ABSTRACT
The dominance of high yielding commercial breeds in the livestock sector has resulted in the extinction of a significant proportion of the unique breeds and bloodlines of all farmed species. Across Australia, a passionate subset of farmers is working hard to preserve the remaining heritage breeds, whose bloodlines and histories are enmeshed with their own. Living interdependently with livestock results in strong emotional ties with animals, whom heritage breed farmers often consider family, even while they instrumentalise animal bodies, including through killing, to make a living. Interspecies relatedness is evident in the mutual benefit and burden experienced by animals and farmers; it is enacted through daily acts of nourishment and care; it manifests in shared substance, from blood and milk to pathogens; and it endures across generations. In this chapter, I explore the complexities of the cycles of life and death on heritage breed farms and the role of kinning and killing in endangered breed conservation. In considering possible futures, I suggest that interspecies relatedness on heritage farms offers a convivial and mutualistic alternative to the unidimensional commodification of animals underpinning intensive livestock production.
