Description

Description

Livestock, Lands, Lifeways explores livestock breed conservation through vivid, story‑driven portraits of rare and traditional breeds from around the world. Centered on individual species—from horses, cattle, and sheep to poultry, pigs, goats, and waterfowl—it reveals the complex realities behind conserving genetic diversity in a changing world.

Blending history, ecology, and human experience, Livestock, Lands, Lifeways examines rural traditions, breeding practices, economic pressures, and the deep interdependence between people, land, and animals. These are human stories as much as animal ones, showing why breed conservation depends not only on science, but on culture, care, and commitment.

Author

D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine and an Honorary Member of the American College of Theriogenology. With 5m Books, Phillip has published Breeding Better Dogs (2023), Managing Breeds for a Better Future (2022) and Practical Color Genetics for Livestock Breeders (2021).

Contents

• Introduction
• Navajo-Churro Sheep: Tradition, and Adaptation
• Poultry Complicate Breed Definitions
• Horses Changed How Humans Live
• Selection for Extremes: Goat Breeds
• How Cattle Breeds Take Shape
• Selection Goals Change Breeds
• Recovering Historically Successful Selection Techniques for Chickens
• American Mammoth Jackstock: Targeted for Purpose
• Oxen and Agricultural Traditions
• Several Breeds Sprang from Single Founders
• Cotton Patch Geese Have Multiple Traditional Skills
• Damara Sheep: One Breed Serving Multiple Communities
• Choctaw Hogs: Home on the Range
• Criollo Cattle: Shaped by Foundation and Selection
• The Twisting Path to Survival for Bulgarian Breeds
• Gulf Coast Native Sheep Are Tough Survivors
• Extreme Breeds Have Extreme Genomes
• Breeds at the Crossroads of Humanity
• Ankole-Watusi Cattle: The Cattle of Kings
• The Newfoundland Pony Has an Old Foundation
• Guinea Hogs Are a Breed with Services and Products
• Paradoxical Survival: White Park Cattle
• Turkeys: Varieties, Breeds, and Names
• Chivo Neuquino Goats Are Disaster Insurance
• Belgian Hares Reflect Fads and Crazes
• Nguni Cattle Have Multiple Roles
• Iceland: Unique Livestock from Long Isolation
• Caballo Chileno Horses: Shaped by Wise Selection
• Selection Shapes the Resource: Kensing Spanish Goats
• Keeping Heritage Turkeys Productive
• Florida Cracker Cattle Have Both History and a Future
• Where Best To Conserve Meishan Hogs?
• Demand Assures a Place: Linca Sheep
• Island Animals Present Multiple Conservation Challenges
• Worldwide Preference: White Cattle with Dark Points
• Some Species Have Few Breeds
• Changing Selection Goals
• Culture Keeps the Pineywoods Cattle Breed
• Managing Fire Risks with Old Irish Goats
• Large Black Hogs Are Just Different
• Holderread’s Waterfowl
• Behavior Is a Service: Leader Sheep
• Myotonic Goats Are More Than a Single Gene
• Milking Devon Cattle: Tradition Can Save a Breed
• Commitment Has Saved Choctaw Horses
• Caribbean Hair Sheep
• Ossabaw Hogs: Island Survivors
• Dexter Cattle Balance Selection Goals
• Criollo Venezolano Horses: Fit for Service
• Teamwork Secures the Beltsville Small White Turkey
• Randall Lineback Cattle: Sole Survivors
• Poitou Jacks, Mulassier Mares: Divergent Goals and Fates
• Numbers Aren’t Everything: Texas Hill Country Spanish Goats
• Wilbur-Cruce Horses: A Last-Minute Rescue
• Function is Key for Barrenda en Colorado Cattle
• Southern Blue Hogs: Challenges in Discovery and Security
• Surprising Cattle in Surprising Places
• New Mexico: Pivotal for Colonial Spanish Horses
• Rove Goats Reflect Cultural Selection Goals
• Alpine Lifeways Extend Human Reach
• Banker Ponies
• Feral Sheep
• Irish Cattle Reflect Culture, Genetics, and Breed Definition
• A Hotspot of Genetic Diversity: the Sandhill Preservation Center
• Marsh Tacky Horses: A Strong Breed in a Difficult Environment
• Mulefoot Hogs Are More than a Single Trait
• Complicated Profitability: Criollo Patagónico Cattle
• Pilgrim Geese: from Landrace to Standardized Breed
• Reminders of Ancient Times: Caspian Horses
• Romeldale Sheep: Deliberate Foundation and Selection
• Manure: Product or Problem?
• True Bantams: More than just “Small”
• Native Shorthorn Cattle: Once Popular, Now Rare
• American Cream Draft Horse: More than a Pretty Color
• Bakewell’s Leicester Longwool Sheep: Early Progeny Testing
• Ossabaw Sicilian Donkeys
• Texas Longhorn Cattle: Definition Shapes the Breed
• Brush Goats Survive the Heat and Humidity
• Lapsed Purebred Animals: Important for a Breed’s Future
• Criollo Lechero Cattle: Low Tech Selection
• Breeder Stewardship Is Essential for Shetland Geese and Ducks
• Targeted Use of Rare Bloodlines
• Red Poll Cattle: Rare for no Good Reason
• Sizes, Breeds, and American Donkeys
• Duroc Hogs: From Local to International
• Export Helped Save Dutch Belted Cattle
• Puerto Rican Paso Fino Horses: Unique Foundation, Isolation, and Selection
• Not Like the Neighbors: Drežnica Goats
• Turkeys: the Birds that Traveled the World
• Chickens through Time and Space
• Lincoln Sheep: A Tangled Web of Influences
• Breeds, Conservation, and Ways Forward