Customer Reviews

Beef Cattle: Keeping a Small-Scale Herd for Pleasure and Profit (Hobby Farms)

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Hello, all, I have bought a bunch of books from Amazon but this is my first review. I am writing it to give people a better idea of what this book offers.

My recommendation? If you are thinking of raising beef and want to get a very broad overview of what is involved, it may be OK. If you are already down that slippery slope, there are much better books (as well as the extension divisions of most Ag Colleges).

A little about my situation: I luckily have a real job, but bought 35 acres north of town last year, always wanted to be a rancher, so am feeding 3 steers on very meager non-irrigated pasture, with hay and grain supplementation mandantory.

I'm sure the author didn't intend this book to be a comprehensive tome, but it is VERY superficial in many areas.

Examples:

FEEDING: I now know how many turnips Thomas Jefferson recommends that I feed my cattle, but wish there had been more on how much grain to plan on feeding rather than pretty cursory treatment of the subject.

WHEN ARE THEY READY TO BUTCHER?: It's...."When you can see the fat around his cod, over his pinbones, and on the rear flank. If a steer has fat around the tailhead, he's close to grading prime; If he has a fat brisket, he's too fat." HUH?? Perhaps a diagram of some of these terms? If you're writing a book for us novices, don't throw these terms at us!

BIRTHING: I'm not dumb enough to try breeding for now, but if you are interested and have a cow get into trouble, just..."Gently look and feel until you have an idea what the problem is, then give the appropriate assistance" (!!!!!!!) Or, as she goes on, "or call your vet or neighbor to help." I should add that this text is accompanied by a photo of a farmer with his hand somewhere up into the south end of a northbound cow. (This is an interesting combination of not enough/too much information in one photo!)

I don't mean to be too harsh, the book is well made and the photos are lovely, and 2-3 years ago before I knew what I was getting into it probably would have been fun reading. Just understand that it won't answer many questions.

Jim

I find Ann Hansen's book very helpful and different from other books. Her attitude towards cattle and how to handle them has worked very well for me.

Her description of fencing, setting up a "hay corral" for winter hay bale feeding, things to look for in purchasing cattle and many other small points have been very useful. The idea that you don't need to chase cattle all over a pasture but get them to come to you is a subtle but important part of enjoying raising cattle. It is probably not for long-time cattle owners but Hansen's book is in my opinion just right for someone getting a few cattle for the first time. I have a very different opinion of the boook from the other reviewer and that's why I am writing this. I have read quite a few other cattle books before starting and this offerred the best beginners advice. A good book to go with it is "Salad Bar Beef" but Salatin's book is much more philosophical where Hansens is practical. They go well together, in my opinion.

Well bought that when I started a cattle business. I knew more than what was in the book to begin with. Nice pictures though.

I think this is a great little book. I have more than a dozen cattle books on my book shelf and this is the one I'd recommend to anyone just getting started with beef cattle. It covers all the angles and then some. Try it--I bet you'll agree!