Parthenais cattle
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| Conservation status | FAO (2007): not at risk |
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| Country of origin | France |
| Standard | Organisme de Sélection de la race Parthenaise |
| Use | Formerly triple-purpose, draught, meat and milk; now meat |
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| Skin colour | black |
| Coat | wheaten |
| Horn status | horned in both sexes |
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The Parthenaise is a French cattle breed. It is named for the town of Parthenay in the département of Deux-Sèvres, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of western France. It was formerly a triple-purpose breed, raised for milk, meat and draught work, but is now raised mainly for beef.
The Parthenaise forms a part of the large population – sometimes called Poitevine or Vendéenne – of wheaten-coloured cattle which traditionally occupied the western part of France, from the Loire to the Gironde. It is closely related to the Maraîchine, the Nantaise and the extinct Marchoise and Berrichonne, all of which belong to the same group.Oxen of this type were used mainly for agricultural draught work in Haut-Poitou, in the Saintonge, in Touraine and in the Vendée. The cattle were sometimes called Gâtinaises or Boeufs de Gâtine, so named for the Gâtine Vendéenne. At the end of their working lives, these oxen were often sent to the area of Cholet to be fattened for slaughter; these were known as Choletaises.
The name of the breed is due to Eugène Gayot, who in 1860 identified Parthenay, in the département of Deux-Sèvres, as the principal centre of production. In the second half of the nineteenth century many vineyards were destroyed by phylloxera and uprooted; the land was turned to pasture. A number of dairy co-operatives were formed, and the Parthenaise was used to produce a type of butter marketed as "Charente-Poitou", which quickly became well-known. By the late nineteenth century there were some 1.1 million head.
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Wikipedia