Belgian Blue

Crismaru Andre
Andon Dragos-Constantin
Grupa 272

Belgian Blue

Belgian Blue is a breed of beef cattle from Belgium. These cattle are
referred to in French as Race de la Moyenne et Haute Belgique, or, more
commonly, Blanc Bleu Belge.Alternative names for this breed include Belgian
Blue-White; Belgian White and Blue Pied; Belgian White Blue; Blue; and Blue
Belgian.The Belgian Blue's sculpted, heavily muscled appearance is known as
"double-muscling". The double-muscling phenotype is a heritable condition which
results in the increased number of muscle fibers rather than the normal
enlargement of individual muscle fibers. 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. 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 1807 by a livestock observationist
named George Culley. The breed originated in central and upper Belgium in the
nineteenth century, from crossing local breeds with a Shorthorn breed of cattle
from the UK (United Kingdom). It is also possible that Charolais cattle were cross
breed as well. Belgian Blue cattle were first used as a milk and beef breed. The
modern beef breed was developed in the nineteen fifties (1950) 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.

Breed characteristic
The Belgian Blue has a natural mutation in the myostatin gene which codes
for the protein, myostatin ("myo" meaning muscle and "statin" meaning stop).
Myostatin is a protein that acts to inhibit muscle development. This mutation also
interferes with fat deposition, resulting in very lean meat. 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. In addition a
new born double-muscled calfs birth weight compared to a normal calf is
significantly greater.
Belgian Blue cattle have improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) due to lower
feed intake compared to weight gain. 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.
Since the Belgian Blues bone structure is the same as a normal cow,
however holding a greater amount of muscle, 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. Because of this breeds
increased muscle yield a diet containing higher protein is required to compensate
for the altered mode of weight gain. During finishing this breed requires high-
energy (concentrated) feeds, and will not yield the same results if put on a high-
fiber diet.
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.









Breed issues
The neonatal calf is so large that Caesarean sections are routinely done.
Double-muscled cows also can experience dystocia, even when bred to normal
beef bulls or dairy bulls, because of a narrower birth canal. In addition to the
dams reduced pelvic dimensions, the calfs birth weight and width are increased,
in turn making parturition harder. The bulls 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 calving.













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. 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.
The slower rate of fat deposition has caused for slaughtering in most cases to be
delayed, which means an increase in maintenance costs in those animals. There
are also issues with this breed's increased need to have Caesarean sections when
calving, which means an increased cost, added work, and can become a welfare
issue. Belgian Blue cattle require more skilled management and do not thrive in
harsh environments. For these reasons and others the breeds overall production
efficiency in an economic sense is still unclear.