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Hi you lovely ish folks,

I've read tons from the internet, now I want my very own book. But I don't have the cash to buy several. So I need your expertise on which goat books are the best, i.e, the most comprehensive.

I'm interested in basic goat husbandry that leads into more complex areas (such as diseases). Something that includes goat fencing would be good.

tia

Hey again Nikki!

There are two books that I have found very good when I was reading up about goats. I have not kept goats so others may have comments as to their practicality......

Goat Husbandry by David Mackenzie - my copy is published by Faber and Faber - UK

A practical guide to small scale goatkeeping - Billie Luisi - Rodale Press - US

Nev

I'd vote for the David Mackenzie one. It covers pretty much everything except killing and butchering them.

I agree with Nev, entirely! (I collect books on goats, and have 38 at last count!) I would also add one other, and that would be pat Coleby's Natural Goat Care. It pertains largely to farming goats in Australia, but as to the general natural care of goats, without resorting to nasty chems, it is a really good one. Try to find the oldest edition of the Mackenzie book that you can, without the "revised and edited by Jean Laing," as it changed a bit over the years, and left out some really practical information, in my opinion. I have several copies of several editions, as it's the one I always lend out. The Luisi and the Mackenzie are both out of print, but not difficult to find on ebay or on abebooks.com.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

ooh, not only does Goat Husbandry look good, and at over 300pgs, but at £1.30, how can I say no? ordered...

Natural Goat Care sounds exactly the sort of thing I like. ordered...

Don't know if anyone has this one, Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats, but looks good. I've added to my wish list to keep it in mind.

Thanks a bunch everyone. :)

Where did you see goat husbandry at such a cheap price??

Doesn't matter - found it on Ebay!

Sounds like a good book. I've got one or two goat books but they are old... and probably a little out of date now.

amazon.co.uk, in the Used section. I got mine for GBP 1.00.

Yup, Amazon.co.uk, used. Of course, you need to add £2.75 p&p, but still....

cheapest i can see there is £12

£1.99 on ebay so bidding there

The Storey one is a good beginners book, but if I didn't collect goat books, I'd probably have got it from the library when I was researching goatkeeping and then bought the aforementioned books for my permanent home library. it does have a couple of good recipes for simple cheese making and chevon recipes as well.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

Hey Shirls, that's weird. I just checked and it's there for £1.40

where you looking?

here's a link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Goat-Husbandry- ... 01&sr=8-16

Anyway, good luck on your ebay bid.


Thanks Andrea. :)

Did you win your bid Shirlz?

For those other noobs interested, I now own Goat Husbandry by Mackenzie, and Natural Goat Care by Coleby.

For my money, Coleby's book wins hands down. It's an excellent book and covers health extensively. I've almost all of it (skipping all the specific ailments). In fact, I wouldn't bother getting Mackenzie's if I had Coleby's unless it was going cheap or I was an avid collector.
Coleby's is newer, 2001, and includes most of Mackenzie's info plus more.

I'm glad I have both as I bought Mackenzies very cheaply, and it means small bits of information and advice are covered by one book that are missed by the other.

The 'natural' of the title doesn't mean the book focuses on alternative health care (although that's mentioned) and free-range ideologies, but rather rearing goats by their natural characteristics and needs.
I would still like a book that covered alternative and free-range ideas more in depth, if it exists.
Coleby mentions, The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable, so I'll look out for that or something similar.

Thanks for leading me to these books.