This best-selling handbook is packed with detailed information on housing, feeding, and fencing dairy goats. It’s been the trusted resource on the topic for farmers and homesteaders since it was originally published in 1975, and the new edition — completely updated and redesigned — makes Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats more comprehensive and accessible than ever. In-depth sections explain every aspect of milking, including necessary equipment, proper hand-milking techniques, and handling and storing the milk. New color illustrations show each stage of kidding, and substantial chapters on dairy goat health and breeding include the most up-to-date research and practices.

From the Back Cover: Minimal space and housing needs make goats a practical choice for small or backyard dairy farmers, and Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats is the one book farmers need to raise healthy, productive animals. This comprehensive and reassuring guide includes complete instructions for turning your goat milk into profitable cheese, yogurt, kefir, and butter. The revised and updated fourth edition includes: Updated information on disease diagnosis and treatment; Tips on choosing pygmy breeds; Expanded coverage of breeding, kidding, and raising kids; More information on milking, dairying, and cheesemaking; Expanded resource section.

Discover how raising your own meat goats can be a fun and profitable endeavor. Offering plenty of tips for creating an economically viable operation and identifying niche markets for your products, Storey’s Guide to Raising Meat Goats shows you how to care for a thriving and productive herd full of healthy and happy animals.

This rare manual provides information on the breeds, breeding and management of dairy goats, one of the oldest species of animal domesticated by humans. Suitable for the goat farmer, animal husbandry enthusiast or historian, this book provides a comprehensive guide with many details still of practical use today. Summary of contents: Breeds; Selection of Breeding Stock; Management of the Breeding Stock; Care of Doe at Kidding; Rearing the Kids; Horns and Polling; Feeding the Doe; Feeding the Buck; Minerals and Water; Lactation Period; Milking; Characteristics of Goats’ Milk; Housing for Goats; Diseases and Parasites of Goats; Methods of Making Cheese; Suggested Readings. Complete with a new introduction and the illustrations featured in the original, we are republishing this vintage work in a high quality, modern, and affordable edition.

From the large-tailed Karakul sheep to the floppy-eared Gloucestershire Old Spot pig, North America is home to an extraordinary array of livestock. Comprehensive, colorful, and captivating, Storey’s Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle, and Pigs features full-color profiles of 163 livestock breeds. Whether you’re looking for a gentle domestic backyard animal or are hoping to introduce a rare heritage breed on your farm, you’re sure to find an animal that’s perfect for your needs.

The Dairy Goat Handbook explains everything goat keepers need to know about their animals, from the best ways to keep them healthy to methods for making delicious goat cheese. The Dairy Goat Handbook is a guidebook for those who would like to raise dairy goats - or dream of raising dairy goats—and want to know how to begin and maintain a successful herd. There are other books on the business of keeping dairy goats, but none quite like this. Written by a dairy goat farmer, this guide combines a deep knowledge of the animals themselves with fifteen years of experience running a successful business. Fully illustrated with photographs of life on a working dairy farm—the goats, the farm, the dairy equipment, and the cheese and milk—this book explains as well as celebrates the life of a dairy goat farmer. The author, Ann Starbard, owns Crystal Brook Farm in Sterling, Massachusetts, where she and her husband raise dairy goats and make fresh goat cheese that they sell onsite, at farmers' markets, and at restaurants. Ann explains the details of raising goats and running a dairy in simple, clear, easy-to-understand language; this is a book for everyone interested in the business of raising dairy goats.

Learn to raise goats and start reaping the benefits of owning these fun and useful animals Raising goats is a major part of human life (and survival) around the world. The movement has increased in popularity in recent years as consumers embrace a more sustainable lifestyle, reject commercialism, move to organic food options, and raise concerns about industrial agriculture practices. Raising Goats For Dummies provides you with an introduction to all aspects of owning, caring for, and the day-to-day benefits of raising goats. Breaks down the complicated process of choosing and purchasing the right goat breed to meet your needs and getting facilities for your goat set up. Provides in-depth information on proper grooming, handling, feeding, and milking Covers the basics of goat health and nutrition Offers tips and advice for using your goat to produce milk, meat, fiber, and more You'll quickly understand what makes these useful and delightful creatures so popular and gain the knowledge and skills to properly care for and utilize their many offerings with help from Raising Goats For Dummies.