A leading sheep-producing state, Colorado is also a major area for cattle and other livestock.
From 1858 to about 1890, cattle drives were a common sight in Colorado, as a few cattle barons had their Texas longhorns graze on public-domain lands along the eastern plains and Western Slope. This era came to an end when farmers in these regions fenced in their lands, and the better-quality shorthorns and Herefords took over the market. Today, huge tracts of pasture-land are leased from the federal government by both cattle and sheep ranchers, with cattle mostly confined to the eastern plains and sheep to the western part of the state.
Preliminary estimates of the number of cattle and calves for 2003 was 2,650,000 with an estimated total value at $2.04 billion. Colorado had an estimated 790,000 hogs and pigs in 2002 with an estimated total value at $58.5 million. In 2001 Colorado produced 75.8 million lb (34.4 million kg) of sheep and lambs at a gross income of $81.5 million. Colorado was estimated to have produced an estimated 3.07 million lb (1.39 million kg) of shorn wool in 2001.
Other livestock products in 2001 included chickens, at an estimated 6.1 million lb (2.77 million kg), and milk, estimated at 1.97 billion lb (0.89 billion kg). In the same year, the state produced an estimated 946 million eggs.