Raising Farm Animals in Your Backyard: A Homesteader's Guide

T: 13 yo niece wants to be a vet and have a farm. This is superbly organized, illustrated, written. She loved it = I'm the best aunt ever!

United States on Dec 12, 2023

Danni Deane: Does what it should..informs.

Canada on Nov 01, 2023

Colleen S.: Great information all in one place!

United States on Jul 13, 2023

Guillermo Casacuberta: For people who like the book from John seymour.

Germany on Nov 15, 2022

sam M.: This book has a broad range of useful information and I highly recommend it for someone who needs that. If you are starting a homestead, this book is an excellent place to start.
However. If you are only trying to raise rabbits, be advised that this book takes generously from Storeys Guide and you won't get much new information from this if you already have that. If, however, rabbits are just one part of your overall plan, then this book is worth it and covers most of what you'll get from Storeys.

United States on Aug 30, 2022

LisaLisa: I will be moving to my new homestead soon and I’m happy to have this book. It’s really thick and full of farm animal info. I love it!

Canada on Jun 02, 2022

Janice Zarglis: Well written

Canada on Jan 29, 2021

Liz: This book is bigger and much longer than I was expecting. It goes animal by animal, with a few lumped together when it makes sense, and goes over all the basic things you would need or want to know before starting out with that animal. It’s not something that I would use as a reference book or even as a guide once an animal has been acquired but it’s invaluable as a source of information on each animal. It has given me the information I need to make informed decisions as to which animals will be right for our family farm and which might be too much work or wouldn’t thrive on our land.

Each section details different breeds, how to acquire them, what to look for in a good animal, what to watch out for in selecting animals, what they eat, how to house them, common diseases and health conditions with their treatments, what types of land they do well and as well as climate considerations per breed, and output as far as power/meat/eggs/milk and other uses like goats used for clearing weeds. It’s very through yet is not written like a textbook. It’s written in an easy to read format where there are blurbs of information separates by pictures and boxes of other info to...

United States on Aug 18, 2019

A. Prevost: When I read it for the first time, I cried, and it's no jokes...My eyes still get all watery even just talking about it after several months from receiving it. I've never had a better book than this, there is so much useful information that I've even used for my own pet bunny concerning its health. A pet! Not just farm animals! This one and the original are pretty much a must have in any homesteader's library as it's full of good stuff, well illustrated and concise.

Canada on Mar 09, 2014

Amazon Customer: This is a really good book for people who are wanting to start their own little homestead. However, I'll start with the negatives, first of all, while the author does a really good job of explaining the basics I personally would have liked it to be dumbed down a little bit more. I will admit that that may be due to my own personal ignorance of farm animals. I've read the chapters on chickens, turkeys, and pigs so far, and while I gained a lot of information I still have a lot of questions on each topic.

Another negative would be that it was a little bit disorganized in my opinion. For instance, the chapter on pigs goes from butchering and bests temps for freezing your meat back to pig illnesses and health. Not a big deal, but just didn't really make a lot of sense to me.

She did a great job of answering the question of what to feed? However, I wish it touched a little bit more on organically raised meat/eggs, etc.

Finally, the illustrations are a negative (they are also a positive). The illustrations that are in the book are great I just wish that there were more. There were a few places where she discussed building something or making something and I couldn't...

United States on Dec 30, 2011