It originates in, and is named for, the Marais Poitevin, the marshlands on the Atlantic coast of the département of the Vendée in western France.

It closely resembles the Nantaise and Parthenaise, two breeds also descended from the cattle that have populated western France for centuries.

[5]: 247  It may have received some influence from Dutch cattle brought to the area in the early seventeenth century by workers from the Low Countries[4]: 267  brought to the area by Humphrey Bradley, the English land drainage engineer who was maître des digues du royaume or 'master of dykes of the Kingdom' and had contracted to drain parts of the Marais de Saintonge.

[10][11]: 100 [12]: 81 In the second half of the nineteenth century many vineyards in western France were destroyed by phylloxera and uprooted; the land was turned to pasture.

A number of dairy co-operatives were formed, and milk from the Maraîchine and the Parthenaise was used to produce a local type of butter, the Beurre Charentes-Poitou [fr], which quickly became well-known.

[8] In the early twentieth century breeders of the Maraîchine made extensive use of Parthenaise bulls, in the hope of increasing growth rates and achieving lighter bone structure while still maintaining dairy qualities.

[14] In 1988, the Association pour la valorisation de la race bovine maraîchine et des prairies humides (“Association for the valorisation of the Maraichine breed and wet meadows” in English) was founded, and with the support of the General Council of Vendée, purchased the first four bulls of the breed.

This led to the creation of a conservatory in Nalliers, where animals were entrusted to the Luçon-Pétré Agricultural College and subsequently to private individuals.

[16] It differs from its Nantaise cousin by its slightly redder coat, the black color of the mucous membranes, the edges of the ears, the shape of its head, and its less straight horns.

In addition, it thrives in wet meadows (with their characteristic vegetation), the environment in which it has historically been bred, and it can withstand the fluctuations between drought and high humidity that occur in sub-humid marshes.

The semen of a son of this latter bull is collected in the artificial insemination center of Saint-Symphorien, at the request of the Livestock Institute.