They involve bothHereAlbeit, prima facie these terms – livestock farming and animal husbandry almost mean the same, there are quite a lot of differences between the two. People often confuse these terms and also use them interchangeably.
Now you’re probably wondering what these two terms are. In this blog, we have narrated the main difference between livestock farming and animal husbandry and also explained the importance of the two. Before we jump into the differences, let’s learn what is livestock farming and what is animal husbandry.
Livestock Farming:
Livestock farming means raising livestock and selling them for an income. Here, the livestock are not considered as any pets, instead they are considered as workers in your farm. The cattle, pigs, sheep, and other animals are raised and sold only for income reasons. That said, this can be anything – it can be just a breeding animal, a market animal or even a cull.
Prima facie, livestock farming can look like an easy process. Little do people realise, it takes a lot of effort than anything. It also includes infrastructure (like buildings, fencing), vet care, labour to take care of the animals, taxes, rent (if applicable), etc. It is important to note that all of these points should be taken into account when pricing the animals for sale.
While doing livestock farming, you will have to have someone to do your paperwork. For example, someone needs to work on costs, budgets, maintain feed inventory, order feed, make sure it gets delivered on time, etc.
Animal Husbandry:
Animal husbandry is basically growing animals or cattle for your pleasure. It covers all activities including feeding the animals, milking cows, etc. It basically means taking care of your animals personally. Animal Husbandry is the term used when you and animals are together.
There’s no way to measure if you’ve done a good job at growing your animals. In livestock farming, you will basically be selling all the products and even animals, so the quality will be ensured in all levels.
Differences:
- Animal husbandry is for pleasure mainly but people do sell products from animals they grow. Livestock farming is completely based on business.
- Animal husbandry does not involve any important decisions, while livestock farming needs utmost attention to details to take decisions.
- The breeder prioritizes the best interest of the animals in breeding, while in breeding, the best interest of the breeder comes first. It does not matter what is best for the animals instead people focus on what is good for the business.
- In breeding, all the people involved will be in close contact with the animals while in breeding, all the people involved in the operation will not come near the animals.
Importance:
Livestock farming and animal husbandry go hand in hand. They involve both in improving the atmosphere and nature a great deal. They help in transportation, their waste serves as a great manure for the soil and they also help in water retention in the soil, their byproducts like milk, meat, etc serve in feeding people. The benefits are tremendous.
