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Natural Goat Care
Goats thrive on fully organic natural care. As natural browsers, they have higher mineral requirements than other domestic animals, so diet is a critical element to maintaining optimal livestock health. In Natural Goat Care , consultant Pat Coleby shows how to solve health problems both with natural herbs and medicines and the ultimate cure, bringing the soil into healthy balance. Topics correct housing and farming methods; choosing the right livestock; diagnosing health problems; nutritional requirements and feeding practices; vitamins and herbal, homeopathic and natural remedies; psychological needs of goats; breeds & breeding techniques. An invaluable resource for anyone with goats.
- GenresNonfictionAgriculture
371 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 27, 2015
I started out really enjoying this book...but I slowly lost my faith in the author's analyses as they relate to my own farm.
The trouble is twofold: Coleby isn't very scientifically minded and she lives in Australia, so the American reader needs to consider her assertions with a major grain of salt. For example, I suspect Coleby is right that minerals are essential to keeping goats healthy, but I cringe a bit when I hear American goatkeepers using her feeding formula precisely as she lists it in her book. Our soils are completely different from Australian soils, which suggests that the supplements our goats need are also likely to be quite different. Coleby pushes dolomite very hard as one of her cure-alls, but are goats raised on browse in an area like ours with very high magnesium in the soil likely to be deficient in magnesium? Probably not. Similarly, she feeds a lot of grain to her goats because Australia is so dry that it's probably close to impossible to keep goats happy on pasture and root vegetables, but grain isn't a good choice for most American goatkeepers. In the end, this isn't so much a fault in the book as a fault in the lack of critical thinking in her American readers, who follow Coleby's lead blindly without assessing their differing habitats.
However, the book does have its own faults. As one small example, Coleby talks about Mendelian genetics in the chapter on breeding, and shows a clear misunderstanding of statistics. Mendelian genetics is all about percentages --- if you're likely to see 50% of one phenotype, that doesn't mean that if your goat has two kids, one is going to show the phenotype and one isn't. However, Coleby clearly thinks that's the case, which throws her understanding of basic biological principles into question.
The trouble is that after a few assertions that are obviously not universally true, I began to lose faith in the author of the book. I feel that this book could have been much better (for an American audience) if it had come with an introduction explaining the differences between Australian and American goatkeeping, and if the author had made clear which of her assertions were backed up with data and which were simply her own guesswork. As it is, I would hesitate to recommend this book to anyone without a science background since I suspect it could do more harm than good. On the other hand, if you're able to think critically, this book will provide some food for thought and is a good addition to your goat-keeping library.
The trouble is twofold: Coleby isn't very scientifically minded and she lives in Australia, so the American reader needs to consider her assertions with a major grain of salt. For example, I suspect Coleby is right that minerals are essential to keeping goats healthy, but I cringe a bit when I hear American goatkeepers using her feeding formula precisely as she lists it in her book. Our soils are completely different from Australian soils, which suggests that the supplements our goats need are also likely to be quite different. Coleby pushes dolomite very hard as one of her cure-alls, but are goats raised on browse in an area like ours with very high magnesium in the soil likely to be deficient in magnesium? Probably not. Similarly, she feeds a lot of grain to her goats because Australia is so dry that it's probably close to impossible to keep goats happy on pasture and root vegetables, but grain isn't a good choice for most American goatkeepers. In the end, this isn't so much a fault in the book as a fault in the lack of critical thinking in her American readers, who follow Coleby's lead blindly without assessing their differing habitats.
However, the book does have its own faults. As one small example, Coleby talks about Mendelian genetics in the chapter on breeding, and shows a clear misunderstanding of statistics. Mendelian genetics is all about percentages --- if you're likely to see 50% of one phenotype, that doesn't mean that if your goat has two kids, one is going to show the phenotype and one isn't. However, Coleby clearly thinks that's the case, which throws her understanding of basic biological principles into question.
The trouble is that after a few assertions that are obviously not universally true, I began to lose faith in the author of the book. I feel that this book could have been much better (for an American audience) if it had come with an introduction explaining the differences between Australian and American goatkeeping, and if the author had made clear which of her assertions were backed up with data and which were simply her own guesswork. As it is, I would hesitate to recommend this book to anyone without a science background since I suspect it could do more harm than good. On the other hand, if you're able to think critically, this book will provide some food for thought and is a good addition to your goat-keeping library.
June 11, 2018
A mix of useful, practical advice and unscientific, anecdotal nonsense. Hard to tell at times which was which.
December 1, 2022
Very good. Lots of important information.
March 27, 2023
Undecided how much applies to goat keeping in US
May 5, 2013
This book gives a lot of in-depth info where a lot of others are lacking, particularly in one of the most important aspects of keeping healthy and productive goats, minerals.
The author almost completely eschews traditional medicine for homeopathic or natural, and occaisionally to the detrement of the goat. While natural is almost always best, the issue this book creates in my mind is that too many beginners are relying solely on this book without the experience to back it up. Keep in mind the author, besides having at times hundreds of goats, has years of experience which to draw from in determining the successes of her approach. This book was written assuming others to have that knowledge rather than directed at the rank amatuer.
It is one of the most important books in my goat-ey collection, but unlike Pat, I don't have nearly enough of a herd, nor the requisite experience to rely solely on this tome.
That being said, it is definitely one to add to your personal library!
The author almost completely eschews traditional medicine for homeopathic or natural, and occaisionally to the detrement of the goat. While natural is almost always best, the issue this book creates in my mind is that too many beginners are relying solely on this book without the experience to back it up. Keep in mind the author, besides having at times hundreds of goats, has years of experience which to draw from in determining the successes of her approach. This book was written assuming others to have that knowledge rather than directed at the rank amatuer.
It is one of the most important books in my goat-ey collection, but unlike Pat, I don't have nearly enough of a herd, nor the requisite experience to rely solely on this tome.
That being said, it is definitely one to add to your personal library!
February 21, 2008
i am actually only just beginning to read this book, but i am at the moment very, very excitied about goats and learning as much as i can about them. i am mostly putting this out there, because already i trust this resource, and mostly cuz i wanna talk about goats. anybody interested in goats out there? i mean packing with them (and milking them) up in the mountains along the western seaboard, maybe elsewhere too. i ain't kidding. i am dreaming about goats most every night and day.
April 24, 2015
I so appreciate the information in this book, and I'll definitely keep it on my shelves. However, I would have found it more helpful for my situation if she had begun with some basics before giving too much information about mineral percentages, pasture rations, and such. I will definitely keep this as a resource for more detailed information, but I'll look to my other goat books for the basics. Not a beginning goat keeper's handbook but still very useful.
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May 23, 2007someday, ill have goats. this book will try to teach me how to take care of them
September 2, 2009
Love this one also!
July 14, 2013
I appreciated the wholistic approach the writer gives. Not all suggestions are realistic in my opinion.
April 2, 2014
Excellent!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews