Lambing can be a challenging prospect whether it's your first or 31st season. This practical manual takes you through the period approaching, during and immediately after lambing. Advice is given on how to deal with a range of situations, including normal and malpresentations; the sick in-lamb ewe; abortion; pre- and post-lambing prolapses; the health of the newborn lamb; and problems and emergencies in the first few days.

Horse Pasture Management, Second Edition provides updated coverage on strategies for managing behavior, grouping, environments and feeding needs of grazing horses. Sections cover the structure, function and identification of forages, continuing into nutritional value of pasture plants. Management of soil, the function of a pasture ecosystem and management of plants in a pasture is covered next, followed by forage yield determination, horse grazing behavior, feed choices of horses, management of grazing horses, and how to calculate how many horses should be grazing relative to land size. Advantages of grazing more than one species of animal are described. Management of hay and silage are included since year-round grazing is not possible on many horse farms. Several chapters deal with interactions of a horse farm with the environment, including climate and weather and other living things. The book also covers strategies for managing manure, erosion, and water quality. It is ideal for researchers, scientists and students involved in animal science, specifically equine studies. Agriculturists, equine managers and veterinarians will also find this book useful.

This title presents Southern yeomanry's challenges to Progressivism. This first full-length study of the cattle tick eradication program in the United States offers a new perspective on the fate of the yeomanry in the twentieth-century South during a period when state and federal governments were both increasing and centralizing their authority. As Claire Strom relates the power struggles that complicated efforts to wipe out the Boophilus tick, she explains the motivations and concerns of each group involved, including large- and small-scale cattle farmers, scientists, and officials at all levels of government. In the remote rural South - such as the piney woods of south Georgia and north Florida - resistance to mandatory treatment of cattle was unusually strong and sometimes violent. Cattle often ranged free, and their owners raised them mostly for local use rather than faraway markets. Cattle farmers in such areas, shows Strom, perceived a double threat in tick eradication mandates. In addition to their added costs, eradication schemes, with their top-down imposition of government expertise, were anathema to the yeomanry's notions of liberty. Strom contextualizes her southern focus within the national scale of the cattle industry, discussing, for instance, the contentious place of cattle drives in American agricultural history. Because Mexico was the primary source of potential tick reinfestation, Strom examines the political and environmental history of the Rio Grande, giving the book a transnational perspective. Debates about the political and economic culture of small farmers have tended to focus on earlier periods in American history. Here Strom shows that pockets of yeoman culture survived into the twentieth century and that these communities had the power to block (if only temporarily) the expansion of the American state.

Sepp Holzer farms steep mountainsides in Austria 1,500 meters above sea level. His farm is an intricate network of terraces, raised beds, ponds, waterways and tracks, well covered with productive fruit trees and other vegetation, with the farmhouse neatly nestling amongst them. This is in dramatic contrast to his neighbors' spruce monocultures.In this book, Holzer shares the skill and knowledge acquired over his lifetime. He covers every aspect of his farming methods, not just how to create a holistic system on the farm itself, but how to make a living from it. Holzer writes about everything from the overall concepts, down to the practical details.In Sepp Holzer's Permaculturereaders will learn:

How he sets up a permaculture system

The fruit varieties he has found best for permaculture growing

How to construct terraces, ponds, and waterways

How to build shelters for animals and how to work with them on the land

How to cultivate edible mushrooms in the garden and on the farm

and much more

Holzer offers a wealth of information for the gardener, smallholder or alternative farmer yet the book's greatest value is the attitudes it teaches. He reveals the thinking processes based on principles found in nature that create his productive systems. These can be applied anywhere.

