Livestock

Livestock are domesticated animals in an agricultural setting.

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The process of breeding, raising and caring for livestock is known as animal husbandry and is an important component of modern agriculture. The raising of livestock can be traced to the beginnings of human civilisation, when instead of hunting wild animals, humans began to capture animals for breeding.

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Throughout history, livestock have been considered to be a form of wealth. Livestock are mentioned in many parts of the Bible and were used as forms of trade and given as gifts 1. In many cultures, livestock have historically been offered as animal sacrifices to atone for sin and appease the gods.

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Many forms of livestock are herbivorous mammals. Various types of livestock are reared depending on the local conditions: climate, consumer demand, land type, native animals, and tradition all influence the predominant type of livestock in any given area. Given that there are over a hundred large land-based mammals it may be surprising that so few types are domesticated in some countries. The reason for this relative paucity is that a lot of mammals do not meet the basic prerequisites necessary for domestication, such as having a readily available food source that can be controlled or supplied by humans, a rapid rate of reproduction, a moderate temperament2, and a social structure that meshes well with human intervention. However, some farmers overcome all of those difficulties if the animal produces something that is demanded by consumers. Such products can include pizzles (animal penises) and deer horn, used in eastern medicine.

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In developed countries the question of the welfare of livestock animals has resulted in animal welfare laws which specify the minimum conditions of care, housing, and transportation. The animal rights lobby argue that these are inadequate and seek tighter controls, and in extreme cases seeks the banning of the ownership of animals and the making the consumption of meat, dairy and other animal products illegal. Some farmers have developed management techniques that they believe are more enlightened and progressive and that they feel address most of the concerns of lobbyists.

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Domesticated: REDIRECT Domestication...

Animal: :For the Muppet Show character, see Animal (Muppet). For the professional wrestler, see Joseph Laurinaitis....

Animal husbandry: Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. As such, it is a vital skill for farmers, and in many ways as much art as it is science. The science of animal husbandry, called animal science, is taught in many universities and colleges around the world. Students o...