'An important book on several levels... Read a few sentences out loud, wherever you are.' Rosamund Young Everybody thinks they know what sheep are like: they're stupid, noisy, cowardly ('lambs to the slaughter'), and they're 'sheepwrecking' the environment. Or maybe not. Contrary to popular prejudice, sheep are among the smartest animals in the farmyard, fiercely loyal, forming long and lasting friendships. Sheep, farmed properly, are boons to biodiversity. They also happen to taste good and their fleeces warm us through the winter - indeed, John Lewis-Stempel's family supplied the wool for Queen Elizabeth's 'hose'. Observing the traditional shepherd's calendar, The Sheep's Tale is a loving biography of ewes, lambs, and rams through the seasons. Lewis-Stempel tends to his flock with deep-rooted wisdom, ethical consideration, affection, and humour. This book is a tribute to all the sheep he has reared and sheared - from gregarious Action Ram to sweet Maid Marion. In his inimitable style, he shares the tales that only a shepherd can tell.

We often consider dogs to be our enduring sidekicks but the truth is domestic pigs have played a role in our lives for nearly as long. Pigs are highly social and smart. They like to play. They're inventive, crafty and belligerent - and incredibly singleminded. Ultimately, we have far more in common with these creatures than we like to admit. Here is a charming ode to one of the most common, yet surprisingly intelligent, animals populating our landscapes. In this gentle and illuminating study, Matt Whyman embarks on a journey to uncover the heart and soul of an animal brimming with more energy, intelligence and playfulness than he could ever have imagined. In his bid to understand what makes a pig tick, having climbed a steep learning curve as a keeper himself, Whyman meets a veterinary professor and expert in pig emotion, as well as a spirited hill farmer whose world revolves around hogs and sows. Packed with fascinating research and delightful anecdotes, this entertaining and informative celebration of all things porcine covers everything from evolution, behaviour and communication to friendship, loyalty and broken hearts - uncovering a surprising notion of family along the way.

Sheep are the thread that runs through the history of the English countryside. Our fortunes were once founded on sheep, and this book tells a story of wool and money and history, of merchants and farmers and shepherds, of English yeomen and how they got their freedom, and above all, of the soil. Sheep have helped define our culture and topography, impacting on everything from accent and idiom, architecture, roads and waterways, to social progression and wealth. With his eye for the idiosyncratic, Philip meets the native breeds that thrive in this country; he tells stories about each breed, meets their shepherds and owners, learns about their past - and confronts the present realities of sheep farming. Along the way, Philip meets the people of the countryside and their many professions: the mole-catchers, the stick-makers, the tobacco-twisters and clog-wrights. He explores this artisan heritage as he re-discovers the countryside, and finds a lifestyle parallel to modern existence, struggling to remain unchanged - and at its heart, always sheep.

From domestic cats to shire horses to dromedaries, from farmyard Jersey cattle to pandas to stick insects, Animals Visual Encyclopedia is an exploration of the wonders of nature, featuring more than 750 of the world's mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. Each featured animal is illustrated with an excellent full-colour artwork, showing in great detail its characteristics and colouring, and completed with an informative caption and a box of key facts including height, weight, diet and lifespan. With more than 750 outstanding colour artworks, Animals Visual Encyclopedia is an authoritatively researched book that celebrates the natural world and all its inhabitants.

'Britain's finest living nature writer' THE TIMES 'Lewis-Stempel's greatest gift remains his prose, with all its vividness and energy' THE DAILY MAIL 'The hottest nature writer around' THE SPECTATOR At night, the normal rules of Nature do not apply. In the night-wood I have met a badger coming the other way, tipped my cap, said hello. The animals do not expect us humans to be abroad in the dark, which is their time, when the world still belongs to them. That was in winter. The screaming of a tawny owl echoed off the bare trees. For all of our street-lamp civilization, you can still hear the call of the wild. If, if, you go out after the decline of the day... As the human world settles down each evening, nocturnal animals prepare to take back the countryside. Taking readers on four walks through the four seasons, acclaimed nature writer and farmer John Lewis-Stempel reveals a world bursting with life and normally hidden from view. Out beyond the cities, it is still possible to see the night sky full of stars, or witness a moonbow, an arch of white light in the heavens. It is time for us to leave our lairs and go tramping. To join our fellow creatures of the night.

