At about the same time as people began to grow crops, they also domesticated wild animals for meat, milk and skins or wool. This was the start of livestock farming.
Cattle are kept for milk and meat. There are about 200 million cattle in India alone, with about 1000 million in the rest of the world. Breeds of cattle can be divided into two main groups: the European breeds, which are descended from a now-extinct species of long-horned wild cattle called the auroch, and the various breeds of zebu, the humped cattle of India.
Animals kept for their wool include sheep, goats, rabbits, and vicunas (a type of llama). Of these, sheep are the most common on farms worldwide. Australia is one of the world’s biggest wool producers. Of the 1000 million sheep in the world, about 140 million are in Australia where, in fact, there are many more sheep than people! Australian farmers keep large herds of sheep on huge sheep stations. Most of the sheep are Merinos, a breed that has soft; thick wool and which can survive on the poor grass that is characteristic of the dry grasslands of central Australia.
Some livestock farmers keep pigs for meat. On large modern pig farms, the animals are kept indoors in controlled conditions and fed a mixture which makes them put on the most weight in the shortest time. About 400 breeds of pig have been produced over the centuries but many of these have now disappeared with the development of intensive farming methods. The main surviving breeds include the Berkshire, Chester White, Poland, China, Saddleback, Yorkshire, Duroc, and Razorback. There are about 800 million pigs in the world, half of them in Asia. Their meat is sold as pork (fresh meat), bacon or ham (cured or preserved meat).
POULTRY
Poultry farmers keep chickens, turkeys, geese and other birds for meat and eggs. Chickens are descended from tropical forest birds found in Southeast Asia. They can be reared by intensive or free-range methods. There are about 7000 million chickens in the world. Good breeds for egg-laying include Leghorns and Minorcas. Dorking and Cornish breeds are good for meat, and Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds are useful for both. Turkeys, ducks and geese are mainly reared for their meat.
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