Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep is the best-selling, most trusted reference for farmers and backyard homesteaders with any size flock. The fifth edition is now updated with full-color illustrations and photographs throughout, including a gallery of the best breed choices for both meat and fiber. With their small size and gentle dispositions, sheep are one of the easier livestock species to raise and offer varied marketing opportunities, including meat, wool, and milk. Detailed instructions and graphics lead readers through every essential procedure, including shearing, building a lambing shed, breeding and lambing, butchering, and marketing.

A guide to raising sheep that covers production systems, breeds, housing, facilities, fences, enclosures, feeding, pasture management, predators, marketing meat and wool, environmental stewardship, and other related topics.

Raise a flock of sheep in your backyard. Even with a limited amount of space, you can enjoy homegrown fleece and fresh milk, as well as the endearing company of these family-friendly animals. Sue Weaver provides all the instructions you need for selecting a breed; housing and feeding; harvesting fleece; and milking. With simple recipes for making cheese and yogurt, and tips on processing fleece for wool, you’ll enjoy the varied and numerous rewards of keeping sheep.

This promises to be the only book on sheep you will ever need! Packed full of detailed information, The Sheep Book for Smallholders covers every aspect of keeping sheep on a small scale. Beginning with a brief overview of the sheep industry, and the rise and fall of the artisan shepherd, the author has logically divided the book up into the shepherd's calendar, so that the sheep keeper knows what to expect with each season. All aspects of looking after the flock are covered, including selection, culling, nutrition, housing, lambing, grassland management, ailments and prevention. There are also sections on home slaughter and butcher, and, uniquely, processing the byproducts, including the fleece and keeping sheep for dairying. Unusually, the book also has a section on training sheepdogs. Supported by stunning photography and clear illustrations, as well as huge and useful appendices. This is a welcome addition to the smallholder's bookshelf, and is going to be a reference classic in years to come.

While they can be hardy and self-sufficient, sheep require a knowledgeable and dedicated shepherd to care for them throughout the year. With an easy-to-read style and over 200 colour photographs, this book provides guidance on managing a healthy flock, as well as a holistic view of the diverse roles sheep can play on any farm or smallholding, including: The history of native breeds and their conservation, Preparing land, welfare, handling sheep, including sheepdog training, economical feeding and grazing practices, common health problems, rams, tupping, management of pregnant ewes, lambing and aftercare, shearing and wool and the role sheep play in the conservation of grassland, carbon sequestration and the restoration of wildlife habitats

A comprehensive and inspiring guide small-scale fiber farming and wool crafting. Fiber crafts—such as knitting, weaving, and crocheting—continue to surge in popularity, with sites like Ravelry (a social media community for the wool obsessed) gaining more than six million members. Artists are seeking quality raw materials in greater numbers. The cottage industry of supplying not only raw fleece, but handcrafted yarns, is strong. Janet Garman has a small fiber flock (including Pygora fiber goats) and shares her expertise, as well as interviews, tips, and advice from fiber farmers and craftspeople across the country. In these pages, readers will learn the basics of properly raising sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, and rabbits, with tips on selecting animals, feeding, housing, breeding, and healthcare. From there, instructions are provided for shearing, sorting, skirting, washing, picking, carding, combing, and spinning the wool. Enthusiasts will also find recipes and instructions for natural, plant-based dyes and advice for selling your finished yarn. The proper care of fiber animals leads to a superior yarn product. Lapses in good care can show up in the fleece. As the demand for quality yarn and fiber grows, more people are becoming concerned with the animals’ treatment and care. Give your animals a good home and a happy life and enjoy superior fleece and yarn products for your own homestead or to sell.

"Whether you want to raise a few chickens for eggs, try your hand at some goats with the aim to make your own cheese, or are looking to sustain your family and make some extra money from raising and selling beef, this is the book for you" --Cover, p. 4.