The Healthy Donkey provides a fascinating background to the history of this iconic animal and introduces potential owners to everything they need to know about donkey guardianship, with useful information about diet, bedding and grooming. Those already familiar with donkeys will also find invaluable information about addressing behavioural issues using patience, kindness and bodywork using the Tellington TTouch techniques - a non-invasive system of touch and massage designed to bring about calmness, trust and confidence. Case studies show how these techniques can be used to address a variety of problems.

Join Poppy and Sam as they follow their new friend the bunny around Apple Tree Farm in this adorable finger puppet book. Push your finger through the hole to bring the bunny to life and make simple actions from sniffing the flowers to nibbling a carrot. With charming illustrations, and of course, the little yellow duck to spot on every page.

Dogs of the Shepherds is a book for all those who admire the most valuable of all the working dogs, the pastoral breeds: sheepdogs, cattle dogs and flock protection dogs, the indispensable farmer's servants and companion dogs for thousands of proud dog-owners across the globe. Painstakingly researched and packed with information, this book is not a manual covering training, grooming, nutrition and dog care; it is very much a reflective review of the pastoral dogs' contribution to the working and companion dog scene. It is a searching examination of their past, their performance and their prospects in an increasingly urban society.

Meet the dogs who searched for life amongst the ruins of the Twin Towers. Many heroes were made on 9/11 and in the weeks that followed. Not all of them showed human courage. Some of them could only show that they were truly man's best friend. German Shepherds, Labradors and Spaniels accounted for the majority of the four-legged heroes. Over three hundred search and rescue dogs worked the pile at Ground Zero and the crash site at the Pentagon. For hours they searched, fighting off exhaustion with sheer determination and they continued every day long after the hope of finding survivors had passed. There were faithful Guide dogs who helped their sightless owners out of the Twin Towers and led them to safety showed unstinting devotion in the face of adversity. And later, therapy dogs arrived to bring comfort to the bereaved and confused. At every stage of the operation, dogs were there helping humankind in various roles. And invaluably, they provided comfort and reassurance and lifted spirits by their pure presence. Sadly many of the dogs are no longer with us but their achievements will never be forgotten. Isabel George was fortunate that the people close to the dogs were pleased to be asked to share their stories. This book is to honour the dogs and their people.

A seek-and-find board book for young learners with entertaining characters to follow and fun farmyard things to spot. Let your child's imagination run wild in this busy, search-and-find board book! Little ones can follow fun characters, spot and count different farmyard animals, and have an exciting i-spy adventure. A perfect interactive book to share with pre-reading toddlers or older children who are just beginning to read, every scene has "Can you spot?" questions, farm-related things to find, and prompts to encourage observation, exploration, and conversation. From a cosy barn and a muddy farmyard walk, to a beautiful field and busy farm stalls, little ones will build their vocabulary by visiting this fun farm, searching through the engaging scenes, then pointing to and identifying a variety of different farmyard animals, objects, and vehicles. Children will count playful lambs, mucky tractors, waddling ducks, and much more. Plus there are delightful countryside scenes to admire, and the cutest mouse hiding somewhere on each page! Inside the pages of this search-and-find board book, you'll find: - Search-and-find activities that are highly interactive, accessible, and fun - following entertaining characters and spotting lots of farmyard favourites. - 5 busy, search-and-find artwork scenes - at the entrance, in the barn, on the farm walk, in the field, at the end of the day. - A sturdy board book format that is perfect for little hands to hold. - A mix of accessible and some more challenging search-and-find activities, encouraging concentration, observation and cognitive skills. Find my Favourite Things Farm has so many exciting farm things to talk about, and characters to follow from page to page, children can use their imaginations to tell their own stories while learning important farm words along the way. Perhaps they will even continue the story after they have finished the book! This imaginative I-spy book for 3-5 year olds encourages observation, concentration, and cognitive skills, as well as stimulating talking and storytelling, supporting counting and colour recognition, and building language skills.

