Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting in order to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat , eggs , milk , fur , leather , and wool . The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals who are raised for consumption, and sometimes used to refer solely to farmed ruminants , such as cattle , sheep , and goats . Horses are considered livestock in the United States. The USDA classifies pork, veal, beef, and lamb ( mutton ) as livestock, and all livestock as red meat . Poultry and fish are not included in the category. The latter is likely due to the fact that fish products are not governed by the USDA, but by the FDA .
77-483: Culling is the process of removing animals from a group based on specific criteria. Culling or The Culling may also refer to: Culling Culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding , it is removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific trait. This is done to exaggerate desirable characteristics, or to remove undesirable characteristics by altering
154-491: A "sense of place, attachment to land, and the value of preserving open space were common themes". "The importance of land and animals as means of maintaining culture and way of life figured repeatedly in permittee responses, as did the subjects of responsibility and respect for land, animals, family, and community." In the US, profit tends to rank low among motivations for involvement in livestock ranching. Instead, family, tradition and
231-408: A breeder that is pleased with the muzzle length, muzzle shape, and eye placement in the breeding stock, but wishes to improve the eye shape of progeny produced may determine a minimum level of improvement in eye shape required for progeny to be returned into the breeding program. Progeny is first evaluated on the existing quality thresholds in place for muzzle length, muzzle shape, and eye placement with
308-511: A buffer may sometimes be limited where alternatives are present, which may reflect strategic maintenance of insurance in addition to a desire to retain productive assets. Even for some farmers in Western nations, livestock can serve as a kind of insurance. Some crop growers may produce livestock as a strategy for diversification of their income sources, to reduce risks related to weather, markets and other factors. Many studies have found evidence of
385-448: A desired way of life tend to be major motivators for ranch purchase, and ranchers "historically have been willing to accept low returns from livestock production". Animal husbandry has a significant impact on the world environment. It is responsible for somewhere between 20 and 33% of the fresh water usage in the world, and livestock, and the production of feed for them, occupy about a third of Earth's ice-free land. Livestock production
462-409: A domestic or farming situation, the culling process involves the selection and selling of surplus stock. The selection may be done to improve breeding stock—for example, for improved production of eggs or milk—or simply to control the group's population for environmental and species preservation. In order to increase the frequency of preferred phenotypes , agricultural practices typically involve using
539-520: A genetically viable population and prevent inbreeding. Animals that can no longer contribute to the breeding program are considered less desirable and are often replaced by more desirable individuals. If an animal is surplus to a zoo's requirements and a place in another zoo can not be found, the animal may be killed. In 2014, the culling of a young, healthy giraffe Marius raised an international public controversy. Zoos sometimes consider female animals to be more desirable than males. One reason for this
616-492: A hunting instinct, leaving the carcass uneaten. Good husbandry, proper feeding, and hygiene are the main contributors to animal health on farms, bringing economic benefits through maximised production. When, despite these precautions, animals still become sick, they are treated with veterinary medicines , by the farmer and the veterinarian . In the European Union, when farmers treat the animals, they are required to follow
693-439: A major economic and cultural role in numerous communities. Livestock farming practices have largely shifted to intensive animal farming . Intensive animal farming increases the yield of the various commercial outputs, but also negatively impacts animal welfare , the environment , and public health . In particular, beef, dairy and sheep are an outsized source of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture . The word livestock
770-485: A program or activity. For example, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 (P.L. 106–78, Title IX) defines livestock only as cattle, swine, and sheep, while the 1988 disaster assistance legislation defined the term as "cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), equine animals used for food or in the production of food, fish used for food, and other animals designated by
847-629: A temporary fix to the larger problem of deer overpopulation and argue that the use of culling will increase fertility of remaining deer by reducing competition. Those in favor of the culls argue that they can be used to combat the selection pressure that is imposed by hunting that creates smaller antler and body sizes in deer. People in favor of the culls recommend that they not be random and actively select for smaller individuals and bucks with smaller antlers, specifically "button bucks" or bucks with only spiked antler in their first year as opposed to forked antlers. Culling of deer can also have benefits in
