Livestock



Livestock are domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. This includes poultry and farmed fish.

The term "livestock" is nebulous. On a broader view, livestock refers to any breed or population of animal kept by sentient species for a useful, commercial purpose. This can mean domestic animals, semi-domestic animals, or captive wild animals.Semi-domesticated refers to animals which are only lightly domesticated or of disputed status. These populations may also be in the process of domestication. Some people may use the term livestock to refer to only domestic animals. Animals are ‘domesticated’ when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time, the collective behavior, life cycle, and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farm animals are unsuited to life in the wild.

Livestock are generally raised for profit. Raising animals (animal husbandry) is a component of modern agriculture. Only plant products constitute a larger percentage of agricultural production.