In late March of 2014, death descended upon the community of Oso, Washington in the form of a massive landslide. Ten million cubic yards of dirt and mud crashed through homes, sweeping a 20-foot-high wall of debris before it and scouring the valley floor. In the cold rain of that morning, an entire community disappeared in a sea of mud. In the desperate hours that followed, rescue crews were able to pull only eight survivors out of the wrecked landscape. And then all became quiet, with the stunned realization that many more people were missing, but none were still living. This is the moment when the story of A Dog's Devotion begins. The emergency call from Oso went out, and was answered by K9 Search and Rescue (SAR) teams from across the Pacific Northwest. Suzanne, along with her 4-year-old Labrador Retriever, Keb, and her teammate Guy, was one of the SAR teams to respond to this disaster. In this book, readers immediately find themselves on the ground in the cold mud of the Oso Landslide Disaster on the desperate search for the remains of over forty lost souls. In subsequent chapters, readers will accompany Suzanne, Guy, and Keb as they are inserted by helicopter to search high snowfields on Mount Rainier, or as they traverse steep, forested slopes searching for the clandestine grave of murder victims. They'll join K9 Keb, as her keen nose leads to human remains in the forests of Washington State and as far away as the woods of Scandinavia. Keb's story is of a dedicated K9 who can distinguish the scent of the dead from the scent of the living, and who can detect buried bones and even corpses underwater. Readers will follow this intrepid K9 and her teammates as they face the challenges of changeable weather, deep northwest forests, high mountain slopes, and menacing coyotes to find dead bodies, missing hikers, and even the bones of murder victims from long ago. Among their successes: finding multiple victims buried by the 2014 Oso Landslide, solving the mysterious disappearance of women in wealthy suburbs, and finding human bones thought to be forever lost to time. It's their story about evolving as search and rescue volunteers while overcoming harsh conditions, inner demons, a rust-bound bureaucracy, and back-stabbing teammates. While internal conflicts threaten their larger K9 team, Keb's training, loyalty, and perseverance inspire them, and help them find the resolve to carry on their service to the community.

The honey bee is a miracle. It is the cupid of the natural world. It pollinates crops; making plants bear fruit and helping farmers make money. But in this age of vast industrial agribusiness, never before has so much been asked of such a small wonder. And never before has its survival been so unclear - and the future of our food supply so acutely challenged. In steps John Miller, or rather in he bounds. Miller tasks himself with the care and safe transportation of billions of bees. He is descended from N.E. Miller, America's first migratory beekeeper, and trucks his hives from crop to crop, working the North Dakotan clover in summer and the Californian almonds in winter. He provides the crucial buzz to farmers who are otherwise bereft of natural pollinators, and does so for a price. But while there is steady demand for Miller's miracle workers, especially from the multi-billion-dollar almond industry (without bees an acre of almonds produces no more than 30 lbs of nuts; with bees, 2,000 lbs), he's faced with ever-mounting hive losses. In addition to traditional scourges like bears, wax moths, American foulbrood, tracheal mite, varroa mite, Africanized bees, overturned tractor trailers, bee thieves, PPB (piss-poor beekeeping), etc., beekeepers now lose hives in the most mysterious of ways, when whole colonies simply fly away, abandoning their combs, in an epidemic known as Colony Collapse Disorder. While bad news is in constant supply, Miller forges ahead because he can't imagine doing anything else. He copes and moves on. He works and sometimes triumphs, all with an inspiring sense of humor. "The Beekeeper's Lament" tells his story and that of his bees, creating a complex, moving, and unforgettable portrait of man in the new natural world.

'The most important task of the bees, apart from the preparation of honey, wax and propolis, is the healing of the atmosphere! The honey bee, apis mellifera, alone, is able to perform this task. This is its first and foremost purpose.' - Ralf RoessnerDescribing the Genius of Bees as the 'group consciousness' of the hive, Ralf Roessner presents an extraordinary commentary based on first-hand spiritual-scientific research and experience. He studies the mission of the Genius of Bees, the hexagonal structure of 'the crystalline heaven' within which the bees operate, and the healing of the world through their work. Roessner elucidates the relationships between the Genius of Bees, the elemental world and the human being. He also speaks of his personal experiences with the organic 'earth hive', giving instructions on how they are made, and offers practical advice on tackling the varroa mite. In this unique and original work, the author, '...attempts to describe the secrets of creation as far as he has experienced these himself'. As he goes on to clarify: 'Many matters, which could only be vaguely perceived in former times, can now be investigated in a spiritual-scientific manner.A secret is only a secret to the extent it escapes the individual human being's powers of consciousness'. Anyone seeking deeper insights into the world of the honey bee will be enriched by the content of this book.

The New Game Rancher is a succinct guide to the complete spectrum of game ranching in South Africa and is illustrated with more than 400 full colour photos, line drawings and illustrations. It is a collection of contributions from zoologists, ecologists, geneticists, veterinarians, academics, conservationists and experienced game ranchers. The New Game Rancher is ideal for anyone with an interest in game farming, both game ranchers and those associated with or interested in the business.

They roam our hills and wander our country lanes; graze in our valleys and frolic in our fields. Sheep have lived happily beside us in Ireland for some five thousand years - it's no wonder they're an unofficial national symbol. In this book, we celebrate our wonderful woolly friends, who not only fill our meadows, but also our history and our hearts.

The updated bestselling guide to laid-back beekeeping for all, naturally! Are you a beginner beekeeper curious about bees or a practicing beekeeper looking for natural alternatives that work? Then this book is for you! In the second edition of the bestselling beekeeping guide Keeping Bees with a Smile, Fedor Lazutin, one of Europe's most successful natural beekeepers, shares the bee-friendly approach to apiculture that is fun, healthful, rewarding, and accessible to all. This new edition includes dozens of color photographs, new hive management techniques, and an updated version of "Lazutin hive" plans. Additional coverage includes: Keeping bees naturally without interfering in their lives Starting an apiary for free by attracting local bee swarms Building low-maintenance hives that mimic how bees live in nature Keeping colonies healthy and strong without any drugs, sugar, or gimmickry Helping bees to overwinter successfully even in harsh climates Enhancing local nectar plant resources Producing truly natural honey without robbing the bees Reversing the global bee decline... right in your backyard! Keeping Bees with a Smile is an invaluable resource for apiculture beginners and professionals alike, complete with plans for making bee-friendly, well-insulated horizontal hives with extra-deep frames, plus other fascinating beekeeping advice you won't find anywhere else.

Award-winning author Temple Grandin is famous for her groundbreaking approach to decoding animal behaviour. Now she extends her expert guidance to small-scale farming operations. Grandin's fascinating explanations of how herd animals think -- describing their senses, fears, instincts, and memories -- and how to analyze their behaviour, will help you handle your livestock more safely and effectively. You'll learn to become a skilled observer of animal movement and behaviour, and detailed illustrations will help you setup simple and efficient facilities for managing a small herd of 3 to 25 cattle or pigs, or 5 to 100 goats or sheep.

A collection of unique and heart-warming stories from the life of an RSPCA rescue worker. Janie Ritson shows us the full and wondrous lives of those animals neglected and forgotten. A new talent from Authonomy, HarperCollins' own talent-spotting website, Janie Ritson writes about her and her husband's eventful experiences as RSPCA rescue workers. Their encounters range from the truly poignant to the utterly hilarious, including a lovesick macaw, a tea-stealing goat and a sheep who thinks she's a dog. Janie manages to capture the difficult emotions that every animal lover must go through when faced with a mistreated creature. From heartbreak and sadness to love and joy, she shows us the colourful lives led by wild animals and pets alike, even those that have been abandoned by the very people who were supposed to care for them. A story of family and how animals can effect people's lives in the most wonderful ways, Hoping for a Home is an inspiring collection for all animal lovers and owners.

