Concept in Definition ABC

When we think of great advances in humanity, the idea of ​​technological objects or scientific transformations comes to mind: radio, television, internet, printing, penicillin... However, about 10,000 years ago, humanity launched another breakthrough, the revolution of neolithic. In some areas of the planet, humans began to develop agriculture and livestock. Both sectors meant that man no longer needed to seek food through nomadism, but that could settle in one place because it was able to control production facilitated by the land and by animals.

Specifically, livestock appears when man has enough knowledge to be able to domesticate a series of animals: pigs, cows, goats, sheep... In this sense, we speak of bovine, ovine, swine, goat or equine livestock. They are docile animals, which provide basic food (meat and milk) and also other complementary goods, such as leather and wool.

Livestock and agriculture are two economic activities, the so-called first sector. Livestock is widespread throughout the planet and in some places it is more than just a

economic activity. For example, the Maasai people are a Kenyan community that lives off cattle and their traditions and traditions revolve around their animals.

There are several types of livestock. The intensive is the one that takes place on farms, in a type of enclosure in which there are a large number of animals, with an exhaustive control of the temperature, light and humidity. All this, to achieve a high production at a good price. This livestock has, on the contrary, the disadvantage of the high contamination and a lower quality. Extensive livestock farming is based on the occupation of large territories in which the cattle themselves find their food. His cost effectiveness it is less, although it provides a higher quality product. An example is acorn-fed ham, which is obtained from a pig that lives outside air free and feeds on acorns. Another variant of livestock is transhumance, where a shepherd moves through various territories with his cattle, taking advantage of the geographical characteristics and the climatological variables of very various.

The science that studies livestock is zootechnics. Currently livestock is a sector related to others: investigation, veterinary medicine, recreational livestock control competitions using shepherd dogs and there are even livestock enclosures that are used to teach children the goods that animals provide domestic.

Topics in Livestock