The Baudet du Poitou, also called the Poitevin or Poitou donkey, is a French
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
of donkey. It is one of the largest breeds, and jacks (donkey stallions) were bred to
mare
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...
s of the
Poitevin horse breed to produce
Poitevin mules, which were formerly in worldwide demand for agricultural and other work. The Baudet has a distinctive coat, which hangs in long, ungroomed locks or ''cadenettes''.
The Baudet developed in the former
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
, possibly from donkeys introduced to the area by the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
. They may have been a status symbol during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, and by the early 18th century, their physical characteristics had been established. A
studbook
A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...
for the breed was established in France in 1884, and the 19th and early 20th centuries saw them being used for the production of mules throughout Europe. During this same time, Poitou
bloodline
Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...
s were also used to develop other donkey breeds, including the
American Mammoth Jack
The American Mammoth Jackstock is a breed of North American donkey, descended from large donkeys imported to the United States from about 1785. George Washington, with Henry Clay and others, bred for an ass that could be used to produce strong ...
in the United States. Increasing
mechanization
Mechanization is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text a machine is defined as follows:
In some fields, mechanization includes the ...
in the mid-20th century saw a decline in the need for, and hence population of, the breed, and by 1977, a survey found only 44 members worldwide.
Conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...
efforts were begun by a number of public and private breeders and organizations, and by 2005 there were 450
purebred
Purebreds are "cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the p ...
Poitou donkeys.
History
![Mule-poitevine SDA2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Mule-poitevine_SDA2013.JPG)
The exact origins of the Poitou breed are unknown, but donkeys and their use in the breeding of mules may have been introduced to the
Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
region of France by the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. The Baudet de Poitou and the ''
Mulassière'' (mule breeder)
horse breed
A horse breed is a selectively bred population of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a broader sense to define landrace animals of a common phenotype located within a lim ...
(also known as the Poitevin) were developed together for the use of producing superior mules. In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, owning a Poitou donkey may have been a
status symbol
A status symbol is a visible, external symbol of one's social position, an indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols. ''Status symbol'' is also a sociological term – as part of social and soci ...
among the local
French nobility
The French nobility (french: la noblesse française) was a privileged social class in France from the Middle Ages until its abolition on June 23, 1790 during the French Revolution.
From 1808 to 1815 during the First Empire the Emperor Napoléo ...
. It is not known when the Poitou's distinctive characteristics were gained but they seem to have been well-developed by 1717 when an advisor to
King Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...
described:
There is found, in northern Poitou, donkeys which are as tall as large mules. They are almost completely covered in hair a half-foot long with legs and joints as large as a those of a carriage
A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...
horse.
In the mid-1800s, Poitevin mules were "regarded as the finest and strongest in France",
[ and between 15,000 and 18,000 were sold annually.][ In 1884, a ]studbook
A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...
was established for the Poitou donkey in France. During the first half of the twentieth century, the mules bred by the Poitou and the Poitevin continued to be desired throughout Europe, and were called the "finest working mule in the world".[ Purchasers paid higher prices for Poitevin mules than for others, and up to 30,000 were bred annually in Poitou,][ with some estimates putting the number as high as 50,000.] As mechanization increased around World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, mules became outmoded, and population numbers for both mules and donkeys dropped dramatically.[
Poitou donkey and mule breeders were extremely protective of their breeding practices, some of which were "highly unusual and misguided."][ Jacks were kept in closed-in stalls throughout the year once they had begun covering mares, in often unhygienic conditions. Once the mares had been covered, a folk belief held that if they were underfed, they would produce colts, which were more valuable, rather than fillies. This often led to mares being starved during their pregnancies. ]Colostrum
Colostrum, also known as beestings or first milk, is the first form of milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals (including humans) immediately following delivery of the newborn. Colostrum powder is rich in high protein and low in sugar and ...
, vital for foal development, was considered unhealthy and withheld from newborns. A lack of breeding records resulted in fertility problems,[ and there was a significant amount of foal mortality, due to jacks being used to cover horse ]mare
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four ...
s before jennies of their own kind, resulting in late-born foals that were vulnerable to cold fall and winter temperatures.[ Despite these husbandry issues, one author, writing in 1883, stated that "mule-breeding is about the only branch of agricultural industry in which France has no rival abroad, owing its prosperity entirely to the zeal of those engaged in it."][
]
Conservation efforts
A breed census in 1977 found only 44 Poitou donkeys worldwide, and in 1980 there were still fewer than 80 animals. Conservation efforts were led by several public and private groups in France. In 1979, the Haras Nationaux
The Haras Nationaux in France (English literal translation ''national stud farms'') was the French national public administrative body responsible for the regulation and administration of breeding of horses and donkeys in France. It administere ...
, (the French national stud) and the Parc Naturel Regional du Marais Poitevin, working with private breeders, launched an effort to improve the genetics of the Poitou, develop new breeding techniques and collect traditional knowledge on the breed. In 1981, 18 large donkeys from Portugal were acquired for use in breeding Poitou donkeys. This preceded the creation of the Asinerie Nationale Experimentale, which opened in Charente-Maritime
Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...
in Dampierre-sur-Boutonne
Dampierre-sur-Boutonne (, literally ''Dampierre on Boutonne'') is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France.
Geography
The village lies in the southwestern part of the commune, on the left bank of the Boutonne, which ...
in 1982, as an experimental breeding farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...
. The Parc also works to preserve the Poitevin horse breed. In 1988, the Association pour la Sauvegarde du Baudet du Poitou (SABAUD) was formed as a breeder network that focuses on marketing and fundraising for the breed, and in 1989 became the financial support arm of the Asinerie Nationale Experimentale. The Association des Éleveurs des Races Équine, Mulassière et Asine, Baudet du Poitou is the registering body for the Poitou donkey. The early conservation efforts were sometimes sidetracked as some breeders sold crossbred Poitous as purebreds, which are worth up to ten times as much. Forged pedigrees and registration papers were sometimes used to legitimize these sales. However, by the 1990s, DNA testing and microchip
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
technology began to be used to identify and track purebred animals.
The conservation efforts in the latter decades of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st were successful, and a 2005 survey revealed 450 purebred
Purebreds are "cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be "pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the p ...
registered animals. This number dropped to just under 400 by 2011. The French studbook
A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...
for the breed is split into two sections. The first, Livre A, is for purebred animals with documented Poitou parentage on both sides of their pedigree. The second, Livre B, is for animals with one purebred Poitou parent. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as "h ...
lists the Poitou as "Critical" on its Conservation Priority List, a category for breeds with less than 2,000 animals worldwide and less than 200 registrations annually in the US.
In 2001, scientists in Australia successfully implanted a Poitou donkey embryo
An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...
created by artificial insemination
Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatme ...
in the womb
The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The uter ...
of a Standardbred
The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...
mare. Worries that joint problems might prevent a healthy pregnancy in the foal
A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal i ...
's biological mother led to the initiative. The resultant foal became one of three Poitou donkeys in Australia. The procedure was unusual because it is often difficult for members of one '' Equus'' species to accept implanted embryos from another species in the same genus.
In the United States
Historical records exist of several sets of exports of Poitous from France to the US during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including a 1910 import of 10 donkeys. Most of these were integrated into the generic pool of donkey bloodstock, rather than being bred pure. During this time, Poitous were used in the creation of the American Mammoth Jack
The American Mammoth Jackstock is a breed of North American donkey, descended from large donkeys imported to the United States from about 1785. George Washington, with Henry Clay and others, bred for an ass that could be used to produce strong ...
breed. Due to high purchase and transportation costs, the breed played a smaller role in the development of the Mammoth Jack than some breeders would have preferred. Imports to the US continued until at least 1937, when a successful breeding jack name Kaki, who stood high, was brought to the country. The 1940s through the 1960s saw a dearth of Poitou imports, and only a few arrived between 1978 and the 1990s. By 1996, there were estimated to only be around 30 Poitous in North America.[
In 1996, Debbie Hamilton, an American, founded the Hamilton Rare Breeds Foundation on a farm in ]Hartland, Vermont
Hartland is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,446 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Hartland, Hartland Four Corners, and North Hartland.
History
Hartland, originally named Hertford, was cha ...
, to breed Poitou donkeys. As of 2004, she owned 26 purebred and 14 partbred Poitous, making hers the largest Poitou breeding operation in the United States, and the second largest in the world, behind the French government-sponsored experimental farm. Hamilton works with French officials toward the preservation of the breed, and has received praise from French veterinarians, who appreciate her technical and financial contributions to the breed.[ Techniques for using ]cryopreservation
Cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation is a process where Organism, organisms, organelles, cell (biology), cells, Biological tissue, tissues, extracellular matrix, Organ (anatomy), organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage ...
to develop a sperm bank
A sperm bank, semen bank, or cryobank is a facility or enterprise which purchases, stores and sells human semen. The semen is produced and sold by men who are known as sperm donors. The sperm is purchased by or for other persons for the purpose o ...
for Poitou donkeys have been in development in France since at least 1997, but Hamilton has pioneered the use of artificial insemination using frozen semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen i ...
in the breed, in order to use genetic material from France to improve Poitou herds in the US. The North American Baudet de Poitou Society, organized by the American Donkey and Mule Society, is the American registry for the breed, coordinating with French officials for inspections and registrations of American-bred Poitou stock.[
]
Characteristics
The Baudet is a large breed; among other European donkeys only the Andalucian donkey reaches a similar size. In order to breed large mules, the original breeders of the Poitou chose animals with large features, such as ears, heads and leg joints. The ears developed to such an extent that their weight sometimes causes them to be carried horizontally. Minimum height is for jacks and for jennies. They have large, long heads, strong necks, long backs, short croups and round haunches. The limb joints and feet are large, and the legs strong.[ The temperament has been described as "friendly, affectionate and docile".]
In Poitou, the coat of the Baudet was traditionally – and deliberately – left ungroomed; with time, it formed , long shaggy locks somewhat like dreadlocks
Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair.
Origins
Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europe' ...
. These sometimes became so long that they reached the ground; a Baudet with such a long coat was termed or . The shaggy coat is such a dominant trait
In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and t ...
that even a 1/8 Poitou donkey may exhibit it.
The coat is dark bay
Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a reddish-brown or brown body color with a black point coloration on the mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds.
The black ...
, ranging from dark brown to black; it may also be , in which the silver-grey surround of the mouth and eyes has a reddish border. The underbelly and the insides of the thighs are pale. It may not display either rubican markings ("white ticking"), nor a dorsal mule-stripe.
Use
The Baudet was traditionally used only for breeding mules; the word means "donkey sire", but it used to describe the breed as a whole. With the decline of mule-breeding, some may be used for agricultural work, for driving
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to fol ...
or for riding.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudet du Poitou
Donkey breeds originating in France
Donkey breeds
Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy