Get Your Goat: How to Keep Happy, Healthy Goats in Your Backyard, Wherever You Live

by Brent Zimmerman

Get Your Goat is a comprehensive, engaging way to answer all your questions about keeping goats, as backyard farm animal or even as a pet.

It’s all about back to consumers are rejecting consumption and looking for more and more ways to reconnect with the earth, the community, and their food sources. Many people who have tried keeping chickens, toyed with turkeys, or even just fantasized about converting their quarter-acre suburban yard into a pasture has no doubt What about goats? I don't live on a farm—how do these lively, intelligent creatures fit into my life? This is a complete handbook for keeping all breeds of goats on smaller acreage . It includes essential information on the nuts and bolts of goat Get Your Goat is  written for the new goat keeper , with all the right questions in mind!

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2011

Reviews

[Jina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great no-nonsense introduction to owning goats. My husband and I have been kicking around the idea of starting an urban farm when we get a house with a bit of property. This book was very insightful to what it will take to have some goats for milk (or meat or fibre or pets) - from space to equipment to care to daily chores. I found the chapter on the different goat breeds to most helpful as it helped us determine which breed of goat would best suit us. Based off of the fact we don’t want a huge plot of land and would like to raise goats for milk and cheese - the Nigerian Dwarf is our best option. Not only are they small, but they have the highest butterfat content of any goat breed - making their milk ideal for cheese and butter. Pigmy goats are a more popular small breed, however, because of their build and proportions, they are better kept for meat or just being a pet. I also learned that we most likely will not want to own a buck, as they stink (like, really bad) and, despite being super sweet, can be very destructive. To get around this, we would have to find someone who leases our their buck for breeding purposes, so we can still get milk from our goats. This is another book for my future library shelf, if we decide to start an urban farm.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

All about how to choose a goat, why you should, and what is involved in keeping goats.

Very useful as it doesn't shy away from the bad parts of being an animal owner.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear delineated instructions on how to keep goats in your yard. The author's tone was very positive, enthusiastic and clearly explained much of what goes into caring for goats. A person without farming background would likely need more references before beginning this venture but certainly this book has much depth of information contained within it. The photos, anecdotes and tips were well designed and placed within the book. I recommend this book as a good place to start if you're interested in learning more about hobby farming and raising goats.

[Anna Richey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I skipped a few chapters that weren't relevant to me (I'm not buying, breeding, milking, or slaughtering), but the chapters I did read we're very helpful - pros and cons of various fencing styles, how much and what type of feed, a chapter on goat first-aid for (and prevention of) common ailments ... I will definitely recommend this to fellow first-time backyard goat-keepers.

[Mindi]

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Even though I do not own goats, I would love to have a farm and I can say that this is a no-nonsense, wonderful book that could help anyone.

[Cari Sly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource!!

[Mindi]

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Even though I do not own goats, I would love to have a farm and I can say that this is a no-nonsense, wonderful book that could help anyone.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book on keeping goats. It covers such topics as housing, feed, breeding