Belgian Blue

For the blue bull native to India, see Nilgai.
Belgian Blue bull
Belgian Blue cow with the scars from caesarean sections clearly visible.

The Belgian Blue, French: Blanc-Bleu Belge, is a breed of beef cattle from Belgium.[1] It may also be known as the Race de la Moyenne et Haute Belgique.[2]:95 Alternative names for this breed include Belgian Blue-White; Belgian White and Blue Pied; Belgian White Blue; Blue; and Blue Belgian.[3] The Belgian Blue's extremely lean, hyper-sculpted, ultra-muscular physique is termed, "double-muscling". The double-muscling phenotype is a heritable condition resulting in an increased number of muscle fibers (hyperplasia), instead of the (normal) enlargement of individual muscle fibers (hypertrophy).[4]

This particular trait is shared with another breed of cattle known as Piedmontese. Both of these breeds have an increased ability to convert feed into lean muscle, which causes these particular breeds' meat to have a reduced fat content and increased tenderness.[5] The Belgian Blue is named after their typically blue-grey mottled hair colour, however its colour can vary from white to black.

History

The condition was first documented in 1808 by a livestock observationist named George Culley.[5] The breed originated in central and upper Belgium in the nineteenth century, from crossing local breeds with a Shorthorn breed of cattle from the United Kingdom.[6]:256 It is also possible that Charolais cattle were cross-bred as well.[6]:256 Belgian Blue cattle were first used as a dairy and beef breed. The modern beef breed was developed in the 1950s by Professor Hanset, working at an artificial insemination centre in Liege province. The breed's characteristic gene mutation was maintained through linebreeding to the point where the condition was a fixed property in the Belgian Blue breed.[5] In 1978 Belgian Blue cattle were introduced to the United States by Nick Tutt, a farmer from central Canada who immigrated to west Texas and showed the cattle to universities in the region.

Breed characteristics

The Belgian Blue has a natural mutation in the myostatin gene which codes for the protein, myostatin ("myo" meaning muscle and "statin" meaning stop).[5] Myostatin is a protein that inhibits muscle development. This mutation also interferes with fat deposition, resulting in very lean meat.[5] The truncated myostatin gene is unable to function in its normal capacity, resulting in accelerated lean muscle growth. Muscle growth is due primarily to physiological changes in the animal's muscle cells (fibers) from hypertrophy to a hyperplasia mode of growth. This particular type of growth is seen early in the fetus of a pregnant dam, which results in a calf that is born with two times the number of muscle fibers at birth than a calf with no myostatin gene mutation.[5] In addition a new born double-muscled calf’s birth weight is significantly greater than that of a normal calf .[4]

Belgian Blue cattle have improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) due to lower feed intake compared to weight gain.[4] The ability for these animals to have improved FCR is due to an altered composition of body weight gain which includes increased protein and decreased fat deposition.[4] The Belgian Blue’s bone structure is the same as a normal cow, albeit holding a greater amount of muscle, which causes them to have a greater meat to bone ratio. These cattle have a muscle yield of about 20% more on average than cattle without the genetic myostatin mutation.[5] Because of this breed’s increased muscle yield a diet containing higher protein is required to compensate for the altered mode of weight gain.[4] During finishing this breed requires high-energy (concentrated) feeds, and will not yield the same results if put on a high-fiber diet.[4]

The value of the double-muscling breed is due to their superior carcass characteristics. However, with decreased fat content there is decreased marbling of meat, which means the meat tenderness is reduced. Conversely, the Belgian Blue's meat tenderness has been argued to be just as tender because there are a large number of smaller muscle fibers. The Belgian Blue's meat cuts also have a lower collagen content, which allows the protein quality to be improved due to a higher yield of amino acids.[4]

Breed problems

Double-muscled cows can experience dystocia (a difficult birth), even when bred to normal beef bulls or dairy bulls, because of a narrower birth canal.[6]:256 In addition to the dam’s reduced pelvic dimensions, the calf’s birth weight and width are increased, making parturition harder.[5] The neonatal calf is so large that Caesarean sections are routinely scheduled for breeders.[6]:256[7] The bull’s testicular weight and semen quantity and quality have been observed as reduced, however this seems to be less of an issue when compared to the dam's difficulties in calving.[4]

Economic efficiency

The economics of breeding and raising Belgian Blue cattle are inconclusive because of complications experienced during parturition and metabolic demand for increased concentrated feeds. The breed's increased need to have Caesarean sections when calving means increased cost and added work, and can become a welfare issue. However, the carcass value of double-muscled animals may be enhanced due to increased dressing yield, lean carcass content, and upgrading of some cuts leading to a higher proportion of higher valued cuts.[4] The slower rate of fat deposition causes slaughtering to be delayed in most cases, which means an increase in maintenance costs in those animals. Belgian Blue cattle require more skilled management and do not thrive in harsh environments.[4] For these reasons and others, the breed's overall production efficiency in an economic sense is still unclear.

References

  1. ↑ Blanc-Bleu Belge/Belgium. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed November 2016.
  2. ↑ Valerie Porter (ed.), Ian Lauder Mason (2002). Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties (5th edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 085199430X.
  3. ↑ Oklahoma State University breed profile Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 De Smet, S (2004). Jensen, Werner Klinth, ed. "Double-Muscled Animals". Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences. Oxford: Elsevier: 396–402. doi:10.1016/B0-12-464970-X/00260-9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kambadur, R.; Sharma, M.; Smith, T. P. L.; Bass, J. J. (September 1997). "Mutations in myostatin (GDF8) in double-muscled belgian blue and piedmontese cattle". Genome Research. 7 (9): 910–916. doi:10.1101/gr.7.9.910. PMID 9314496.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Cheville, Norman F. (1999). Introduction to veterinary pathology. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-8138-2496-3.
  7. ↑ Educational Vet Video. "Video of Cow Caesarean Section". VetPulse TV in Practice. YouTube. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

External links

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