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#1733085199002924-684: A total of 15,135 marine animals were caught and killed in the nets, including whales, turtles, rays, dolphins, and dugongs. From 2001 to 2018, a total of 10,480 sharks were killed on lethal drum lines in Queensland. In a 30-year period up to early 2017, more than 33,000 sharks were killed in KwaZulu-Natal 's shark-killing program—during the same 30-year period, 2,211 turtles, 8,448 rays, and 2,310 dolphins were killed. Authorities on Réunion kill about 100 sharks per year. All of these culls have been criticized by environmentalists, who say killing sharks harms
1001-472: A variety of food and non-food products; the latter include leather, wool, pharmaceuticals, bone products, industrial protein, and fats. For many abattoirs, very little animal biomass may be wasted at slaughter. Even intestinal contents removed at slaughter may be recovered for use as fertilizer. Livestock manure helps maintain the fertility of grazing lands. Manure is commonly collected from barns and feeding areas to fertilize cropland. In some places, animal manure
1078-546: A week. At the other extreme, in the more Western parts of the world, animals are often intensively managed ; dairy cows may be kept in zero-grazing conditions with all their forage brought to them; beef cattle may be kept in high density feedlots ; pigs may be housed in climate-controlled buildings and never go outdoors; poultry may be reared in barns and kept in cages as laying birds under lighting-controlled conditions. In between these two extremes are semi-intensive, often family-run farms where livestock graze outside for much of
1155-402: Is a contributing factor in species extinction , desertification , and habitat destruction . Meat is considered one of the prime factors contributing to the current sixth mass extinction . Animal agriculture contributes to species extinction in various ways. Habitat is destroyed by clearing forests and converting land to grow feed crops and for animal grazing (for example, animal husbandry
1232-415: Is common in wildlife management, particularly on African game farms and Australian national parks. In the case of very large animals such as elephants , adults are often targeted. Their orphaned young, easily captured and transported, are then relocated to other reserves. Culling is controversial in many African countries, but reintroduction of the practice has been recommended in recent years for use at
1309-516: Is cruel and unethical, and that animals have a right to live. Some argue that culling is necessary when biodiversity is threatened. However, the protection of biodiversity argument has been questioned by some animal rights advocates who point out that the animal which most greatly threatens and damages biodiversity is humanity, so if we are not willing to cull our own species we cannot morally justify culling another. There are non-lethal alternatives which may still be considered culling, and serve
1386-416: Is cruel and unethical. Some bird species are culled when their populations impact upon human property, business or recreational activity, disturb or modify habitats or otherwise impact species of conservation concern. Cormorants are culled in many countries due to their impact on commercial and recreational fisheries and habitat modification for nesting and guano deposition. They are culled by shooting and
1463-535: Is done with the intention of increasing animal production, but in turn increases emissions. In addition, livestock produce greenhouse gases . The IPCC has estimated that agriculture (including not only livestock, but also food crop, biofuel and other production) accounted for about 10 to 12 percent of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (expressed as 100-year carbon dioxide equivalents) in 2005 and in 2010. Cattle produce some 79 million tons of methane per day. Live westock enteric methane account 30% of
1540-436: Is estimated as close to $ 1 trillion . As an outright end to human consumption of meat and/or animal products is not currently considered a realistic goal, any comprehensive adaptation to effects of climate change must also consider livestock. The observed adverse impacts on livestock production include increased heat stress in all but the coldest nations. This causes both mass animal mortality during heatwaves , and
1617-451: Is not used in a breeding program. With each successive mating, the threshold culling criteria are raised thus improving the breed with each successive generation. This method measures several characteristics at once. Should progeny fall below the desired quality in any one characteristic being measured, it will not be used in the breeding program regardless of the level of excellence of other traits. With each successive generation of progeny,
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#17330851990021694-595: Is responsible for up to 91% of the deforestation in the Amazon region ), while predators and herbivores are frequently targeted and hunted because of a perceived threat to livestock profits. The newest report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that between the 1970s and 2000s agricultural emission increases were directly linked to an increase in livestock. The population growth of livestock (including cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goats)
