Goats: Small-Scale Herding for Pleasure and Profit (CompanionHouse Books) Farming Goats for Milk, Meat, Fiber, Clearing Land, and Recreation - Housing, Feeding, Health Care, and More

by Sue Weaver

Hobby Farms Small-Scale Herding, written by hobby farmer and prolific author and columnist Sue Weaver, is an essential guide to the wonderful world of goats. This colorful guide discusses goats of all types, including dairy goats, used for milk and cheese; meat goats; fiber goats, prized for their mohair and cashmere; recreational goats, beloved by children for their great personalities and silliness; and brush goats, the lawnmowers of creative hobby farmers and suburbanites. Weaver offers excellent advice on how to purchase a sensible and direct, she advises newcomers that while goats can be profitable, they should not rush in. Before the reader fills his backyard with a herd of goats, the author warns him or her to consider that while goats are “cute, personable, charming, and imminently entertaining…[they] are also destructive…mischievous, sometimes ornery, and often exasperating.” The book lists the various breeds of goats commonly available as meat and dairy producers, carefully spelling out their advantages and drawbacks. In the chapter on selecting a goat, the author instructs the reader to be aware of the overall health and soundness, and to consider such the animals’ horns and teeth. The book also covers general care for a small herd of goats, including outdoor housing and feeding, general health care, and maintenance. For hobby farmers ready to dive into the world of reproducing their goats, there are chapters on breeding, mating, and “Bringing Kids into the World.” All goat keepers will be enlightened by the information in the chapter on behavior and solving everyday problems with their often capricious caprines. Since the focus of the book is for hobby farmers, Goats also addresses how to make money from the small-scale herd, offering advice on managing, selling, and marketing goat-derived products. The book concludes with an extensive glossary of over 150 terms, an appendix of common goat diseases, and a resource section of useful goat-relevant books, websites, and associations. Fully indexed.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Reference

160 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2006

About the author

Sue Weaver has written hundreds of articles and ten books about livestock and poultry. She is a contributing editor of Hobby Farms magazine and writes the “Poultry Profiles” column for Chickens magazine. Sue lives on a small farm in Arkansas, which she shares with her husband, a flock of Classic Cheviot sheep and a mixed herd of goats, horses large and small, a donkey, two llamas, a riding steer, a water buffalo, a pet razorback pig, guinea fowl, and Buckeye chickens.

Reviews

[Cathy Moore]

My husband bought this book for me since I was interested in getting a pet goat. It was informative and provided the knowledge I feel I needed in learning about having a goat as a pet. The book provides information on having a goat for pleasure as well as profit. It opened my eyes to a different breed of animal as a pet.

[Sally]

Excellent book for the beginner goat owner.
I'll let you know how it goes!

[Jenifer Perry]

Good basic introduction to goat breeds and care.

[Jimmy]

Short with some useful pictures. It didn't provide much more information than what I could get online. I expect books to be more detailed with the info you can't get in a quick blog post. The info was good but generic.

[Stephanie]

Excellent book that covers nearly all topics.....except maybe building options for shelters and feeders....regarding goat care. This book is staying in my home library.

[The Bookish Owl]

She always has such practical advice.

[cheri]

OK, so this one is not for the ordinary person but I owned a goat and needed the book. I thought it was quite handy; however, I was able to find a lot of the same information online. I had a Pygmy goat and named him Harley, Harley didn't like to walk on grass and he loved bread. You can't get that kind of information online or in a book. I had to learn that by trial and error.

[Flower Edmiston]

A great first look into raising goats, sort of like a book report to assist you in finding questions to ask, not so much in finding the answers. But it was still a great starting book, that's lead to a lot more reading.

[Jeanette]

I checked out a number of goat books from the library at once. This one had some fun original content compared to the others, (Ever wondered where the phrase "got his goat" came from?) and had some really awesome historical photos as well.

[Me2]

This is a good introduction to goats.

[Spencer]

Great photos. Not a whole ton of information but really interesting anecdotes and history.

[CFAITC]

This guide contains essential information on choosing, breeding, and tending goats while also offering fun and fascinating facts.

[Deb]

this is a nice book for someone considering raising goats

[Gianna Gaspard]

its good