Editing Belgian Blue

{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
{{For|the blue bull native to India|Nilgai}}
{{short description|Belgian breed of cattle}}
{{Infobox cattle breed
| name          = Belgian Blue
| image         = Belgische blauwe.jpg
| image_size    =
| image_alt     = 
| image_caption = 
| status        = {{ubl|[[FAO]] (2007): not at risk{{r|barb|p=143}}|[[DAD-IS]] (2022): not at risk{{r|dad}}}}
| altname       =
| country       = Belgium
| distribution  = Africa, Americas, Europe, Oceania 
| standard      = {{nobreak|[https://web.archive.org/web/20160721114000/http://www.hbbbb.be/fr/pages/standard-bbb Herd-Book Blanc-Bleu Belge] (in French)}}
| use           = two types, beef and dual-purpose
| weight        =
| maleweight    = average 1200 kg{{r|cabi|p=127}}
| femaleweight  = average 700 kg{{r|cabi|p=127}}
| height        =
| maleheight    = average 148 cm{{r|cabi|p=127}}
| femaleheight  = average 132 cm{{r|cabi|p=127}}
| skincolour    =
| coat          = 
| horn          = 
| subspecies    = taurus
| note          = 
}}

[[File:Kamp- Bambino vd ijzer copy.jpg|thumb|right|Belgian Blue bull]]
[[File:Sectio caesarea.jpg|thumb|right|Cow with the scars from [[caesarean sections]]]]
The '''Belgian Blue''' ({{langx|fr|'Blanc-Bleu Belge'}}, {{langx|nl|'Belgisch Witblauw'}}, both literally meaning "Belgian White-Blue") is a breed of [[beef]] [[cattle]] from [[Belgium]].{{r|dad}} It may also be known as the {{lang|fr|'''Race de la Moyenne et Haute Belgique'''}},{{r|mason|page=95}} or {{langx|nl|'''dikbil'''|label=none}} (literally "fat buttocks" in Dutch).  Alternative names for this breed include Belgian Blue-White; Belgian White and Blue Pied; Belgian White Blue; Blue; and Blue Belgian.<ref>[http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/belgianblue/index.htm Oklahoma State University breed profile] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011164601/http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/cattle/belgianblue/index.htm |date=October 11, 2008 }}</ref>  The Belgian Blue's extremely lean, hyper-sculpted, ultra-muscular physique is termed "[[Myostatin#Double-muscled cattle|double-muscling]]". The double-muscling [[phenotype]] is a heritable condition caused by a deletion in the [[myostatin]] gene,<ref name="pmid9356471">{{cite journal |vauthors=McPherron AC, Lee SJ |title=Double muscling in cattle due to mutations in the myostatin gene |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=94 |issue=23 |pages=12457–12461 |date=November 1997 |pmid=9356471 |doi=10.1073/pnas.94.23.12457 |doi-access=free|pmc=24998 }}</ref> resulting in an increased number of muscle fibres ([[hyperplasia]]), instead of the (normal) enlargement of ''individual'' muscle fibres ([[hypertrophy]]).<ref name="De Smet">{{cite book|last=De Smet|first=S|title=Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences|chapter=Double-Muscled Animals|year=2004|volume=Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences|pages=396–402|doi=10.1016/B0-12-464970-X/00260-9|editor1-first=Werner Klinth|editor1-last=Jensen|publisher=Oxford: Elsevier|hdl=1854/LU-294762|isbn=978-0-12-464970-5}}</ref>

This particular trait is shared with another breed of cattle known as [[Piedmontese (cattle)|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 reduced [[meat tenderness|tenderness]].<ref name="pmid9356471" /><ref name=Kambadur>{{cite journal|last=Kambadur|first=R.|author2=Sharma, M.|author3=Smith, T. P. L.|author4=Bass, J. J.|title=Mutations in myostatin (GDF8) in double-muscled belgian blue and piedmontese cattle|journal=Genome Research|volume=7|issue=9|pages=910–916|pmid=9314496|date=September 1997|doi=10.1101/gr.7.9.910|doi-access=free}}</ref>  The Belgian Blue is named after its typically blue-grey mottled hair colour; however, its actual colour can vary from white to black.

