The Backyard Goat: An Introductory Guide to Keeping and Enjoying Pet Goats, from Feeding and Housing to Making Your Own Cheese

I am planning to buy 2 Pygmy goats in the next few weeks and wanted a book with a more detailed description of what I needed in order to prepare for my kids and then take care of them. This book provided that information (for many breeds- not just Pygmy) along with a lot of reference material so that I I have a go-to source once I have the goats. The ebook formatting was good, but not perfect. Still, I didn’t have any trouble distinguishing the actual chapter information from the interesting stories included here and there along the way. The advantage of the ebook is that the reference links are live and easily searchable. I was pleasantly surprised with the history, vintage photographs, and personal stories. I expect to love my new goats, but now I’m even more excited about interacting with them as I have a much broader view of their capabilities. If you already have years of experience, this book probably won’t provide much new information (although I would imagine at least a few of the stories would be new and interesting) but for a novice I believe it will be very helpful.

I love goats. I've only spent limited time with them in petting zoo or organic farm settings, but something about them speaks to me. They are like a cat crossed with a horse - I appreciate their personality, their curiosity, and their cleverness. Plus, who could scratch one under the chin while looking into those peculiar eyes and not fall in love?I made a resolution to learn more about homesteading and self-sufficiency this year. I'm not in a place where I can do a lot of it, but I thought I'd teach myself anyway. Do I really want chickens, goats, or sheep? How much trouble are they? What's required? How hard is it to make goat cheese or soap, or to encourage chickens to lay eggs? I ordered this book to tackle the goat questions.Overall, this is a very detailed book. It's got tons of info, from choosing a goat to training one for working or tricks. I'm only about halfway through, but I terrifically pleased with it. It's made me realize just how troublesomely fun goats would be and what it would take to have milking goats as opposed to pets.As a complete newbie to any farm animal other than horses, this is a great introduction and has enough detail that I think it could carry you through owning goats for several years. Whether you want pets/friends or you're looking to get into breeding goats, I'd recommend this as a great reference book.

I have been wondering about the best way to get involved raising goats and this book us very detailed and informative. I had no idea there are so many different types of goats, but it figures! The angora goats look very soft. Including the information about how to milk a goat correctly and make your own cheese this book has alot of valuable information, I have loved the taste of goat cheese and wondered how exactly to make it and it's explained easily here. So much to learn about, how to clean and care for goats even teach how to pull a cart or float for a parade and teach how to dance. Very thorough and fascinating to read, a really good buy.

This book is great as a reference but when it came to goats There is so much more to learn first hand than any one account or study could tell/teach you. I purchased after owning goats. it didn't really add a whole lot to my data bank or experience bar but would have been fairly useful before owning the goats. PS... they do eat everything including your house siding.

Good educational overview of goat care.

This is a wonderful, informative book for any goat owner. It is written in plain, easy-to-understand language. The author's sense of humor makes it a fun read as well, with stories and fables about goats sprinkled throughout. The author's love of everything GOAT really shines. As a new goat owner, this book is essential to me. Everything from feeding, medical care, breeding and even playing with your goats is covered. The resource guide in the back is a bridge to even more info. I have learned so much about the care and understanding of my goats. My only regret is that I did not buy this book sooner!

I gave this book to my wife as a gift because for the last 5 years she has expressed a desire for a pet goat. This seemed like a good choice for someone trying to decide what type of goat to get. I made a great choice; she loves this book and has learned a great many important things. The information in this book will prevent her from making mistakes when it comes to selecting and caring for her goats. My other choice was "Goats for Dummies", but I just could not make myself give a gift to anyone, much less my wife, with the word dummy in the title.

This book is very well written, but for what i was looking for it just didn't do it for me. (Why i gave 3/5 stars). I had gotten the Storey's Guide on raising sheep and was going to get the Guide on Dairy Goats but someone recommended me this book and i don't know why. It gave information; just not nearly enough. It skimmed over topics. And the fact i skipped out on three chapters just because it had nothing to do with Dairy Goats: "Training and Tricks" and "Wagons, ho!" and "Packing with Goats" which happened to be a big chunk of the book. But i will admit I never thought "Goat History" could be so fun to read. The colored pictures were beautiful in this book, the pictures in "Enjoying your Goat" were especially fun to see. I would recommend this book to someone just wanting general information. But for someone who KNOWS they want Goats and want lots of facts on pastures, health, diet etc i would tell them to look else where.

Fantastic book. Everything you need to know about goats. After reading it you feel like having one at home.

This book is a must-have for anyone considering or starting out with goats, whether they are to be pets or for other small-scale uses. The author obviously knows and understands goats well, recognizes the pitfalls and advantages of modern goat-keeping, and gives really sound advice. Beautifully and clearly laid out and illustrated to give easy to follow instructions and an enjoyable read, plus plenty of fun and interesting facts.

As described