Livestock are animals domesticated by human beings for economic purposes, such as pigs, cows, sheep, horses, camels, cats and dogs. People also call chickens, ducks, geese and other poultry. Generally used for food, labor, fur, pets, experiments and other functions.
Zhang Huiyan in the Qing Dynasty (by Zuo Zhongfu): "You said: Our people were blessed with a good year, and we enjoyed our food with our parents, and our livestock grew? Then he nodded: in the future, all the pigs, chickens, ducks and geese of our people will be used by officials, and the rest will be stolen. Today, I looked at my fence and counted the things I cultivated. I will never lose my life. This is for my people and livestock. "
Guo Moruo's Historical Draft of China, Part I, Chapter 3, Section 1: "With the development of animal husbandry, raising livestock has become an important means of making a living, and it is playing a more and more significant role in people's economic life."
Livestock sheep, another kind of livestock in a narrower sense, refers to mammals relative to birds and poultry, that is, excluding chickens and ducks. In addition, fish and insects other than mammals and birds are usually not considered as domestic animals.
Generally speaking, the common livestock feeding methods are house feeding, enclosure feeding, captive breeding and grazing.
The earliest breeding of livestock originated more than 10,000 years ago, which represents one of the important developments of human civilization. Livestock has made great contributions to providing a stable food source. The "six livestock" mentioned by China people in ancient times refers to horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs and pigs, that is, the six most common domestic animals in ancient China.
The difference between poultry and livestock
Different kinds of poultry refer to artificially raised birds, and domestic animals refer to domesticated mammals. Most poultry with different appearance features have wings and two feet, while domestic animals generally have four feet.
Different feeding methods poultry are raised by hatching, which is carried out in vitro and domestic animals are raised in vivo. Different genetic laws lead to different breeding methods. Nutritional requirements are different from feeding methods. The purpose is different from the product type.
Livestock can not only provide livestock products such as meat, milk, wool and skin, but also provide field work, horse riding, competitions and transportation. Poultry does not have these functions. Poultry mainly provides eggs and meat, followed by wool, and then taste. The meat composition of livestock and poultry is different, so the nutritional value is also different.