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Why were sheep and goats among the earliest domesticated livestock?

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Farm in Saskatchewan — Origins of agriculture Harvesting wheat on a farm in the grain belt near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. A potash mine appears in the distant background.

Sheep and goats were among the earliest domesticated livestock because they provided a more reliable source of meat and milk than wild game animals. In regions characterized by extreme seasonal variation, such as the Fertile Crescent, managing these herds allowed early human societies to make resource planning more predictable.1

Initially, these animals were primarily used for meat, but they later became highly valued for producing milk, wool, and other commodities. Goats, in particular, were well-suited for small-scale production; a family could economically maintain one or two animals to provide a consistent supply of milk in environments where keeping larger livestock like cattle was impractical.234

The domestication process was closely linked to the mobile lifestyles of early peoples in areas like the Zagros Mountains, who practiced transhumance—moving herds between lower and higher elevations to follow seasonal grazing patterns. Over time, these managed herds replaced wild gazelles as the primary source of animal protein in Southwest Asia.5