== History ==
The breed originated in central and upper [[Belgium]] in the 19th century, from crossing local breeds with a [[Shorthorn cattle|Shorthorn]] breed of cattle from the United Kingdom.{{r|norm|page=256}}  [[Charolais cattle]] possibly were cross-bred, as well.{{r|norm|page=256}} Belgian Blue cattle were first used as a [[Dairy cattle|dairy]] and [[beef]] breed. The modern beef breed was developed in the 1950s by Professor Hanset, working at an [[artificial insemination]] centre in [[Liège Province]]. The breed's characteristic gene mutation was maintained through [[Linebreeding#Domestic animals|linebreeding]] to the point where the condition was a fixed property in the Belgian Blue breed.<ref name=Kambadur /> In 1978, Belgian Blue cattle were introduced to the United States by Nick Tutt, a farmer from central Canada who emigrated to [[West Texas]] and showed the cattle to universities in the region.{{Clarify|date=July 2015}}

The Belgian Blue has been exported to many parts of the world; it is reported to [[DAD-IS]] by twenty-four countries, in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania. Of these, ten report population data; in 2022 the worldwide population was estimated to be {{val|107875}}.{{r|dad2}}

== 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).<ref name="entrez">{{cite web | title = Entrez Gene: Double muscling in cattle due to mutations in the myostatin gene| url = https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC24998/}}</ref><ref name=Kambadur />  Myostatin is a protein that inhibits muscle development. This mutation also interferes with fat deposition, resulting in very lean meat.<ref name=Kambadur /> 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 (fibres) 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 fibres at birth than a calf with no myostatin gene mutation.<ref name=Kambadur /> In addition, a newborn double-muscled calf's birth weight is significantly greater than that of a normal calf.<ref name="De Smet"/>

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

== Breed problems ==

Double-muscled cows routinely experience [[dystocia]] – difficulty in parturition – even when bred to normal beef bulls or dairy bulls, because of a narrower birth canal;{{r|norm|page=256}} the birth weight and width of the calf also may be higher than in animals without the double-muscling gene.<ref name=Kambadur /> Calves are commonly born by [[Caesarean section]]; cows may be able to survive five or six deliveries of this type.{{r|norm|p=256|felius|p2=110}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Educational Vet Video|title=Video of Cow Caesarean Section|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2HJNAgoels| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211123/Z2HJNAgoels| archive-date=2021-11-23 | url-status=live|work=VetPulse TV in Practice|date=May 2009 |publisher=YouTube|access-date=30 December 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> 

In bulls, testicular weight and [[semen]] quantity and quality are lower than in other cattle, perhaps because of the greater amount of connective tissue in the testicles.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hoflack |first1=G. |last2=Van den Broeck |first2=W. |last3=Maes |first3=D. |last4=Van Damme |first4=K. |last5=Opsomer |first5=G. |last6=Duchateau |first6=L. |last7=de Kruif |first7=A. |last8=Rodriguez-Martinez |first8=H. |last9=Van Soom |first9=A. |title=Testicular dysfunction is responsible for low sperm quality in Belgian Blue bulls |journal=Theriogenology |date=1 February 2008 |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=323–332 |doi=10.1016/j.theriogenology.2007.09.034 |pmid=18023470 }}</ref> however this is less of an issue when compared to the dam's difficulties in calving.<ref name="De Smet" />

== Economic efficiency ==

The economics of breeding and raising Belgian Blue cattle are inconclusive because of complications experienced during parturition and metabolic demand for more 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.{{Citation needed|date=July 2015}} 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.<ref name="De Smet" />  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.<ref name="De Smet" />  For these reasons and others, the breed's overall production efficiency in an economic sense is still unclear.

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist|45em|refs=

<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN|978-92-5-105762-9}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>

<ref name=cabi>Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.com/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN|978-1-78064-794-4}}.</ref>

<ref name=dad>[https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ext-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=BEL&specie=Cattle&breed=Blanc-Bleu%20Belge&lang=en Breed data sheet: Blanc-Bleu Belge / Belgium (Cattle)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2022.</ref>

<ref name=dad2>[https://dadis-transboundary-ext-ws.web.app/?species=Cattle&transboundary=Belgian%20Blue&lang=en Transboundary breed: Belgian Blue]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2022.</ref>

<ref name=felius>Marleen Felius (1995). [https://books.google.com/books?id=iXImAQAAMAAJ ''Cattle Breeds: An Encyclopedia'']. Doetinchem, Netherlands: Misset. {{ISBN|978-90-5439-017-6}}.</ref>

<ref name=mason>Valerie Porter (ed.), Ian Lauder Mason (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=1FNUW-44fEsC&pg=PA95 ''Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties''] (5th edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN|0-85199-430-X}}.</ref>

<ref name=norm>{{cite book|last=Cheville|first=Norman F.|year=1999|title=Introduction to veterinary pathology|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-0-8138-2496-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U-OF4rmihIUC}}</ref>

}}

[[Category:Cattle breeds originating in Belgium]]