This breed is a native of the Vosges Mountains,
principally in Alsace. Vosges cattle are exceptionally healthy, fertile
and long-lived, milk production at the age of fifteen is not unusual.
The Vosges was originally a working breed that was transformed into
a dairy type.
The origin of the breed traces back to the 17th
century, when Swedish soldiers brought Scandinavian cattle into the
region after the Thirty Years War.
The breed was at the height at the beginning
of the 20th century (1914: 125,000 cows), but was strongly affected
by World Wars I and II and then the pressure of other breeds. (1976:
less than 3 000 cows).
In 1971, semen from Telemark bulls in Norway
was used to a limited extent and nowadays the proportion of Telemark
blood is about 1/8. In 1977, a safeguard scheme was undertaken and the
breed is now increasing, with about 8,500 cows (1997).
The Vosges is a black and white, colorsided breed.
The head is mainly milky grey. Dark rings around the eyes. The muzzle
and the area around it are also dark.
Vosges is a good natured, robust, undemanding
milk-base dual purpose mountain cattle, well-adapted to difficult regions
and to variation in temperature, able to walk long distances and to
make good use of roughage.
Fed almost exclusively on home grown fodder
and kept in the summer on high land in the Vosges Mountains, the breed
is well -known for the quality of its milk from which the distinct German
Munster cheese is made. Another of its qualities is its ease of calving.
Milk production: 3 479 Kg at 3,75 % butter fat
and 3,33 % protein.
Withers height: Bull: 135 - 140 cm Cow:
125 - 135 cm
Liveweight: Bull: 800 Kg Cow: 600 Kg
Reference:
Genus Bos: Cattle Breeds of the World, 1985,
MSO-AGVET (Merck & Co., Inc.), Rahway, N.J.
Mason, I.L. 1996. A World Dictionary of Livestock
Breeds, Types and Varieties. Fourth Edition. C.A.B International.
273 pp.
Pierre Bonard, Brûlées 54, CH
- 1093 La Conversion (VD), Switzerland
Photographs:
Pierre Bonard, Brûlées 54, CH
- 1093 La Conversion (VD), Switzerland
