"Backyard Dairy Goats" book

My wife and I just saw this, thinking about getting goats for milk. When and how will it be available for people who missed the kickstarter?

If all goes smoothly, then it will be available for sale next month (hopefully earlier rather than later). I will post links here and on Kickstarter when that happens.

The proof copies are now here and look great.

I will be sending out copies very soon!

I've started sending out the books!

I have no internet at home currently so things are are a bit slow, and I can't post much on here or Kickstarter, but I have sent out around half the books, with the rest of them on the way very soon!

I got my book two days ago! I've been enjoying reading it in my spare time (which is limited right now due to it being gardening season!), but it's already helped me understand my neightbor's goats better. I look foreward to writing a review once I finished reading it, and also lending it to my neighbors who are keeping goats!

Hey cool! I just got a book from Australia!
Looks very well done! I'll look through it more later. And I'll review it too, if you want.
Thank you Ms Kate!!! :D

It's great to hear the books are beginning to arrive : )

I'd love to read reviews of it! I will try to set up an official review thread soon.

Busy spring time means limited time for reading, but I'm on page 45 of my ebook now and I can already warmly recommend this book!

I found the nutrition part particularly interesting. I've studied nutrition quite a bit, but I didn't know e.g. about the different needs for copper of different goat breeds or how the lack of potassium may manifest itself in goats.

It just so happens many Finnish soils are  deficient on copper too, just like the Australian soils Kate mentions.

The book is well written, a joy to read, a great gift for any goat owner.

Book review!

Lovely book Kate! Exactly what I wanted to learn! :D

I went and turned Pearl's review thread into a wiki, added my review, and then added the thread to the review grid!

I also added you, Kate, as an editor for the review page's wiki, so you can change/add any more websites or threads that I didn't find.

And, I went to try to review it on amazon, but I didn't see it there! Is there anywhere your book is listed for sale so I can add my review there, too? It'd also be great to add that to the review page, so people can send you money for you lovely book!

And, of course, you're more than welcome to sell the ebook here on permies! And, you're also welcome to do a giveaway, too, whenever life calms down some for you!

Thank you Nina, Pearl, and Nicole!

I don't have electricity or internet at home at the moment so greatly appreciate your effort in making the Wiki, Nicole, as I was struggling to find the time to set it up. Thank you!

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon, with the release date set for the 1st of May.

Later this week we're supposed to be getting our solar panels set up, so if that doesn't get delayed again I will hopefully be back online soon, and will put the eBook on the digital marketplace soon after that.

The paperback and hardcover editions are now available for pre-order from Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, and probably other places too, and can be ordered into libraries and local bookshops!

Backyard Dairy Goats on Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)

Backyard Dairy Goats on Amazon.com

Goodreads review page, with links to lots of other book shops

Never have too many informational books on things, ordered the paper back copy it will be here tomorrow!

Some exciting news...

Soon I will be going on a virtual book tour for 'Backyard Dairy Goats', and one of my stops will be here on Permies, in the first week of June. We'll be having a giveaway, and I'll be answering questions in the goat forum.

I will update this thread with more virtual book tour stops, including an upcoming article about raising goats in the suburbs.

The Kindle edition is also now available!

First stop on the online book tour... Permablitz Melbourne!

I've written an article about how and why goats can be a great part of a backyard permaculture system. It's called Dairy goats – The key to sustainable abundance in the suburbs. In this article I've addressed many of the questions people new to backyard goats might be wondering about - requirements for space, shelter, food, and the time and responsibility involved, as well as the many benefits of keeping dairy goats.

Kate Downham wrote:The paperback and hardcover editions are now available for pre-order from Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, and probably other places too, and can be ordered into libraries and local bookshops!

Backyard Dairy Goats on Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)

Backyard Dairy Goats on Amazon.com

Goodreads review page, with links to lots of other book shops

For those of us in Canuckistan, it's also available on Amazon.ca here:

Backyard Dairy Goats on Amazon.ca

I forgot to ask, for a physical copy (I just can't get into ebooks) is there a preferred purchase point as far as getting more dollars into your hands?

Kate Downham wrote:First stop on the online book tour... Permablitz Melbourne!

I've written an article about how and why goats can be a great part of a backyard permaculture system. It's called Dairy goats – The key to sustainable abundance in the suburbs. In this article I've addressed many of the questions people new to backyard goats might be wondering about - requirements for space, shelter, food, and the time and responsibility involved, as well as the many benefits of keeping dairy goats.

Great article, Kate.  I'm thinking goats are the solution to my 1+ acre bush problem, so I'll probably be joining the ranks soon.

Timothy Markus wrote:

Kate Downham wrote:The paperback and hardcover editions are now available for pre-order from Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes and Noble, and probably other places too, and can be ordered into libraries and local bookshops!

