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Raising Goats For Dummies
No discover the addictive joy of raising goats
Goats are amazing, multi-talented creatures that have been domesticated for over 10,000 years. As well as being a source of food, clothes, and milk, they're wonderful cute, intelligent, and playful—and often as friendly and attentive as dogs. In addition, they make endearing noises and—according to ancient Ethiopian legend—discovered coffee. So what's holding you back? The new edition of Raising Goats For Dummies rebuts all your excuses, and shows you why having one—or, actually, a few—of these companionable ruminants (cud-chewing animals) in your life will bring you great joy, and, if you choose, unbeatable homemade milk and cheese—and possibly a cozy new sweater.
A happy goat aficionado since 1998, Cheryl K. Smith takes you from the grassroots of raising your goat—choosing and buying the breed you want, building and maintaining goat-friendly housing—to more elevated terrain, including how to build your own milk stand, participate in online goat shows (it’s a thing!), and even monetize your goat. You'll also learn the fundamentals of proper care to make sure your goats are fed, kept healthy, and bred in ways that ensure they have the happiest life you can provide.
Study the history and breeds of goat, like the Nigerian Dwarf or Pygmy Live sustainably from and even profit from your goat Identify and alleviate common ailments Have fun raising the kids! Whether you're researching buying a goat or learning on the hoof about the ones you have, this book has everything you need to see why getting your goat will bring years and years of joy.
Goats are amazing, multi-talented creatures that have been domesticated for over 10,000 years. As well as being a source of food, clothes, and milk, they're wonderful cute, intelligent, and playful—and often as friendly and attentive as dogs. In addition, they make endearing noises and—according to ancient Ethiopian legend—discovered coffee. So what's holding you back? The new edition of Raising Goats For Dummies rebuts all your excuses, and shows you why having one—or, actually, a few—of these companionable ruminants (cud-chewing animals) in your life will bring you great joy, and, if you choose, unbeatable homemade milk and cheese—and possibly a cozy new sweater.
A happy goat aficionado since 1998, Cheryl K. Smith takes you from the grassroots of raising your goat—choosing and buying the breed you want, building and maintaining goat-friendly housing—to more elevated terrain, including how to build your own milk stand, participate in online goat shows (it’s a thing!), and even monetize your goat. You'll also learn the fundamentals of proper care to make sure your goats are fed, kept healthy, and bred in ways that ensure they have the happiest life you can provide.
Study the history and breeds of goat, like the Nigerian Dwarf or Pygmy Live sustainably from and even profit from your goat Identify and alleviate common ailments Have fun raising the kids! Whether you're researching buying a goat or learning on the hoof about the ones you have, this book has everything you need to see why getting your goat will bring years and years of joy.
- GenresAnimalsNonfiction
361 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
93 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 21, 2012
This spring the boys spotted a miniature goat wandering round a carpark in St-Chrysostome. We all fell in love with her but sadly she was returned to her owner after almost a month. MadMummy immediately bought a herd of goats with the hopes that I would never again have to cut the grass. NannyGoat, Ziege, Cabreta, Thing One, and Thing Two are welcome additions for our family even if they are useless at keeping the garden trim. This book gave me some insight into why barking housewives should learn about goats before adopting a herd.
December 6, 2015
Overall, I liked the set-up of this book. I read it cover to cover rather than skipping around. This meant it was repetitive at times. I had some misconceptions about goats before. I didn't realize they weren't really grazers, nor did I understand that you really have to commit to more than 1 goat for companionship. I also didn't realize how much of the vegetation in my yard would be harmful to them. The work load, even for "just" a pet, is more than I am willing to commit to. This means in spite of wanting my own goat for the past 36+ years, I'd rather talk one of my neighbors into goat ownership so I can play with the goats and occasionally help them out.
April 11, 2014
Very educational.
This is one of the most comprehensive and informative books I have read about raising goats I highly recommend this to anyone just getting started with goats. It was easy to read and well-written.
This is one of the most comprehensive and informative books I have read about raising goats I highly recommend this to anyone just getting started with goats. It was easy to read and well-written.
May 5, 2017
This is a really a great book for a person thinking about raising goats. By the time I was done I realized a goat would not be a good pet for me. However, I think that reading such a good book can keep a person from having someone to rescue the goat when you realize the pet isn't for you.
March 2, 2015
Only book I've seen so far that teaches you how to teach your goat and the people who will be around your goats how to behave.
February 20, 2020
One can learn a lot about the preoccupations of an author by reading their books. And although one might think that a book in a series like this one would be devoid of individual personality, that is far from the case. If there is one thing above all that I learned from this book, I learned that the author cares strongly about the fact that one cannot feed goats and sheep with the same minerals because goats require far more copper than sheep do, apparently. I did not know why this was the case, but the author felt it necessary to repeat it several times, so from that I can infer that the author failed to realize this and had some goats suffer accordingly from a lack of copper, and perhaps even had sheep suffer from having too much copper, thus learning a difficult and likely expensive lesson. Of course, having learned that lesson, she wants everyone else to learn it as well, and this is only one of the many quirky lessons that this book contains regarding keeping goats, which are nothing if not pretty quirky animals, it must be readily admitted.
This book is a bit more than 300 pages long and is divided into five parts and nineteen chapters. The book begins with a friendly introduction. After this the author spends some time encouraging the reader to get acquainted with goats (I) by discovering the joys of raising them (1), some vital goat statistics that may be of interest to the reader (2), knowing one's goats in terms of anatomy and behavior (3), and getting one's property ready for goats so that they can be properly sheltered (4). After that the author talks about bringing goats home (II) through building shelter (5), knowing what to feed goats (6), choosing, buying, and transporting goats (7), working with goats (8), and handing routine care and important tasks like castration and dehorning (9). The author discusses goat health and breeding (III) by outline some basic health requirements (10), addressing common health problems and ailments (11), discussing breeding and the care of pregnant goats (12), and working with kids (13). The author does not stint on the discussion of profit motives (IV) in chapters that look at the sale of goat milk (14), goat meat (15), as well as fiber, breeding, and weed control (16). Finally, the book ends with the part of tens (V), which include ten common mistakes that goat owners make (17), ten tips for showing a goat (18), and ten misconceptions about goats (19), after which there are some goat-milk recipes in an appendix and an index.
The author, like most authors I have read concerning animal husbandry, do not tend to think of raising animals as a good way to earn a lot of money, which makes sense given my own personal experience in such matters, but all the same there are clearly some goals in self-sufficiency and there are profits that can be made from goats depending on how one goes about it--raising goats for meat or resale, for example, or having goats that can make money as show goats. Beyond this, though, the book is written with a broad perspective and so while it may not contain as much specific information about the sorts of goats one may want to raise, it does cover goat raising in a broad enough way that it can inform those who wish to learn about the various types of goats that can be raised: dairy goats, meat goats, show goats, and work goats among them. The book also does a good job at providing information on how people can be well-informed in terms of making shelters and preparing their property for goats as well as keeping goats healthy, which is by no means as easy a task as it should be in an age where multiple births are often necessary to balance one's expenses in taking care of goats.
This book is a bit more than 300 pages long and is divided into five parts and nineteen chapters. The book begins with a friendly introduction. After this the author spends some time encouraging the reader to get acquainted with goats (I) by discovering the joys of raising them (1), some vital goat statistics that may be of interest to the reader (2), knowing one's goats in terms of anatomy and behavior (3), and getting one's property ready for goats so that they can be properly sheltered (4). After that the author talks about bringing goats home (II) through building shelter (5), knowing what to feed goats (6), choosing, buying, and transporting goats (7), working with goats (8), and handing routine care and important tasks like castration and dehorning (9). The author discusses goat health and breeding (III) by outline some basic health requirements (10), addressing common health problems and ailments (11), discussing breeding and the care of pregnant goats (12), and working with kids (13). The author does not stint on the discussion of profit motives (IV) in chapters that look at the sale of goat milk (14), goat meat (15), as well as fiber, breeding, and weed control (16). Finally, the book ends with the part of tens (V), which include ten common mistakes that goat owners make (17), ten tips for showing a goat (18), and ten misconceptions about goats (19), after which there are some goat-milk recipes in an appendix and an index.
The author, like most authors I have read concerning animal husbandry, do not tend to think of raising animals as a good way to earn a lot of money, which makes sense given my own personal experience in such matters, but all the same there are clearly some goals in self-sufficiency and there are profits that can be made from goats depending on how one goes about it--raising goats for meat or resale, for example, or having goats that can make money as show goats. Beyond this, though, the book is written with a broad perspective and so while it may not contain as much specific information about the sorts of goats one may want to raise, it does cover goat raising in a broad enough way that it can inform those who wish to learn about the various types of goats that can be raised: dairy goats, meat goats, show goats, and work goats among them. The book also does a good job at providing information on how people can be well-informed in terms of making shelters and preparing their property for goats as well as keeping goats healthy, which is by no means as easy a task as it should be in an age where multiple births are often necessary to balance one's expenses in taking care of goats.
July 28, 2021
Well written. Clear and too the point. It didn't have a lot of information on one particular subject, but had tid bits of various things with sources to find information.
January 28, 2023
Halfway finished.
February 22, 2023
This book provides a full range of knowledge useful for owning goats. It might be useful for readers to use this as a jumping off point to research other areas further, but it is highly recommended.
February 5, 2024
An ongoing resource for me to have on hand. Easily layed out for quick reference.
December 8, 2024
Halfway finished.
May 5, 2016
Not necessarily the best "goat book," at least so say the reviews. As a new goat owner I'm collecting books and hurriedly reading everything I can get my hands on. I'm finding several different books are good in their own way, and perhaps just to reinforce what another book said, or remind you of something important - or line things up in a different format that's easier to scan through ... or whatever.
We are NOT raising our Boer goats as meat goats, and yes, I don't like reading about that. It doesn't mean good information on other aspects of goat-raising can't be welcome to total novices like ourselves. Further emphasizing where we stand: our two baby Boers are pets, already quickly learning some early training, and we're wanting to carry forth their purpose for our family as pets, companions, energizers and helpers / workers. Hence, the early training. I read that they actually LOVE training, learning to "do things," and so far that's what we're seeing!
Realizing I haven't exactly rated the book so well here. I guess I'm saying it's good for what it's good for: quick looks for specific things, ignore what you don't like. At least you don't have to read long passages to get something you may need to know quickly. Glad it's in our Goat Library. It's a bit of a slender audience genre no doubt, so enjoy what you may from all sources.
We are NOT raising our Boer goats as meat goats, and yes, I don't like reading about that. It doesn't mean good information on other aspects of goat-raising can't be welcome to total novices like ourselves. Further emphasizing where we stand: our two baby Boers are pets, already quickly learning some early training, and we're wanting to carry forth their purpose for our family as pets, companions, energizers and helpers / workers. Hence, the early training. I read that they actually LOVE training, learning to "do things," and so far that's what we're seeing!
Realizing I haven't exactly rated the book so well here. I guess I'm saying it's good for what it's good for: quick looks for specific things, ignore what you don't like. At least you don't have to read long passages to get something you may need to know quickly. Glad it's in our Goat Library. It's a bit of a slender audience genre no doubt, so enjoy what you may from all sources.
May 4, 2014
Very helpful reference. My family has had goats for about 9 months and we are learning as we go. We had our first live birth twins this week and they are doing great. We are better prepared for the next set thanks to this book and the advice of a few fellow goat farmers. This book is easily read as a whole, or skip to the chapter you need. When faced with a question, pull it up and find the answer. Well done!
April 2, 2012
Very in depth book on all aspects of raising goats. I sure learned alot about goats that I didn't know.
July 20, 2016
Lots of really good information, will definitely come back to this. I liked that the book also included plans to build various feeders, beds, etc.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews