FACTS

Parthenais produces fine-grain, tender beef, with low intramuscular fat and cholesterol

High killing-out percentage. Only 8.8% fat in the carcass and a net meat content of 77%, with 41.25% of this being high-quality cuts

Growth rates upwards of 1.5kg/day

Meat in France worth three times more and averages £5.25/kg

The breed is double-muscled, and perform well off grass

Despite being heavily muscled they are easy calving due to the light bone structure. Average birthweights for bulls are about 44kg. The mature bulls weigh 1,000kg-1,300kg and cows 750kg-1,000kg

Renowned for their high fertility and easily calving, whilst being very lively at birth, with the result that productivity is high. Parthenais bulls allows high calf quality with the least calving difficulty.

Cross breeding trials on Friesians in the UK have produced easy calving black calves with good conformation. Feeding trials on these crossbreds on an intensive rearing system to finish around 450kg at 10-11 months show live weight gain as high as 1.75kg/day.

The Parthenais thrives on all types of terrain, they are shown to cope very well and have very good disease resistance. Originating from the Deux-Sèvres, western France, climatic conditions are not too dissimilar to British conditions.