Abondance Cattle Breed – Everything You Need to Know

The Abondance cattle breed are known for the excellent adaptation to extreme temperatures and climates. They are very hardy and strong cattle that have a high fertility rate, ease of breeding and a long life. They have a very good quality of meat and their milk is rich in fat and protein content. They are able to rough forage at mountain altitudes of around 500 to 2000 meters.

ABONDANCE BREED OF CATTLE QUICK PROFILE OVERVIEW
The Abondance breed of cattle are strong, hardy and known for the excellent milk and meat qualities
Country of Origin:	France
Other Names:	Chablaisienne
Main Purpose:	Milk and meat
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Can be used for	Breed, Milk and meat
Ideal Climate:	Heat, Cold, Most Climates
Conservation Status:	Not listed by the *ALC Status/Rarity: Common
Health Issues?	No known health issues
Good Starter Cattle?	Novice to intermediate Cattle farmer/keeper level
Cattle Associations:	Unclear – Please check with the American Dairy Association, National Association of Animal Breeders, Beef Cattle Breed Associations or The Beef Industry’s Information Center
Cattle Clubs:	Unclear – Please check with the American Dairy Association, National Association of Animal Breeders, Beef Cattle Breed Associations or The Beef Industry’s Information Center
Where to buy them?	Unclear – Please check with the American Dairy Association, National Association of Animal Breeders, Beef Cattle Breed Associations or The Beef Industry’s Information Center
Child Friendly?	Livestock should not be left unattended around unsupervised children
General Information:	The Abondance breeds milk is used to produce Appellation d’Origine Controlee cheese. These are cheeses such as tome des Bauges, Beaufort, Abondance, and Reblochon cheese. Their herd management should follow a seasonal pattern in temperatures that fall to below zero temperatures in the winter even though the cattle can withstand temperatures from up to minus ten degrees Celsius. In mountainous conditions, they are usually in-door overwintered for around six to seven months in a stall environment and then returned to pastures from the spring in this conditions.
Note: *ALC stands for American Livestock Conservancy

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The Abondance cattle are strong and sturdy framed animals of medium size and pretty square type faces. The bulls and cows color and height differ slightly in that the cows are a little smaller than the bulls and their color is a bit different.
They are easy to manage and maintain and the cows are relatively docile for easy milking.

Size:

Medium

CATTLE ⇒	COW	BULL
Breed Color:	Golden brown with a white head, underbelly and some white on their legs	Chestnut red with a white head
Breed Weight:	580 to 680 kgs	645 to 820 kgs
Breed Height:	1.3 m	1.7 m
Horns:	Yes	Yes
Temperament:	Calm	A bit more aggressive than the cow
Matures at age:	6 to 8 months or 9 + months	6 to 8 months or 9 + months
Puberty Age:	6 to 15 months	9 to 1o months
Breeding Age:	13 to 15 months	1 year
Breeding Traits:	See Cow breeding & Milking Info	Cover 25 to 30 Cows in 1 season

COW BREEDING & MILKING INFORMATION
The Abondance cows produce a milk that is rich in fat content, creamy and has a good protein content to it. They make great mothers although in some instances the calves are taken away from the mother at quite a young age especially in a dairy environment.
Breeding Period/cycle:	Usually lasts 6 to 24 hours Most ave. 12 to 16 hours Cows usually come on heat every 21 days.
Estrous cycle:	Ave. 17 days to 24 days Heifer – usually ave. 20 days Cows – usually ave. 21 days
Gestation Period:	Usually, around 279 to 287 days but most gestation is 283 days. Cows that are carrying bull calf’s their gestation period is usually a little longer than cows that are carrying heifer calves.
No. Calves/Litter:	1 calf at a time. Cows rarely have twins or triplets, but it can happen
Lactation Period:	Cows lactation period can last for up to about 10 months (305) days.
Milking From:	1 to 6 weeks after Calving
Drying off Period:	The cow should have a 12 to 14-month inter-calving cycle. Drying off period for around 60 days before she can calve again.
Milk Quality:	Good, 5700 kgs per Lactation period
Milk Ideal for:	Calves, drinking, and cheese
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CATTLE MEAT PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Nice cut and color with a good meat to bone ratio. Their calves do not mature as fast as most but do tend to have a dress out weight at about 8 to 9 months of age.

Meat Production?

Yes, Quality: Good

CATTLE ⇒	VEAL	BEEF
Ave. Maturity Age:	6 to 8 months	9 months up to 4 years

CATTLE SKIN PRODUCTION INFORMATION

Most meat Cattle will have a skin by-product, and these are usually used in some form or just as a hide.

Skin Production?

N/A

Skin is used to Produce:

Calf/cow skin leather products such as shoes, car seats, fine leather coats, gloves, handbags, belts, furniture, rugs, etc.

CATTLE ⇒	CALF	ADULT
Age they Produce from:	6 to 8 months for Calf skin 1 to 2 years old for Normal leather	9 months + for Cattle skin 1 to 2 years old for Normal leather

HISTORY

The Abondance cattle breed are a breed that was bred by the monks of the abbaye de Saint-Maurice d’Agaune in Haute-Savoie, France. The monks had been breeding the Abondance cattle since the 12th century.

The Abondance cattle are a mixed breed of cattle that were bred to withstand extreme temperature swings and to adapt to mountainous regions. They can withstand temperatures that swing from as low as -10 degrees Celsius in the morning to over 35 degrees Celsius by the late afternoon.
As they were bred in mountainous areas they are well adapted to rough forage, as a result, they need very little feed supplement as they are well adept at exploiting their grass and hay-based ratios into a protein-rich milk.

Their milk is mainly used for cheese production and is in fact nearly eighty percent of the Abondance breed’s milk is used in the production of fine cheeses such as the Emmental de Savoie and the tome de Savoie (Protected Geographic Indication cheeses. They are also famous for producing other favorite French cheeses as referenced above in this article.

They are quite popular and farmed in Canada, North America, Chile, Mexico, the Middle East where they are used for their milk, meat and crossbreeding. They are used as crossbreeding for the purpose of improving on local breeds mild yields and hardiness.