Bleue du Nord

Bleue du Nord
head of a white cow with blue-grey markings
Cow at the Salon de l'Agriculture, Paris 2010
Conservation status
Country of originFrance
DistributionNord-Pas-de-Calais[3]
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    average 1150 kg[2]
  • Female:
    average 700 kg[2]
Height
  • Male:
    average 142 cm[2]
  • Female:
    average 135 cm[2]
Coatwhite, black pied, blue roan pied
Horn statushorned in both sexes
  • Cattle
  • Bos (primigenius) taurus
a pale cow with blue markings and black-tipped ears eating grass
Cow at pasture
a calf with white face and legs and grey-blue flanks
Heifer calf near Solre-le-Château in the Avesnois

The Bleue du Nord is a French breed of dual-purpose cattle from the former region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in the north-east of the country, on the border with Belgium. It shares the origins of the Belgian Blue, but unlike that breed is selectively bred both for meat and for dairy use. The double-muscling characteristic of the Belgian Blue, caused by a genetic myostatin deficiency, is present also in the Bleue du Nord, but to a limited and controlled extent.

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