1771-587: Is still used in some parts of the world. Truck transport is now common in developed countries. Local and regional livestock auctions and specialized agricultural markets facilitate trade in livestock. In Canada at the Cargill slaughterhouse in High River, Alberta , 2,000 workers process 4,500 cattle per day, or more than one-third of Canada's capacity. It closed when some of its workers became infected with coronavirus disease 2019 . The Cargill plant together with
1848-519: Is that while individual males can contribute to the birth of many young in a short period of time, females give birth to only a few young and are pregnant for a relatively long period of time. This makes it possible to keep many females with just one or two males, but not the reverse. Another reason is that the birth of some animal species increases public interest in the zoo. Germany's Animal Welfare Act 1972 orders that zoo animals cannot be culled without verification by official veterinary institutes of
1925-415: Is the most flexible of the three. it allows for weighted improvement of multiple characteristics. It allows the breeder to make major gains in one aspect while moderate or lesser gains in others. For example, a breeder is willing to make a smaller improvement in muzzle length and muzzle shape in order to have a moderate gain in improvement of eye placement and a more dramatic improvement in eye shape. Suppose
2002-413: Is the term used for much-smaller animals, usually mammals. The two predominant categories are rodents and lagomorphs (rabbits). Even-smaller animals are kept and raised, such as crickets and honey bees . Micro-livestock does not generally include fish ( aquaculture ) or chickens ( poultry farming ). Traditionally, animal husbandry was part of the subsistence farmer's way of life, producing not only
2079-434: Is thought to be caused mainly by the extirpation of most of their major predators in these areas. In response to these population booms, different management approaches have been taken to decrease their numbers mainly in the form of culls. Culls of deer are often partnered with exclusions with fencing and also administering contraceptives. The effectiveness of these deer culls has been debated and often criticized as only
2156-430: Is used as fuel, either directly (as in some non-Western countries), or indirectly (as a source of methane for heating or for generating electricity). In regions where machine power is limited, some classes of livestock are used as draft stock, not only for tillage and other on-farm use, but also for transport of people and goods. In 1997, livestock provided energy for between an estimated 25 and 64% of cultivation energy in
2233-1195: The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has worked in Zimbabwe to help farmers make their most of their livestock herds. In stock shows , farmers bring their best livestock to compete with one another. Humans and livestock make up more than 90% of the biomass of all terrestrial vertebrates , and almost as much as all insects combined. The value of global livestock production in 2013 has been estimated at 883 billion dollars, (constant 2005–2006 dollars). However, economic implications of livestock production extend further: to downstream industry (saleyards, abattoirs , butchers , milk processors, refrigerated transport, wholesalers, retailers, food services , tanneries, etc.), upstream industry (feed producers, feed transport, farm and ranch supply companies, equipment manufacturers, seed companies , vaccine manufacturers, etc.) and associated services ( veterinarians , nutrition consultants, shearers, etc.). Livestock provide
2310-687: The JBS plant in Brooks, Alberta and the Harmony Beef plant in Balzac, Alberta represent fully three-quarters of the Canadian beef supply. In other areas, livestock may be bought and sold in a bazaar or wet market , such as may be found in many parts of Central Asia . In non-Western countries, providing access to markets has encouraged farmers to invest in livestock, with the result being improved livelihoods. For example,
2387-538: The Kruger National Park in South Africa , which has experienced a swell in its elephant population since culling was banned in 1995. Culling acts as a strong selection force and can therefore impact the population genetics of a species. For example, culling based on specific traits, such as size, can enforce directional selection and remove those traits from the population. This can have long-term effects on
Culling (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-621: The Landkreis or federated state . In the UK, there is no general prohibition on animal euthanasia , which is allowed when overcrowding compromises the well-being of the animals. Jaak Panksepp , an American neuroscientist, concludes that both animals and humans have brains wired to feel emotions, and that animals have the capacity to experience pleasure and happiness from their lives. Culling has been criticized on animal rights grounds as speciesist —it has been argued that killing animals for any reason
2541-535: The Near East and 6,000 BC in China . Domestication of horses dates to around 4,000 BC. Cattle have been domesticated since approximately 10,500 years ago. Chickens and other poultry may have been domesticated around 7,000 BC. The term "livestock" is indistinct and may be defined narrowly or broadly. Broadly, livestock refers to any population of animals kept by humans for a useful, commercial purpose. Micro-livestock
2618-485: The genetic diversity of a population. However, culling can act as a selection force intentionally implemented by humans to counteract the selection force of trophy hunting . Hunting typically enforces selection towards unfavorable phenotypic traits because of the strong hunting bias for specific traits, such as large antler size. Culling "low-quality" traits can counteract this force. Animal rights activists argue that killing animals for any reason (including hunting)
2695-553: The marine ecosystem . In 2014, a controversial policy was introduced by the Western Australian state government which became known as the Western Australian shark cull . Baited hooks known as drum lines were to be set over several consecutive summers to catch and kill otherwise protected great white sharks . The policy's objective was to protect users of the marine environment from fatal shark attack. Thousands of people protested against its implementation, claiming that it
2772-531: The Latin verb colligere , meaning "to gather". The term can be applied broadly to mean partitioning a collection into two groups: one that will be kept and one that will be rejected. The cull is the set of items rejected during the selection process. The culling process is repeated until the selected group is of proper size and consistency desired. Culling is: ... the rejection or removal of inferior individuals from breeding. The act of selective breeding. As used in
2849-554: The Secretary". Deadstock is defined in contradistinction to livestock as "animals that have died before slaughter, sometimes from illness or disease". It is illegal in many countries, such as Canada , to sell or process meat from dead animals for human consumption. Animal-rearing originated during the cultural transition to settled farming communities from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are domesticated when their breeding and living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time,
2926-412: The additional criterion being improvement in eye shape. Any animal that does not meet this level of improvement in the eye shape while maintaining the other qualities is culled from the breeding program; i.e., that animal is not used for breeding, but is instead neutered and placed in a pet home. Independent levels is a method where any animal who falls below a given standard in any single characteristic
3003-415: The animal should be considered. The filtering process ends with the breeder's personal aesthetic preferences on pattern, color, etc. The tandem method is a form of selective breeding where a breeder addresses one characteristic of the animal at a time, thus selecting only animals that measure above a certain threshold for that particular trait while keeping other traits constant. Once that level of quality in
3080-496: The animal's system). Though the endocrinology behind Gonacon is sound, the need for multiple lifetime doses for full efficacy make it a less-guaranteed and less-permanent solution for wildlife than lethal culls. Even among domestic animals in controlled conditions, Gonacon cannot ensure 100% reduction in the occurrence of pregnancies. Reproductive inhibitors need not act on the parental individuals directly, instead damaging reproductive processes and/or developing offspring to reduce
3157-436: The breeder determines that she would like to see 40% improvement in eye shape, 30% improvement in eye placement, and 15% improvement in both muzzle length and shape. The breeder would evaluate these characteristics on a scale of 1 to 10 and multiply by the weights. The formula would look something like: 15 (muzzle length) + 15 (muzzle shape) + 30 (eye placement) + 40 (eye shape) = total score for that animal. The breeder determines
Culling (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-433: The breeder measures the traits on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most desirable expression and 1 being the lowest. The scores are then multiplied by their weights and then added together to give a total score. Individuals that fail to meet a threshold are culled (or removed) from the breeding program. The total score gives a breeder a way to evaluate multiple traits on an animal at the same time. The total score method
3311-582: The collective behaviour, lifecycle and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farmed animals are unsuited to life in the natural world. Dogs were domesticated early; dogs appear in Europe and the Far East from about 15,000 years ago. Goats and sheep were domesticated in multiple events sometime between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago in Southwest Asia. Pigs were domesticated by 8,500 BC in
3388-585: The conformation standard of the animal and will often include additional qualities such as health, robustness, temperament, color preference, etc. The breeder takes all things into consideration when envisioning their ideal for the breed or goal of their breeding program. From that vision, selections are made as to which animals, when bred, have the best chance of producing the ideal for the breed. Breeders of pedigreed animals cull based on many criteria. The first culling criterion should always be health and robustness. Secondary to health, temperament and conformation of
3465-454: The data indicating this is frequently of superior quality to one used to estimate impacts on the spread of human pathogens. While some areas which currently support livestock animals are expected to avoid "extreme heat stress" even with high warming at the end of the century, others may stop being suitable as early as midcentury. In general, sub-Saharan Africa is considered to be the most vulnerable region to food security shocks caused by