Backyard Dairy Goats on Book Depository (free shipping worldwide)

Backyard Dairy Goats on Amazon.com

Goodreads review page, with links to lots of other book shops

For those of us in Canuckistan, it's also available on Amazon.ca here:

Backyard Dairy Goats on Amazon.ca

I forgot to ask, for a physical copy (I just can't get into ebooks) is there a preferred purchase point as far as getting more dollars into your hands?

All the physical copies are going through the same distributor, so it all works out to be the same on my side, wherever you order it from.

Kate Downham wrote:
All the physical copies are going through the same distributor, so it all works out to be the same on my side, wherever you order it from.

That's good to know.  Thanks Kate.

I hope that goats can turn the bush into tasty food for you! I have my goats free ranging on forestry regrowth and they really thrive on it. They were very happy in a small backyard system too.

I'm so excited about your giveaway this week!!!

The book looks fantastic!
If I get my hubby on board with the goats, I will definitely buy this book!!
Good for the children, ans a diversity in income generation by the cheese, very tasty, and with honey, Jum Jum...

Elizabeth Fournier wrote:Love, Love, Love!!  These are my babies:webpage

Seems you need permission to look at your site.

This is what I see when I follow the link. It looks like your blog somehow got set to private? I don't know anything about how Word Press works, so I don't know how to make it public.

Oh, goodness. Thank you so kindly for letting me know. I will have to find a teenager, because a teenager always seems to be the key to accessing social media in figuring these mysteries out.

I hope everyone is enjoying their books : )

I would greatly appreciate some more reviews in the Permies review thread, and on Amazon or Goodreads.

I am very generous with pie and apples for reviews, so if you can find a spare minute even just to write a sentence or two, you will receive a slice of pie (and maybe an apple), will be helping to promote a permaculture approach to goats, and helping others to find goat care (and cheesemaking) information that doesn't involve nasty chemicals.

"I am very generous with pie and apples for reviews..." Won't you be my neighbor??

Hi, definitely on my reading list this one. I have got a slight obsession with goats, I think their interaction with humans can be very mutually beneficial.  I am concerned if I just get one it will be lonely and I don't think it will be fair. I live in an urban area and have a garden and an orchard. Don't think the planning laws will stretch to the orchard unfortunately (except for visits...mmm) and my garden is maybe too small.  I suppose it could be a pet, but that seems wrong to me also. Still thinking about this one. Somehow I want this to happen in a way that the goat eats my food waste and I can use his/her dropping to grow things.

eric fisher wrote:Hi, definitely on my reading list this one. I have got a slight obsession with goats, I think their interaction with humans can be very mutually beneficial.  I am concerned if I just get one it will be lonely and I don't think it will be fair. I live in an urban area and have a garden and an orchard. Don't think the planning laws will stretch to the orchard unfortunately (except for visits...mmm) and my garden is maybe too small.  I suppose it could be a pet, but that seems wrong to me also. Still thinking about this one. Somehow I want this to happen in a way that the goat eats my food waste and I can use his/her dropping to grow things.

Goats are very social animals, so it's always better to get two or more of them. There are some goats that are happy with lots of human attention instead, but this is pretty rare, and even these goats are happier with other goats. You don't need much extra space to keep a second goat - I kept two or three in a twenty feet by twenty feed strawyard for years and they were happy.

In this article I go into some detail about what is needed to keep dairy goats in urban backyards. If you'd like to find out more, there is the ebook on Permies here, and the other versions on Amazon.

Ashley at Practical Self Reliance has kindly hosted a guest post by me, about raising dairy goats off the grid.

Shannon at Nourishing Days has kindly hosted the first of two guest posts by me about goats! This one is about dairy animals at the heart of the homestead, where I write about growing soil, making cheese, and the beautiful focus to the day and year that dairy animals bring to the homestead.

Liflin the smelly billy goat says "hello, I would like a scratch between the horns please"

I wrote a blog post all about him

Liflin the billy goat, Sunshine the saanen doe, and her little babies all found their way onto Nourishing Days this week. In this post I also share my thoughts on why dairy goats kept in a strawyard are a great dairy animal to start with, even if you want to have cows eventually, or a bigger goat system set up later on, there is so much to be learned about goats and dairying that can be done anywhere that has a backyard, and having access to all that raw milk now rather than later is a wonderful thing.

I wasn't expecting to get goats until next spring, at the earliest. With loads of coaxing of the hubs, lol. But, I put a deposit on a little family of Nigoras, two days ago, and will be bringing them home, in early November. Result? I just bought my paperback copy, through Amazon, and am bouncing in my recliner(lol), with excitement!  

That is so exciting Carla! I hope you'll post pictures of your new goat family once they arrive. Thank you for buying my book, I hope you enjoy it.

I just had two sets of triplets born here on Wednesday, and have more goat babies being born any day now... I need to post some cute goat photos.

My babies-to-be:
Marley's coat grows in as a shimmery, deep silver - she's beautiful, in full wool!

They are so cute! And the fibre colours are beautiful. They look like very healthy goats.

I'll be checking on the pregnant goats later today, and will try to remember to bring my phone with me to get some photos of the babies.