How to Raise Goats

This is a very well laid out book and provides good information. I grew up on a farm with sheep and goats and am familiar with their care. It has a slightly odd relationship with veterinarians and does recommend a few procedures that should not be learned from a book, such as disbudding, that can kill the animal if done incorrectly. It suggests that finding a vet is critical but also lists every bad thing that any friend has ever told her about a vet, which is not exactly helpful, as I said, odd. I would also have added information to the kidding section about emergencies requires caesarian sections which are oddly missing from the whole book. Finally, I would be hesitant to trust dosing on drugs without further references provided.

Solid information! Great if you are just looking for info on a pet or if you have larger ambitions. If you are squeamish, might want to skip a few of the "health" sections.

*Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the free copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

How to Raise Goats is the third edition of the FFA guide first published in 2009. Reformatted and updated, this edition is due to be released 11th June 2019 by Quarto on their Voyageur imprint. It's 224 pages and will be available in paperback format.

The FFA textbooks and guides have always been high quality and sensibly written in my opinion. I've reviewed a number of them previously on my blog. Between them and the Storey's publications, folks wanting to increase their food security and self sufficiency have a rich selection of good guidance at their fingertips.

Smallholders and suburban landowners are more aware than ever of goats as a possible small stock animal and intelligent, feisty, and fun pets. Their small stature and generally agreeable nature make them a natural choice for smaller plots of land as well as being less challenging to move and interact with than larger meat and dairy animals.

This guide is written sensibly and accessibly with good clear explanations and realistic descriptions of expectations and challenges in modern goat husbandry. The introductory chapter (20% of the page content) covers the anatomy and some breed information. There's a good subchapter on goat societies and registries slanted toward the reader in North America. Sidebars include points of interest such as coat patterns and jargon differences between goats and sheep.

The following chapters give a good overview of choosing goats to fit the reader's purposes, preparing for and housing the animals, breeding and rearing kids for the dairy herd, troubleshooting problems and protecting the health of the herd, as well as living with goats. There's a short but very useful section on goats for fibre with good basic definitions of fibre breeds and classifications. This info gives a good basis for further reading.

There are several good appendices included covering a seasonal calendar list of tasks for the goatherd to manage, a fairly comprehensive list of suppliers and informational sources, with links (again slanted heavily toward the North American reader), and a glossary and index.

I don't imagine any single book can be ALL things to ALL readers, but this one is very very good.

Five stars.