3542-508: The experimental phase and include such products as Gonacon , an adjuvant vaccine which delivers a high dosage of a competitor ligand of the hormone GnRH to female mammals (e.g. whitetail deer). The complex formed of GnRH and the Gonacon molecule promotes production of antibodies against the animal's own GnRH, which themselves complex with GnRH. This encourages an extended duration of the drug's effects (namely, reduction of active/unbound GnRH in
3619-497: The food needed by the family but also the fuel, fertiliser, clothing, transport and draught power. Killing the animal for food was a secondary consideration, and wherever possible their products, such as wool, eggs, milk and blood (by the Maasai ) were harvested while the animal was still alive. In the traditional system of transhumance , humans and livestock moved seasonally between fixed summer and winter pastures; in montane regions
3696-470: The form of disease prevention and in places that the white-tailed deer is an invasive species such as New Zealand culling of deer has added benefits for native species. Diseases are density dependent factors and decreases in the density of the deer populations through culling causes diseases, such as chronic wasting disease and Lyme disease , to spread less quickly and effectively. Many zoos participate in an international breeding program to maintain
3773-592: The genetic makeup of the population. For livestock and wildlife , culling often refers to killing removed animals based on their characteristics, such as their sex or species membership, or as a means of preventing infectious disease transmission . In fruits and vegetables , culling is the sorting or segregation of fresh harvested produce into marketable lots, with the non-marketable lots being discarded or diverted into food processing or non-food processing activities. This usually happens at collection centres located at, or close to farms. The word cull comes from
3850-423: The guidelines for treatment and to record the treatments given. Animals are susceptible to a number of diseases and conditions that may affect their health. Some, like classical swine fever and scrapie are specific to one population of animals, while others, like foot-and-mouth disease affect all cloven-hoofed animals. Where the condition is serious, governments impose regulations on import and export, on
3927-532: The impacts of climate change on their livestock, as over 180 million people across those nations are expected to see significant declines in suitability of their rangelands around midcentury. On the other hand, Japan, the United States and nations in Europe are considered the least vulnerable. This is as much a product of pre-existing differences in human development index and other measures of national resilience and widely varying importance of pastoralism to
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#17330851990024004-472: The lowest acceptable total score for an animal to be folded back into their breeding program. Animals that do not meet this minimum total score are culled from the breeding program. Livestock bred for the production of meat or milk may be culled by farmers. Animals not selected to remain for breeding are sold, killed, or sent to the slaughterhouse . Criteria for culling livestock and production animals can be based on population or production (milk or egg). In
4081-405: The majority of male chicks are killed shortly after hatching. Culling of farmed animals is considered a necessary practice to prevent the spread of damaging and fatal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease , avian flu , Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 and bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease"). In the United States, hunting licenses and hunting seasons are a means by which
4158-437: The minimum quality of each characteristic is raised thus ensuring improvement of these traits. For example, a breeder has a view of what the minimum requirements for muzzle length, muzzle shape, eye placement, and eye shape they are breeding toward. The breeder will determine what the minimum acceptable quality for each of these traits will be for progeny to be folded back into their breeding program. Any animal that fails to meet
4235-430: The most productive animals as breeding stock. With dairy cattle, culling may be practised by inseminating cows—considered to be inferior—with beef breed semen and by selling the produced offspring for meat production. Approximately half of the chicks of egg-laying chickens are males who would grow up to be roosters. These individuals have little use in an industrial egg-producing facility as they do not lay eggs, so
4312-652: The movement of livestock, quarantine restrictions and the reporting of suspected cases. Vaccines are available against certain diseases, and antibiotics are widely used where appropriate. At one time, antibiotics were routinely added to certain compound foodstuffs to promote growth, but this is now considered poor practice in many countries because of the risk that it may lead to antibiotic resistance . Animals living under intensive conditions are particularly prone to internal and external parasites; increasing numbers of sea lice are affecting farmed salmon in Scotland. Reducing
