I was much like you in the beginning, wanting to research and read all I could get my hands on. "Well began is half done" as the old saying goes. :-) Good for you!
Will you only be wanting fiber goats for your knitting or are you considering dairy goats, pets, show goats?
Start small and stick to your guns. It is very easy to become obsessed with goats and very easy to allow your herd to get out of hand. Trust me, been there, done that, not going to do it again.
Here are a few books that you might find helpful...
Diseases of the Goat by John G. Matthews
Goat Farming by Alan Mowlem
Goat Health Handbook by Dr. Thomas Thedford, DVM
Goat Husbandry by David MacKenzie, Ruth Goodwin
Goat Medicine by Mary C. Smith, DVM and David M. Sherman, DVM (good health resource book)
Goats Produce Too, The Udder Real Thing Volume II by Mary Jane Toth ( good goat milk recipes)
Natural Goat Care by Pat Colby (good holistic care book)
Raising Meat Goats for Profit, by Gail Bowman
Raising Milk Goats Successfully by Gail Luttmann
Raising Milk Goats the Modern Way by Jerry Belanger
Sheep and Goat Medicine by D. G. Pugh (good health resource book)
Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats
The Angora Goat, Its History, Management and Diseases by Stephanie Mitcham Sexton and Allison Mitcham
The Goatkeeper's Veterinary Book by Peter Dunn, B. V. Sc.
The Pygmy Goat in America by Alice Hall
The Pygmy Goat Pet Owners Manual by Sandra Daigle
Your Goats by Gail Damerow for ages 9 and up
A good website to start reading on goats is Fias Co Farm http://fiascofarm.com/goats/
If you have the opportunity, try to visit a few goat farms in your area, go to a couple goat shows, fiber festivals and such.
3 comments:
oh Cat is a person? By the title, I thought you were getting prepared for a feline. :-)
Oh thank you so much! This is an awesome list! And I just found that website the other day, I think it alone will keep me busy for a while!
I'm just now getting in to thinking about dairy and meat goats, as well as show. As far as I'm concerned any animal I have (that we don't plan to eat) is a pet. Jay has talked about meat goats a little but I'm not sure I can do that. We'll see.
Sometimes I feel like I just pulled out a road map and picked some random place thousands of miles away with hundreds of different ways to get there! But it sure is exciting! Thank you again so much!
Good info Jama!
By the way I awarded you the Premios Dardo Award. Please don't feel obligated in anyway, but if you want to join in on the fun, you can get the details on my blog.
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