The Family Cow (A Garden Way Publishing Book) [Paperback]

Dirk Van Loon (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Garden Way Publishing Book | Publication Date: January 3, 1976

This is the basic book for anyone who decides to keep a cow. Fully-illustrated chapters with accurate information on buying, behavior, nutrition, breeds, handling, feeding, milking, health care, calving, and growing feed crops.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This is the basic book -- yet with all the essential details -- for the family that decides to keep a cow for all the benefits she can provide. Learn first the costs, the gains, what she gives and takes. There are practical, fully-illustrated chapters that include:

The history and behavior of the cow.

Nutritional needs, from grass to milk.

Buying a cow -- the sources, breeds and factors to consider.

Handling techniques, housing and fencing.

Feeds and feeding -- cow and calf.

Milking and uses of milk.

Health and diseases, breeding and calving.

Growing feed crops, use of manure.

About the Author

Author Dirk van Loon has written two Storey books, The Family Cow and Small-Scale Pig Raising. He publishes a monthly newspaper for small-scale rural producers called Rural Delivery. Dirk is a graduate of the College of Agriculture at Cornell University and now lives in Nova Scotia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (January 3, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882660667
• ISBN-13: 978-0882660660
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everything you wanted to know about Bossy, but didn't ask., January 25, 2000

By 

Christopher Douglas (Olympia, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Family Cow (A Garden Way Publishing Book) (Paperback)

This is a wonderfully entertaining book. It is full of essential knowledge, as well as humor. I'm the son of a dairy farmer who is the son of a dairy farmer. I will be the first person to admit that I learned a lot from this book. The subject depth that the author goes into in each chapter is great. Everything is explained in simple terms yet gets very detailed. I would compare his ability to keep a complex subject simple to the writings of Isaac Asimov. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a serious interest in small scale farming, the family farm, or simply wants to know all the essentials about cattle.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tons of information, September 10, 2002

By 

T. Klaty (Grand Blanc, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Family Cow (A Garden Way Publishing Book) (Paperback)

This book has everything you need to know about owning your own cow...kinds of cows and their temperaments, purchasing a cow, how to care for it, fences and barns to build for it, milking, foods to prepare with the milk, breeding and calving, you name it. Much detail is given in each subject, including drawings and pictures, but the author avoids being a bore with his dry humor. We knew absolutely nothing about cows, but now feel some confidence after reading this book!

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The rulebook for owning a milk cow., December 28, 1999

By 

k. powers - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Family Cow (A Garden Way Publishing Book) (Paperback)

Broken up into vital aspects of cow ownership and handling, this book is a god-send for anyone venturing into this arena. Van Loon has a great sense of humor that adds to the value of the material. We now have our Jersey milk cow and the book is constanly open. And yes, God did put cows on the earth to be eaten as well as milked!