饲养
sìyǎng · HSK 7
raise (animals/etc.)
🐮🌾 饲养 = feed (饲, has the food radical 饣) + nurture (养); both halves mean tending animals
饲 sì means to feed, marked by the left-side food radical 饣; 养 yǎng means to nourish or rear. Stacked together they cover the whole job of keeping livestock fed and growing, so 饲养 = raise animals.
养 — sheep 羊 (top) + 八 over 艮-like base; simplified from 養 (食 + 羊)
The traditional form 養 combined 食 'food' with 羊 'sheep' as the phonetic, depicting the act of feeding sheep and, by extension, raising or nourishing living things. The simplified form 养 keeps 羊 on top but drops the 食 component. From 'feed' the meaning broadened to rear, support, and cultivate.