> But, not be pedantic, but chicken evolved as a domesticated, food-producing animal. They're "meant" to make food, either via eggs or meat, not to have a specific lifespan.

I think it's slightly more complicated than that. The history of domestication is one of long-term relationships: we have historically bred animals not only to produce food, but also to serve roles (foodwaste removal, fertilizing, haulage) that aren't necessarily best served by rapid growth. Industrial agriculture has removed the need for most of those roles, but they're still very visible in the selected features of popular breeds.

>I think it's slightly more complicated than that. The history of domestication is one of long-term relationships: we have historically bred animals not only to produce food, but also to serve roles (foodwaste removal, fertilizing, haulage) that aren't necessarily best served by rapid growth.

What can you do with a pig other than eating it? As for chickens/cows, I'm fairly certain that the males are basically only useful for meat.

Pigs have historically served foodwaste and sanitation roles. But you bring up a great point, and it’s one that anthropologists have remarked on as a potential source for religious taboos around pork (pigs just aren’t that useful compared to other animals).

Male cows are best known in their neutered form (a surprising number of people think that oxen are their own species). They’re instrumental beasts of burden. But again, industrialized agriculture doesn’t have much use for them.

>Pigs have historically served foodwaste and sanitation roles.

But that's not the primary function right? In other words, once the pig is fat enough to eat, it's slaughtered. This is as opposed to something like a chicken where it's deliberately kept around even when it's ready to be eaten.

>Male cows are best known in their neutered form (a surprising number of people think that oxen are their own species). They’re instrumental beasts of burden

Are those the same breed? Presently we have different breeds of cattle for different purposes (eg. the black and white kind for milk production). Is that a relatively recent development? Or were there "milk cows" and "beef cows" back in the day as well?

> But that's not the primary function right? In other words, once the pig is fat enough to eat, it's slaughtered. This is as opposed to something like a chicken where it's deliberately kept around even when it's ready to be eaten.

Nobody said anything about it being their primary function! As the original article mentioned, most chickens weren't kept for meat purposes until the 20th century. We're talking about what domesticated animals are "meant" to do; the answer to that is a multiplicity (with perhaps one "primary").

> Are those the same breed?

There are lots of different breeds of cattle, but yes: the word "ox" specifically refers to any male cattle breed that's been neutered. The distinction between "beef cattle" and "dairy cattle" is a modern one (with modern breeds), contemporaneous with industrialized production of both dairy and meat.

> They're "meant" to make food, either via eggs or meat, not to have a specific lifespan.

By this standard, there is no such thing as abusing a domesticated species. They're "meant to" satisfy human need X, and everything else is irrelevant.