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They raised their own livestock and (in much larger quantities) the livestock of their feudal overlord.

A farming peasant might have a few geese, or chickens, or goats, or a few cattle, or a few pigs. Pigs were by far the cheapest animals to feed since they would eat scraps and for several months of the year they were turned out "to pannage" in woodland - eating roots, beech mast and acorns. Sheep and goats provided milk for cheese and butter-making and the geese and chickens provided eggs.

The feudal overlord might have a huge flock of sheep and goats, together with many cattle, geese, pigs and other animals, as well as rabbits protected within an enclosed warren, deer in parkland and hunting forest, pigeons in a dovecot and various game birds for hawking. All of these were tended by peasants who rarely saw any of the food they provided - it all went to the overlord's table.

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12y ago

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