Cheryl K. Smith - Raising Goats For Dummies

Raising Goats For Dummies, 2nd Edition

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Copyright 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021930797

ISBN 978-1-119-77258-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-77259-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-77260-6 (ebk)

1. Chapter 2
2. Chapter 9
3. Chapter 10
4. Chapter 12
5. Chapter 13
6. Chapter 15
7. Chapter 16

1. Chapter 2
2. Chapter 3
3. Chapter 4
4. Chapter 5
5. Chapter 6
6. Chapter 8
7. Chapter 9
8. Chapter 10
9. Chapter 11
10. Chapter 12
11. Chapter 13
12. Chapter 15
13. Chapter 17
14. Chapter 18

Welcome to Raising Goats For Dummies. Raising goats is a rewarding and challenging adventure. Whether you are new to it or have been raising goats for a few years, you never stop finding out about or being delighted by these intelligent creatures.

I wrote this book to help you get started successfully raising goats and to answer any questions that you have. Whether youre raising goats for fun, for companionship, or to add value to your farm and your lifestyle, this book gets you on the right track.

I took ten years between thinking about getting some goats and actually getting them. I had to get a place where I could keep them and then try to figure out what I wanted and what I was getting into. After I actually became a goat owner, I had to figure out a lot through trial and error.

I needed a book that laid out the basics, gave me tips on what to look for, what to expect, and how to avoid some of the most common pitfalls. This book does that. It gives you the basic information you need to make the intelligent decisions required to successfully raise goats and helps you avoid making mistakes that have a negative effect on their lives and yours.

Even if youve been raising goats for a few years, this book can help you. You find new ideas on how to keep your goats healthy and happy. And you find out how you can use the goats you have to become more self-sufficient. This book is for anyone who wants to raise goats.

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as its noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this as an e-book, youve got it easy just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

When writing this book, I made some assumptions about who you, the reader, might be. I assume that you

• Are already planning to get some goats or have a few and want to find out more about caring for them
• Are interested in the basics of raising goats for milk, meat, fiber, backpacking, or pets
• Want to produce some of your own food so you can control the quality and what goes into it
• Dont know much about goat health care and plan to work with a veterinarian when your goats get sick
• Want to save money by building some of the structures and supplies your goats need

In addition to the material in the print or e-book youre reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for tips on preparing your property for goats, the signs of a sick goat, and the questions to ask before buying a goat. To access the Cheat Sheet, go to www.dummies.com and type Raising Goats For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.

Throughout this book, little pictures in the margins draw your attention to special types of information that make your reading experience more helpful. Heres what you find:

Some information bears repeating, and I highlight it with this icon. Important points that you may turn to again and again appear next to it.