The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals

by Gail Damerow, Kelly Klober, and Carol Ekarius

Imagine a weekend breakfast featuring eggs, bacon, and honey from your own chickens, pigs, and bees. Or a holiday meal with your own heritage-breed turkey as the main attraction. With The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals, even urban and suburban residents can successfully raise chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, rabbits, goats, sheep, cows, pigs, and honey bees. It's easier than you think, and it can be done on small plots of land. This essential guide covers everything from selecting the right breeds to producing delicious fresh milk, cheese, honey, eggs, and meat. Whether you want to be more self-sufficient, save money, or just enjoy safer, healthier, more delicious animal products, you'll find all the information you need in The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals.

Paperback
360 full color pages

About the authors

Gail Damerow and her husband operate a family farm in Tennessee where they keep poultry and dairy goats, tend a sizable garden, and maintain a small orchard. They grow and preserve much of their own food. Gail has written extensively on raising livestock, growing fruits and vegetables, and related rural subjects. She is a regular contributor to Backyard Poultry magazine, her work has appeared in numerous other periodicals, and she has written or contributed to more than a dozen books.

Kelly Klober is a farmer, writer, and 4-H Club leader who has raised purebred Duroc hogs for more than 30 years. He and his wife live and work on their farm in Missouri.

Carol Ekarius has been surrounded by critters since 1983, when she and her husband first started farming and ranching. She is the author of several books, including Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep (with Paula Simmons), Small-Scale Livestock Farming, Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds, and Storey's Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle, and Pigs. Today she lives in the mountains of Colorado where her four-legged and winged family keep her busy. In addition to working around the ranch, Carol writes for a variety of newspapers and magazines, including Hobby Farms, Mother Earth News, and Green Builder, on agriculture and the environment. She has been active in the sustainable agriculture movement, including serving several stints on organizational boards, such as the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota and Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture.