The Hobby Farm series presents Goats

Jump from the bandwagon to the farm with one of the hottest-growing food sources in the country. Goats is an in-depth guide to small-scale goat keeping—for pleasure and profit! The author delivers essential information on choosing, breeding, and tending goats while also herding together some fascinating and fun facts about them. Comprehensive discussions, full-color photos, and easy-to-use charts will help to ensure the success of your goat-keeping ventures.

· From cashmere to milk and meat! · Select the right breed for your farm · Learn common goat herd behavior · Keep goats healthy with a nutritious diet · Spot symptoms of common goat disease · Breed, deliver, and care for does and bucks · Market and sell fresh goat milk · Explore goat resources and Web sites Plus many other helpful tips!

About the Hobby Farms™ series Whether you’re a weekend gardener or dedicated small farmer, you’ll gather a bushel of essential information from the Hobby Farms series. Hobby Farm and its companion editions will help both experienced and novice hobby farmers realize their own dreams of life on the farm—for pleasure or profit.

Look for other essential Hobby Farms titles, such as Hobby Farm™ Cattle, Chickens, Sheep, and many more to come!...

Friendly, dependable, intelligent, and easy to care for, donkeys are increasingly prized by small-scale farmers, horse lovers, and animal enthusiasts. Already, there are hundreds of thousands of donkeys and mules in the U.S., and their population is growing steadily. Donkeys not only pull carts, carry riders, and tote gear for hikers, but they also make terrific stable companions and livestock guardians, and they are renowned for their skills in transport, raising water, milling, and farm tillage. They're also gentle with children and the elderly, making them a popular therapy animal and family pet.

Readers will come to understand this versatile animal, and through understanding will become skilled, satisfied owners. The Donkey Companion offers detailed information about different breeds and types; provides tips for finding and selecting the right animal; explains donkeys' daily care and health requirements; and guides readers through the nuances of training, riding, driving, and breeding. The book is enhanced with fun facts, training tips, quotes, photographs, illustrations, and additional resources. From foaling to first aid, and from grooming to professional showing, this extensive guide offers everything a donkey owner needs to get the most out of this gentle, hardworking animal....

Many people want to raise cows, sheep, goats and other livestock, but they don’t have the space or the time to maintain a large animal farm. Miniature livestock are the answer. Every bit as useful and adorable as their bigger counterparts, mini livestock are a great option for folks wishing to add a little bit of farm life to their backyard or for farmers looking to diversify their livestock portfolios.

Miniature livestock are so much more than their good looks. Pint-size animals can be exhibited in 4-H events and at state and county fairs, mini sheep can be raised for wool or meat, and little cattle can be milked or raised for beef, more productive per pound than their standard counterparts. Tiny horses, donkeys, cattle, and goats can be trained to pull wagons, and miniature animals work as therapy animals in schools, nursing homes, and hospitals.

While owners have different reasons for raising miniature livestock, they all share a basic need for essential, expert instruction and advice. That need is met with Storey’s Guide to Raising Miniature Livestock by Sue Weaver. This is the go-to-guide that takes the mystery out of minis. Breeding, feeding, housing, diet, nutrition, exercise, as well as disease prevention and treatment — new and experienced farmers will find everything they need to keep minis healthy and productive.

A welcomed new edition to Storey's Guide to Raising Series. The essential animal husbandry information from the trusted source. With a combined total of 1.7 million copies in print.
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A companion to Hobby Farm, Chickens helps hobby farmers to become more knowledgeable about their poultry and to better appreciate the bountiful gifts they bestow. This essential guide directs both new and experienced chicken-keepers through the nuances of tending a small-scale flock¡ªfor pleasure and profit!...

Whether for pleasure or profit, both neophyte and seasoned sheep-keepers will benefit from this helpful advice....

HF Llamas and Alpacas is an affordable yet qualitative guide to the buying, raising, caring, and selling of these animals for fun and profit. Written by an expert with a small working farm, this is a valuable 7th book adding to the Hobby Farm line....