Who is Filouse?
#Filouse, Flamande, mascot of # SIA2015
Filouse is a cow from the Flamande breed. Her name comes from the "Cht'i" patois, "Filouse" or "Filousse" an invented feminine form of "Filou" (Trickster) that is used to describe a crafty and cunning young girl.
Mainly found in Nord Pas de Calais and Picardy, the Flamande has herds in Normandy (Orne), in Brittany (Morbihan, Loire-Atlantique), and in Mayenne to the east.
As we write there are 2073 cows in the Flamande breed thanks to 65 breeders from Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy.
The Flamande breed is one of the oldest breeds.
In the late 19th - early 20th century, it was also one of the most widespread. At this time, there were over a million head, representing 8% of the French cattle population.
In 1857, an engineer from the Ministry of Agriculture of Napoleon III, devoted a full volume of his "description of the bovine, ovine and porcine species of France" to the breed. In July 1886, the Flamande Herd-book was created during the agricultural show in Bergues.
Wars and disease gradually decimated the race, however.