On Mon, 26 Apr 2021 20:00:33 +0100,
(#Paul) wrote:

T i m wrote:
Did they evolve naturally? If they did then left in their natural
environment they would survive or not like any other creature?

Although farmed animals did indeed start by evolving naturally,
selective breeding for things like milk production (cows) and
wool growth (sheep) means that they now essentially rely on human
management - the cows *have* to be milked, the sheep *have* to
be shorn.

Yup.

Their "natural environment" is now on a farm, managed
by humans.

So naturally unnatural. ;-)

If we (humans) got wiped out by say a pandemic (that may have started
by our exploitation of animals etc), those mutated livestock would
die.

I make no comment as to whether this is good for them or not; but
it is certainly the way it is.

I'm pretty sure it isn't. Imagine being trapped with a situation that
you couldn't survive without human intervention, like having an itch
you can't scratch. ;-(

If we stopped drinking their milk and wearing their wool (&etc),

I'm glad you phrased it that way Paul as it's a very important point
.... 'their'.

the animals would gradually die out
as farmers made the economic choices they need to - c.f.

Quite, just has *every* trade that changed over the years, like slave
traders, wheelwrights, thatchers, miners, hangmen and witch finders
etc. ;-)

the
fate of many breeds of draft horse.

Yup ... and personally I won't miss them (only because they shouldn't
be here in the first place, they haven't 'evolved' over millennia, we
have forced particular characteristics, many of which end up costing
the animal in some way (genetic weaknesses, especially, the inability
to survive in the wild or even reproduce!)).

Cheers, T i m