Move over Pilates, take a hike Zumba, because there’s a new health craze taking gyms and…er… farms everywhere by storm. Goat yoga, or goga is the latest sensation to sweep the Internet. It’s a yoga workout, but with the addition of goats, and all the cool “kids� are lining up to practice their downward-facing goat and happy baby poses. In this brilliant guide, goat-yoga instructor Gus will tell you all you need to know about this hilarious fitness phenomenon and show how you too can join in the fun and flourish just like your farmyard friends. Namaste.

Beekeeping must rate as one of the most interesting and satisfying hobbies. The structure and hierarchy of a beehive and the behaviour of bees is fascinating, and the end product, honey, is a fitting reward for a beekeeper's care. This book gives information on the way the hive works, how to get your bees and transfer them to the hive and how to handle the bees. A useful calendar, packed with information, shows you at a glance when to inspect, maintain and repair the hive, and how to harvest the honey. It describes problems such as diseases and pests that can affect the bees, and suggests the best plants for a bee-friendly garden.

The honey bee has lived in close association with human beings for millennia. Tragically, however, humanity's once intimate connection with this unique creature has been harmed by our increasingly utilitarian and exploitative dealings with the natural world. We are now in urgent need of re-establishing a deeper relationship, not just for the sake of the bees themselves but for the whole of nature - and of course for ourselves.Lorenzen - a true master beekeeper - provides numerous insights to enable a more fruitful engagement with the living world. Offering an enrichment of the knowledge and practice of beekeeping, he discusses the origins of the honey bee, its relationship to the floral kingdom, the digestion of the bee, the treatment of bee diseases as well as appropriate beekeeping techniques. He also develops subtle spiritual concepts such as the idea of the bee colony as an 'individuality' and 'group-soul', providing new depth and wisdom to our understanding of how bees live and work.This small book, a hidden gem that has never before appeared in English, is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of the honey bee and the future of humanity.

A stunning book from Amanda Owen - shepherdess, wife, mother of nine children, bestselling author and star of C5's Our Yorkshire Farm - that brings her world to life in glorious colour. In Celebrating the Seasons, Amanda shares funny and charming stories about life with her family and their many four-legged charges and describes their activities at Ravenseat, from lambing and shearing to haymaking and feeding the flock in midwinter. Her gorgeous photographs showcase the famous Swaledale landscape she writes about, from the sweeping moors to rare wildflowers and the elusive hares glimpsed in the field. She lives in tune with nature and Amanda's attitude to food is the same. She believes in buying good, seasonal ingredients when it comes to feeding her family and includes her favourite recipes here, from wild garlic lamb with hasselback roast potatoes to rhubarb and custard crumble cake and Yorkshire curd tart. As inspirational as Amanda herself, this book is a beautiful keepsake that will delight everyone who has followed her adventures so far.

Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties, now in its sixth edition, has a long history as a reliable and authoritative source of key livestock breed information. Intended as a list of livestock names and synonyms for breeds, groups, types and varieties worldwide, the dictionary aims to include all names found in the literature, 'defining' each breed or type with a brief indication of identifying characteristics, uses and source of origin. Expanded into a new edition, this established and trusted resource: Extends coverage to include yak and camelids in addition to the existing cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses, asses and water buffalo.Features well over 10,000 entries and cross-references on breeds, sub-breeds, types, varieties, strains and lines of species.Covers newly created and now-recognised local breeds documented over the past two decades. An important updated work, Mason's Dictionary forms a useful reference for livestock breeders and academics interested in breeds, as well as national and international organizations with interests in livestock.