What is the Belgian White Blue cow breed? (Belgian Blue)
The Belgian Blue (English: Belgian Blue) originates in Belgium. This cattle breed is also known by the names: Belgian Blue, BWB, BBB, and by the French name Blanc Bleu Belge. The BWB is found primarily in central and northern Belgium. In addition to Belgium, this breed can be found all over the world. The name Belgian Blue comes from the animal’s characteristic colors. The cowhide comes in various colors, such as blue-gray, black and white, and white. The most common colors are blue-gray and white.
What are characteristics of the Belgian White Blue cows?
The Belgian White Blue cow breed is a strongly muscled breed. It is therefore regularly referred to as a "dikbil", that is, it is a breed with excessive muscle development. The excessive muscle growth is caused by the dikbil allele of the myostatin gene. The myostatin gene normally inhibits muscle growth. Because of the strong muscle development in this breed, the birth of a calf often goes through an emperor's cut. The calves have double-muscled shoulders that make it difficult for the cow to calve on its own.
The weight of a Belgian Blue bull ranges from 1000 to 1200 kilograms. And the weight of a Belgian Blue cow varies from 650 kilograms to 900 kilograms. When a calf is born it weighs about 40 to 55 kilograms. A Belgian Blue dairy cow produces 5400 to 6000 kilograms of milk annually.
The history of the Belgian Blue
The Belgian White Blue breed originated in the 19th century (year 1801 to 1900). The breed originated from a cross between Shorthorns of Durham and local cattle. Unfortunately, the crossbreeding led to disappointing results and slowly disappeared. The current Belgian White Blue breed has more positive and better characteristics. From the end of the 19th century onwards, this breed was further developed in order to create a Blue breed and to breed out the negative characteristics of the Shorthorns of Durham. The real breakthrough took place in about 1960 with the development of the extreme muscling of these animals. The breed we know today is the result of the selections that had been made earlier.
Worldwide there are about 16 studbooks of the Belgian Blue breed. Also in the Netherlands there is a studbook especially for this breed called the "Belgian Blue Studbook Netherlands".
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