Domestic Animals and Their Uses
Introduction: Human beings started domesticating animals as soon as intelligence dawned upon him. Man has an instinctive love for domestic animals and his home seems to be incomplete without them.
The cow, the dog, the goat, the horse, the sheep became his domestic friends. He also domesticated various other animals for serving his own interests.
Many kinds of domestic animals belonging to the tropical and sub-tropical regions are found in this country.
Some important domestic animals
The cow is the most useful of all the domestic animals. The milk of the cow is both a food and a drink. Bulls are very useful to the village people. They draw the plough, pull the cart, and carry loads.
The horse, another domestic friend, is a noble and lovely animal. It has been serving man in ways more than one from the hoary past. Before the invention of the modern means of transport, it was the chief means of carrying letters and people from one place to another. It is noted for its intelligence and swiftness.
The Dog: Of all the domestic animals, the dog is perhaps the most well known for its qualities of obedience, intelligence and watchfulness and its quick power of smell. Friends may discard a man in distress but his dog shall never do so; it follows him in adversity and prosperity. Nowadays trained dogs have created a sensation by finding out absconding criminals. They serve many useful purposes of man in different walks of human life.
These are some among the most important of our domestic animals. We keep many other animals at home for the service they render.
Uses of Domestic Animals
Domestic animals are reared for several purposes. The most important of them are kept for agricultural purposes, milk and its by-products, transportation and other purposes.
Fertilizing the fields: Domestic animals also yield dung and farmyard manure, which are so necessary for fertilizing the fields.
Agricultural purposes: We use cattle for many agricultural purposes such as the drawing of ploughs and carts, lifting of water from the wells, carrying of loads, crushing of cane and seed, threshing of grain, and to the performance of such other forms of productive activities. For agricultural purposes, bullock and buffalo are the most important.
Milching: Cow, goat, sheep, and buffalo are kept mainly for milching.
Wool: Goat and sheep also yield wool.
Transportation: Horses, ponies, asses, mules, camels, sometimes also elephants, were old means of transport.
