breeding stock
Herd for reproduction
Breeding stock refers to animals kept specifically for reproduction rather than slaughter, labor, or sale.
A farmer maintains breeding stock to produce future generations: We kept the best heifers as breeding stock.
The term applies to any domesticated species—cattle, horses, dogs, poultry.
Extended to humans, breeding stock becomes dehumanizing, reducing people to their reproductive capacity: Enslaved women were treated as breeding stock.
- breed standardOfficial physical specifications for purebreds
- broodmareMare kept for reproduction
- livestockDomesticated farm animals
- hatcheryEgg incubation facility
- damWater-holding barrier
genotype · gene pool · genetic diversity · purebred · pedigree · sire · cultivar · stud · bloodline · embryo transfer · broodstock · aquaculture · hybrid vigor · inheritance · heifer · allele · hybridization · stallion