This series of volumes represents a comprehensive and integrated treatment of reproduction in vertebrates from fishes of all sorts through mammals. It is designed to provide a readable, coordinated description of reproductive basics in each group of vertebrates as well as an introduction to the latest trends in reproductive research and our understanding of reproductive events. Whereas each chapter and each volume is intended to stand alone as a review of that topic or vertebrate group, respectively, the volumes are prepared so as to provide a thorough topical treatment across the vertebrates. Terminology has been standardized across the volumes to reduce confusion where multiple names exist in the literature, and a comprehensive glossary of these terms and their alternative names is provided.
*A complete, essential and up to date reference for research scientists working on vertebrate hormones and reproduction - and on animlals as models in human reproductive research.
*Covers the endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, physiology, behaviour and anatomy of vertebrate reproduction.
*Structured coverage of the major themes for all five vertebrate groups allows a consistent treatment for all.
*Special chapters elaborate on features specific to individual vertebrate groups and to comparative aspects, similarities and differences between them.

The growth of the wildlife industry in South Africa can be measured by the growth in the number of wildlife ranches. In 1965 there were only four wildlife-fenced properties in the former north-western Transvaal. By 2005, 40 years later, there were more than 10 000 properties with wildlife exemption permits in the nine provinces combined. As the wildlife industry continues to expand, so too does the need for scientific knowledge upon which it must be based.

This sixth edition of Game ranch management is written by 39 experts in various fields and edited by two experienced wildlife ecologists, managers and veterinarians. It is as complete a guide as possible for wildlife ranchers in South Africa. All the chapters have been revised and updated, with extensive new information on information systems and data management; economics of the wildlife industry in South Africa; bacterial, viral and protozoal diseases of wildlife; buying and selling wild animals; hunting, keeping and managing large terrestrial carnivores; trophy hunting; meat production; veld management, and habitat rehabilitation.

Completely new chapters or subchapters include the following:

• Marketing
• Genetic management
• Medical assistance in the field
• Ecto- and endoparasites
• The management of internal parasites
• Capturing wild animals actively
• Falconry
• Legislation and codes of conduct

Game ranch management is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students doing degrees or modules in wildlife management and ranching at training institutions across southern Africa. It is also a guide for current and future owners of extensive wildlife production units.

This volume addresses in detail both livestock's role in climate change and the impacts of climate change on livestock production and reproduction. Apart from these cardinal principles of climate change and livestock production, this volume also examines the various strategies used to mitigate livestock-related GHG emissions, and those which can reduce the impacts of climate change on livestock production and reproduction. Presenting information and case studies collected and analyzed by professionals working in diversified ecological zones, the book explores the influence of climate change on livestock production across the globe. The most significant feature of this book is that it addresses in detail the different adaptation strategies and identifies targets for different stakeholders in connection with climate change and livestock production. Further, it puts forward development plans that will allow the livestock industries to cope with current climate changes and strategies that will mitigate the effects by 2025. Lastly, it provides researchers and policymakers several researchable priorities to help develop economically viable solutions for livestock production with less GHG emissions, promoting a cleaner environment in which human beings and livestock can live in harmony without adverse effects on productivity. Given that livestock production systems are sensitive to climate change and at the same are themselves a contributor to the phenomenon, climate change has the potential to pose an increasingly formidable challenge to the development of the livestock sector. However, there is a dearth of scientific information on adapting livestock production to the changing climate; as such, well-founded reference material on sustaining livestock production systems under the changing climate scenarios in different agro-ecological zones of the world is essential. By methodically and extensively addressing all aspects of climate change and livestock production, this volume offers a valuable tool for understanding the hidden intricacies of climatic stress and its influence on livestock production.

A monumental 1176 page treatise on every aspect of Farm Crops and Farm Livestock in the Edwardian period, this most complete work of its kind, is a mine of information. The livestock section discusses numerous breeds of horses (including ponies and donkeys) cattle, sheep, goats and poultry; the history, characteristics, care, breeding, and showing of each individual breed, as well as a more general discussion of animal husbandry, live stock ailments and remedies, farm pests, and of course animal products-meat, dairy, wool, honey, etc.. Sheepdogs are not overlooked. The farm crop section covers all British grains, beans and peas, potatoes, hops, flax, turnips, forage crops (for cattle) in similar detail, as well as "subsidiary crops" (that is, vegetables I modern usage). As well as the material specifically on crops and livestock, there is considerable background information, including a summary of the seasons and seasonal tasks, a detailed analysis of the then recent experiments in manuring and composting at Rothamstead that continue to this day, and a discussion of the impact of non-farm animals (badgers, mice, owls ...) on the farm.In addition to sixty eight full page plates there are numerous illustrations in the text, and a complete index. (Hardcover 978-1-84902-540-9, Paperback 978-1-84902-541-6)

