Customer Reviews

Natural Goat and Alpaca Care, Second Ed.

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This is an excellent reference for anyone with goats. It covers all aspects of goat selection, farming and health. Less area is given to topics where you can get lots of inforamation such as breeds. Almost half of the book (minus the chapter on llamas and alpacas)deals with feeding, nutrition (over 50 pages)and health (almost 100 pages). The importance of, interaction of and where to find it naturally are given for almost every nutrient, along with its drawbacks. The experience speaks primarily from an Australian background but is applicable anywhere. The chapter on llamas and alpacas is a good primer. I personally am not attracted to the writing style of the author but this book and it's content are a testament to her knowledge and dedication to the subject.

Natural Goat and Alpaca care was described to me as the goat owner's 'bible'. I had high expectations of this book, however high expectations are often followed by disappointments and this book was no exception.

There is a lack of science and an over reliance on homespun remedies. References quoted were vague and ranged from unnamed butchers to conversations with fellow attendees at conferences. The tone of the book varied from a folksy chatty style to the authoritarian. Words like 'never' and 'must' appeared with monotonus regularity.

The most important thing someone like me needs to know from an animal husbandy book is what is normal, and when to call a vet. But in this book, vets don't exist and sick animals are soley the result of a lack of remineralised soil.

For an exprienced, conventional farmer who knows animal husbandry well and who would like to try some natural therapies, this book may well be useful. However, for a beginner like me, it has limited use.