The Gasconne or Gascon is a French

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

beef cattle Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk (production)). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf opera ...

. It is named for the historic region of

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

and is particularly associated with the

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...

, in the south-east of that region. Two different types are distinguished, the ''Gasconne à muqueuses noires'' and the ''Gasconne aréolé'', these were combined in 1955 into a single

herd-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders wh ...

, but separated again in 1999.

History

The Gasconne is named for the historic region of

in south-western France, and is thought to have originated in the area of Saint-Gaudens, in the

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

in the south-east of that region. It was originally bred in the

French Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. F ...

, where the harsh climate and limited resources led to the adaptations found in this breed. Because of these adaptations, Gascon cattle can survive and work hard in basically any condition. Because they spend their winters in the low lands and their summers high on the Pyrenees, they are used to huge changes in the

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

."Gascon beef. (Livestock). " Farmers Weekly. (13 Feb 2004): 2. General OneFile. Gale. The cattle are found mainly in the former regions of Languedoc-Rousillon and Midi-Pyrenées, now joined to form Occitanie. Some have been exported; small numbers are kept in Canada, in the Czech Republic and in the United Kingdom.

Characteristics

The Gascon have many characteristics that make them different from any other breed of cattle. For example, their hard coat enables the Gascon to tolerate cold weather better than other cows; it is also very thick and sheds water well. The ease of calving is another. Gascon cows have a much shorter labour than other breeds. Another characteristic of the Gascon is that their calves get stronger and gain more weight faster than other types of cows. Gascon cows have lower feed consumption than other types of cows. This is due to adaptation as their food sources are often scarce. However, they are still able to keep in good condition and become pregnant easily. Gascon cows have a gray

coat A coat is typically an outer garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners (AKA velcro), ...

, but are born red - the coat changes colour at about the fourth month of life.

Bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

s are grey, with black shading underneath. Average height at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

is about for bulls and for cows; body weights are the ranges and respectively.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gascon Cattle Cattle breeds originating in France