The Bretonne Pie Noir is a French breed of small dairy cattle from Brittany, in north-western France. It originates from Cornouaille and the Pays de Vannes in the départements of Finistère and Morbihan. Due to its small size, modest requirements, good productivity and ability to exploit poor and marginal terrain, it was well suited to traditional Breton agriculture. A herdbook was established in 1886. The breed was in the past numerous; at the beginning of the twentieth century there were about . Numbers fell drastically during that century, and in 1976, when about remained, a breed conservation plan was begun, the first such for any breed of cattle.
Characteristics
The Bretonne Pie Noir is pied black and white; a red pied variant disappeared during the twentieth century. Height at the withers averages for males, for females; average weight is for bulls, for cows.
Use
The milk yield of the Bretonne Pie Noir is about per lactation. The milk has fat and protein. Some is used to make , a traditional Breton fermented milk product.
References
Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: 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. . Archived 23 June 2020.
Étude de la race bovine: Bretonne Pie Noire (in French). Bureau des Ressources Génétiques. Archived 1 May 2012.
Breed data sheet: Bretonne Pie-Noir / France (Cattle). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed May 2025.
[s.n.] (2016). Strategy for pre-project: Development of a traditional product from the milk of local cows "Bretonne Pie noir": the Gwell. Preparatory action: EU plant and animal genetic resources in agriculture AGRI-2015-EVAL-09. Archived 8 December 2020.
Jean-Jacques Colleau, Pierre Quéméré, H. Larroque, J. Sergent, C. Wagner (2002). Gestion génétique de la race bovine Bretonne Pie-Noire: bilan et perspectives = Genetic management of the Breton Black-Pied cattle breed (in French). INRA Productions Animales 15 (3): 221–230.
Pierre Quéméré (2006). La bretonne pie noir: grandeur, décadence, renouveau (in French). Paris: France agricole. .