4389-755: The national diet as it is an outcome of direct impacts of climate on each country. Animal ethics is a branch of ethics that examines human-animal relationships and the moral consideration of non-animals. Debates within the field address the moral implications of using animals for human consumption and the responsibilities humans have toward livestock. It is estimated that worldwide, 74% of livestock are raised in factory farms, characterized by densely confined animals. Consumers are typically against intensive livestock farming when surveyed. A majority are unaware of routine controversial practices such as break trimming, separation of calves from their mothers and gas chamber slaughter. Three quarters of US adults surveyed believed
4466-627: The number of viable offspring per mating pair. One such compound called Nicarbazin has been formulated into bait for consumption by Canada Geese , and damages egg yolk formation to reduce the viability of clutches without harming the adult geese. Livestock The breeding, maintenance, slaughter and general subjugation of livestock, called animal husbandry , is a part of modern agriculture and has been practiced in many cultures since humanity's transition to farming from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animal husbandry practices have varied widely across cultures and time periods. It continues to play
4543-620: The overall methane emissions of the planet. Livestock are responsible for 34% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide , through feed production and manure. .Best production practices are estimated to be able to reduce livestock emissions by 30%. There are numerous interlinked effects of climate change on livestock rearing. This activity is both heavily affected by and a substantial driver of anthropogenic climate change due to its greenhouse gas emissions . As of 2011, some 400 million people relied on livestock in some way to secure their livelihood. The commercial value of this sector
4620-471: The parasite burdens of livestock results in increased productivity and profitability. According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land , livestock diseases are expected to get worse as climate change increases temperature and precipitation variability. Since many livestock are herd animals, they were historically driven to market "on the hoof" to a town or other central location. The method
4697-591: The population of game animals is maintained. Each season, a hunter is allowed to kill a certain amount of wild animals, determined both by species and sex. If the population seems to have surplus females, hunters are allowed to take more females during that hunting season. If the population is below what is desired, hunters may not be permitted to hunt that particular species, or only hunt a restricted number of males. Populations of game animals such as elk may be informally culled if they begin to excessively eat winter food set out for domestic cattle herds. In such instances
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#17330851990024774-576: The practice of breeding pedigree cats, this refers to the practice of spaying or neutering a kitten or cat that does not measure up to the show standard (or other standard being applied) for that breed. In no way does culling, as used by responsible breeders, signify the killing of healthy kittens or cats if they fail to meet the applicable standard. In the breeding of pedigreed animals, both desirable and undesirable traits are considered when choosing which animals to retain for breeding and which to place as pets. The process of culling starts with examination of
4851-470: The pressure and as of July 2015, the animals remain protected as listed Marine Mammals under the state's National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 . Shark culling occurs in four locations as of 2018 : New South Wales , Queensland , KwaZulu-Natal and Réunion . Between 1950 and 2008, 352 tiger sharks and 577 great white sharks were killed in the nets in New South Wales—also during this period,
4928-422: The quality threshold for any one of these criteria is culled from the breeding program. The total score method is a selection method where the breeder evaluates and selects breeding stock based on a weighted table of characteristics. The breeder selects qualities that are most important to them and assigns them a weight. The weights of all the traits should add up to 100. When evaluating an individual for selection,
5005-474: The rancher will inform hunters that they may hunt on their property in order to thin the wild herd to controllable levels. These efforts are aimed to counter excessive depletion of the winter feed supplies. Other managed culling instances involve extended issuance of extra hunting licenses, or the inclusion of additional "special hunting seasons" during harsh winters or overpopulation periods, governed by state fish and game agencies. Culling for population control
5082-503: The rarest geese in the world, though much of their habitat is now regarded as secure. In South Australia , the recovery of the state's native population of New Zealand fur seals ( Arctocephalus forsteri ) after severe depletion by sealers in the 1800s has brought them into conflict with the fishing industry. This has prompted members of Parliament to call for seal culling in South Australia . The State Government continues to resist
