pyrenees were more dual purpose maybe even sliding more towards milk. They were flatter made, deeper bodied, heavier milking and usually more fertile (and bigger SC in bulls). They were mountain/hill cattle.There were many of the original imports to Canada that showed this type. The Garronais were draft animals and had a herd book in the late 1800's, but were already well known in the mid 1800's. The Quercy which were the third strain were actually a relatively new offshoot of the Garronais so basically the same breed.
We didn't import certain cattle into Canada because there were fertility problems. Basically selectors went over and were toured around to the herds that the Government was willing to export cattle from and tried to pick the best that was available.
Yes there was some cross breeding with Limo & Char in France, but to say that these other breeds were the basis of the breed is false. They are all terminal breeds, but still different. Blondes are the finest boned, leanest, have the best feed conversion and cutability. Charolais are the growthiest and Limos have the most backfat and marbling.
We didn't import certain cattle into Canada because there were fertility problems. Basically selectors went over and were toured around to the herds that the Government was willing to export cattle from and tried to pick the best that was available.
Yes there was some cross breeding with Limo & Char in France, but to say that these other breeds were the basis of the breed is false. They are all terminal breeds, but still different. Blondes are the finest boned, leanest, have the best feed conversion and cutability. Charolais are the growthiest and Limos have the most backfat and marbling.