The perfect book for anyone who has ever dreamed of having that little place in the country, Barnyard in Your Backyard offers tried-and-true, expert advice on raising healthy, happy, productive farm animals: chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits, goats, sheep, and dairy cows.
Each chapter focuses on a different animal, discussing the pros and cons of raising the animal, housing and land requirements, feeding guidelines, health concerns, and a schedule for routine care. Species that are easy to raise, hardy, and companionable are profiled. First-time farmers will discover simple, clear instructions for caring for animals throughout the year, as well as guidelines for processing barnyard products such as milk, wool, and eggs. Combining practical advice from real experts, easy-to-use checklists and charts, a seasonal care calendar, and detailed black-and-white illustrations, Barnyard in Your Backyard offers a comprehensive review of the ins and outs - the tribulations and triumphs - of living with and caring for a small barnyard.
| Introduction | 1 | |
| 1 | Chickens | 11 |
| Introducing Chickens | ||
| Choosing the Right Breed | ||
| Making the Purchase Handling Chickens | ||
| Housing Chickens | ||
| Feeding Chickens Egg Production | ||
| Collecting and Storing Eggs | ||
| Managing Breeders Hatching Eggs | ||
| Raising Chicks | ||
| Chicken Health Summer Care | ||
| Winter Care | ||
| Chickens for Meat | ||
| 2 | Ducks & Geese | 61 |
| Introducing Ducks and Geese | ||
| Choosing the Right Bird | ||
| Handling Housing | ||
| Feeding | ||
| Duck and Goose Eggs | ||
| Breeding | ||
| Artificial Incubation Ducklings and Goslings | ||
| Duck and Goose Health | ||
| Ducks and Geese for Meat | ||
| 3 | Rabbits | 115 |
| Introducing Rabbits | ||
| Choosing a Breed | ||
| Recognizing a Good Animal Making the Purchase | ||
| Handling Your Rabbit | ||
| Rabbit Housing Buying a Cage | ||
| Building Your Own Cage | ||
| Rabbit Carriers Feeding Your Rabbit | ||
| Rabbit Health | ||
| Breeding Rabbits | ||
| The Nest Box Birth | ||
| Caring for the New Litter | ||
| Weaning and Separating the Litter Meat Rabbits | ||
| Managing Your Rabbitry | ||
| Keeping Records | ||
| 4 | Goats | 167 |
| Introducing Goats | ||
| Buying | ||
| Handling | ||
| Housing | ||
| Feeding | ||
| Breeding Gestation and Kidding | ||
| Newborn Kids | ||
| Keeping Goats Healthy Goat Milk | ||
| Fiber Goats | ||
| 5 | Sheep | 231 |
| Introducing Sheep | ||
| Sheep Q & A | ||
| Choosing a Breed Buying | ||
| Fencing | ||
| Shelter | ||
| Handling | ||
| Feeding Health Care, Treatment, and Medication | ||
| Hoof Care Breeding | ||
| Lambing Time | ||
| Problems with Newborn Lambs Caring for the Ewe After Weaning | ||
| Making Sheep-Milk Cheese Culling and Butchering | ||
| Wool and Shearing | ||
| Wool Crafts | ||
| Sheep Calendar | ||
| 6 | Dairy Cows & Beef Cattle | 287 |
| Introducing Cattle | ||
| Choosing a Dairy Breed | ||
| Choosing a Beef Breed Selecting and Buying a New Animal | ||
| Housing, Facilities, and Equipment Manure Disposal | ||
| Nutrition | ||
| Removing Extra Teats, Castrating, and Dehorning Keeping Your Cattle Healthy | ||
| Butchering a Beef | ||
| Steers as Oxen Breeding and Calving | ||
| Scours | ||
| Care of the Dairy Cow Managing Your Herd Through the Seasons | ||
| Appendix | 365 | |
| Metric Conversion Chart | ||
| Glossary | ||
| Recommended Reading | ||
| Resources | ||
| Index | 395 |
I love this book, it is easy to read and to understand. It gives enough information to get you started. I loved the graphs, diagrams and it is very relevant to today. Many people because of the economy want to try having a small farm in their yard. Great book, and I highly recommend it.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 9, 2012
My grandson is a 1st yr FFA student and he checked this book out at the library. After reading, it helped him decide on which animal he wanted to raise for the program. He wanted a book of his own to have for reference and was excited when I ssid I would order it for him. He is doing well and decided to raise rabbits.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.ShopperMomAT
Posted April 16, 2011
This book is great at giving the details for what it takes to get started keeping various farm animals: chickens, ducks and geese, rabbits, goats, sheep, cows. It is helpful in that it will tell you how they should be housed and cared for to keep them in optimum health and happiness. It is not, however, a book about keeping them "naturally" or "organically." The book does give recommendations for keeping grain-fed as well as grass-fed cows, but does not give any real pros and cons for feeding and/or housing animals in a certain fashion. If you wish to have animals but already know WHAT you want to feed your animals, just not the HOW, this will be a great tool. It also gets into more info about economics and weight-versus feed ratios than I thought really necessary for backyard farmers, but it will help if you wish to earn a profit from your backyard animals. I would recommend it.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Kelly5569
Posted May 9, 2010
I bought this book because I had bought a few ducks and wanted to learn more about them. This book has a ton of info about ducks and every other farm animal!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 20, 2010
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Posted March 25, 2009
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Posted April 15, 2009
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Posted March 10, 2011
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Overview
The perfect book for anyone who has ever dreamed of having that little place in the country, Barnyard in Your Backyard offers tried-and-true, expert advice on raising healthy, happy,...