Customer Reviews

Storey's Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs: 163 Breeds from Common to Rare (Storeys Illustrated Breed Gde)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's about time that a nice & complete book like this on 99.9% of sheep, goat, cattle and pig breeds (that even I can afford!) has came out. As an avid hobby farmer, I used to long for a complete guide with color photos on all the livestock breeds. Finally, Carol Ekarius has gave us a book dedicated to the characteristics, original purposes and the origins of each featured livestock breed.

This book has really nice real photos (not drawings!) of all the included breeds. Also included by the photo's are details of the breed origin, breed purpose, the various color combinations, standards of the breed, conservation status and any special qualities that the featured breed might have.

Last but, not least Ms. Ekarius included a very well researched Resource index of breed registries, livestock magazines and a glossary. If you buy this book (which I suggest) you will find 319 pages printed on nice glossy, flexible paper stock. This isn't the usual small black & white Storey's guide book!

The only thing I could find fault with in this book is that on certain breeds (like Limousin) I would've liked more photographs. Tho, I'm sure room wise this may not have been possible.

Carol Ekarius besides being a wonderful writer is also donating a portion of her proceeds from this book to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy!

When I initially got this book, I found it to be very informative. I loved the photos and the information on each breed was well-written. However, as I find breeds that I like and contact breeders of those animals, I'm getting lots of responses that the info that I'm reading is incorrect. For example, the Ile de France sheep. They are listed as a meat, fiber, and dairy sheep, however I'm being told that they are not a dairy breed at all and milking one wouldn't be recommended. Also, Lincoln sheep are listed as meat and fiber sheep. I have raised Lincolns myself, and although they are very big they would make a poor meat animal. Lastly, she referred to a chute (in the Corriente cattle article) as a "shoot". She also often refers to cattle as cows, not all cattle are cows. These are small, nitpicky things, but it makes me concerned about the information on other breeds that I haven't looked at myself.
Lastly, in the description of this book, it says that Guzerat cattle and Fengjing hogs are in the book, they aren't.

This book has such beautiful colored photos of each breed of sheep, cattle, goats and pigs. The information listed with each breed is very thorough. I liked it so much that I immediately purchased Storey's Guide to Poultry breeds. I highly recommend that one as well.

i bought this book to build a simulation cattle breed for a class project. i received an A the book is very in depth on many of the breeds a few could have more information on meat quality i would have liked a section on cuts and commons grades and how they fell into those grades as some breeds, ages and genders tend to fall into specific grades.

it did not give as much information on the wagyu as i would have liked beyond the basic history and it being the most expensive beef in the world. I would have also liked something on the average dressing percentage and if the skin twitched or didnt as this can mean higher than normal parasite resistance.

This book had just what I was looking for a great variety of each animal. Glad I got this one.

This may be the greatest picture book of livestock I have seen. I love the pictures of rare cattle including the oreo cattle. Goats,pigs,sheep are in here to and it would take a lot of internet surfing to get so many wonderful photos. Definately one to own if any these animals interest you.

This is a well-presented and well-written book full of loads of information for those who want a general overview of various livestock breeds. I also appreciate the author's attention to the preservation of genetic diversity in the face of monoculture and single-breed production models (as practiced by industrial food producers).

This is a wonderful book. The pictures are fabulous and a great help for learning the different breeds. I am very happy with my choice to purchase this book, would highly recommend it.

This book has a wealth of information on livestock, complete with pictures that are superb. This is a great book to add to your library for farms, gentlemen farms, ranches, or if you are beginning the thought process of starting.

This book is great for starting or expanding your farm and choosing your animals. It has great pictures and descriptions. I love it as a reference. Its hard to find pictures of some of the rare breeds and this book covers the heritage breeds really well.