5159-427: The same purpose of reducing population numbers and selecting for desired traits without killing existing members of the population. These methods include the use of wildlife contraceptives and reproductive inhibitors. By using such methods population numbers might be reduced more gradually and in a potentially more humane fashion than by directly lethal culling actions. Currently, wildlife contraceptives are largely in
5236-538: The single trait is achieved, the breeder will focus on a second trait and cull based on that quality. With the tandem method, a minimum level of quality is set for important characteristics that the breeder wishes to remain constant. The breeder is focusing improvement in one particular trait without losing quality of the others. The breeder will raise the threshold for selection on this trait with each successive generation of progeny, thus ensuring improvement in this single characteristic of his breeding program. For example,
5313-509: The smothering of eggs with oil. Another example is the culling of silver gulls in order to protect the chicks of the vulnerable banded stilt at ephemeral inland salt lake breeding sites in South Australia. The gulls were culled using bread laced with a narcotic substance. In the Australian states of Tasmania and South Australia, Cape Barren geese are culled to limit damage to crops and the fouling of waterholes. Cape Barren Geese remain one of
5390-543: The social, as well as economic, importance of livestock in non-Western countries and in regions of rural poverty, and such evidence is not confined to pastoral and nomadic societies. Social values in developed countries can also be considerable. For example, in a study of livestock ranching permitted on national forest land in New Mexico, US, it was concluded that "ranching maintains traditional values and connects families to ancestral lands and cultural heritage ", and that
5467-518: The sublethal impacts, such as lower quantity of quality of products like milk , greater vulnerability to conditions like lameness or even impaired reproduction . Another impact concerns reduced quantity or quality of animal feed , whether due to drought or as a secondary impact of CO2 fertilization effect . Difficulties with growing feed could reduce worldwide livestock headcounts by 7–10% by midcentury. Animal parasites and vector-borne diseases are also spreading further than they had before, and
5544-723: The summer pasture was up in the mountains, the winter pasture in the valleys. Animals can be kept extensively or intensively. Extensive systems involve animals roaming at will, or under the supervision of a herdsman, often for their protection from predators . Ranching in the Western United States involves large herds of cattle grazing widely over public and private lands. Similar cattle stations are found in South America, Australia and other places with large areas of land and low rainfall. Ranching systems have been used for sheep , deer , ostrich , emu , llama and alpaca . In
5621-541: The uplands of the United Kingdom, sheep are turned out on the fells in spring and graze the abundant mountain grasses untended, being brought to lower altitudes late in the year, with supplementary feeding being provided in winter. In rural locations, pigs and poultry can obtain much of their nutrition from scavenging, and in African communities, hens may live for months without being fed, and still produce one or two eggs
5698-519: The world's irrigated systems, and that 300 million draft animals were used globally in small-scale agriculture . Although livestock production serves as a source of income, it can provide additional economic values for rural families, often serving as a major contributor to food security and economic security . Livestock can serve as insurance against risk and is an economic buffer (of income and food supply) in some regions and some economies (e.g., during some African droughts). However, its use as
5775-836: The year, silage or hay is made to cover the times of year when the grass stops growing, and fertiliser, feed and other inputs are bought onto the farm from outside. Livestock farmers have often dealt with natural world animals' predation and theft by rustlers . In North America, animals such as gray wolves , grizzly bears , cougars , and coyotes are sometimes considered a threat to livestock. In Eurasia and Africa, predators include wolves, leopards , tigers , lions , dholes , Asiatic black bears , crocodiles , spotted hyenas , and other carnivores . In South America, feral dogs , jaguars , anacondas , and spectacled bears are threats to livestock. In Australia, dingoes , foxes , and wedge-tailed eagles are common predators, with an additional threat from domestic dogs who may kill in response to
5852-400: Was first used between 1650 and 1660, as a compound word combining the words "live" and "stock". In some periods, " cattle " and "livestock" have been used interchangeably. Today, the modern meaning of cattle is domesticated bovines , while livestock has a wider sense. United States federal legislation defines the term to make specified agricultural commodities eligible or ineligible for
5929-502: Was indiscriminate, inhumane and worked against scientific advice the government had previously received. Seasonal setting of drum lines was abandoned in September 2014 after the program failed to catch any great white sharks, instead catching 172 other elasmobranchii , mostly tiger sharks . White-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) have been becoming an issue in suburbs across the United States due to large population increases. This
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