Informative essays by professional deer biologists Comprehensive descriptions of viable management programs Precise methods of evaluating the effectiveness of quality deer management

In "Quality Whitetails," Drs. Karl V. Miller and R. Larry Marchinton have assembled the expertise of some of the most knowledgeable white-tailed deer biologists across North America. These authorities provide in-depth explanations of deer population biology and genetics and discuss various effective management methods, including harvest strategies, habitat maintenance, regional issues, and feeding and mineral supplementation for antler production. Designed to help both sportsmen and biologists preserve their natural resources, this guide offers direction for maintaining robust deer populations that are in balance with their environment.

Indispensable for food, chemical, mechanical, and packaging engineers, "Handbook of Farm, Dairy, and Food Machinery" covers in one comprehensive volume fundamental food engineering principles in the design of food industry machinery. The handbook provides broad, yet technically detailed coverage of food safety, regulations, product processing systems, packaging, facilities, waste management, and machinery design topics in a "farm to the fork" organization.

The 22 chapters are contributed by leading experts worldwide with numerous illustrations, tables, and references. The book includes the new USDA regulations for "certified organic" processing, as well as state-of-the-art technologies for equipment both on the farm and in the plant.

For anyone who has ever wondered about the ethics of killing animals for food, this is the definitive collection of essays on the ethical debate. Written by internationally recognized scholars on both sides of the debate, the provocative articles here compiled will give vegetarians and meat-eaters a thorough grounding in all aspects of this controversial issue. After an introduction to the nature of the debate by editor Steve F. Sapontzis, Daniel Dombrowski reviews the history of vegetarianism. There follows a discussion of health issues and what anthropology has to tell us about human diet. Also included are the classic cases for vegetarianism from philosophers Peter Singer and Tom Regan, and new essays rebutting those classic positions from humanists Roger Scruton and Carl Cohen, among others. Various scholars then examine religious teachings about eating animals, which are drawn from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as Native American and Eastern traditions. Finally, Carol J. Adams, Deanne Curtin, and Val Plumwood, among other outstanding advocates, debate the ethics of eating meat in connection with feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism. Containing virtually a "Who's Who" of philosophers, social critics, environmentalists, feminists, and religious scholars who have participated in the vegetarianism debate over the past quarter century, this outstanding anthology of expert articles, most of them new, provides the latest thinking on a subject of increasing public interest.

The findings presented in this volume represent a concerted effort to develop a more inclusive form of reindeer management for northernmost Europe. Our guiding principle has been to foster a new paradigm of participatory research. We wish to move beyond the historical reliance on western approaches to basic and applied science. These have been concerned prim- ily with interactions between herded animals and the various components of their biophysical environment, e. g. , plants, insects, predators, climate, and others. In our view,sociocultural and economic drivers,along with herders' experience-based knowledge,gain equal currency in the effort to understand how management may mitigate against the negative aspects of the challenges modern herding faces, while also exploring concepts of sustainability from different perspectives (see also Jernsletten and Klokov 2002; Kankaanpaa et al. 2002; Ulvevadet and Klokov 2004). This broadening of the pool of disciplines and local,national,and int- national stakeholders in policy-relevant research invariably complicates v- tually all aspects of the research process. Multidisciplinary or, in our sense, transdisciplinary approaches also require extraordinary effort from all p- ticipants if they are to succeed. As such, those approaches should not be undertaken lightly, nor without personnel who possess appropriate expe- ence in cooperating with those of different disciplines and, preferably, also with relevant practitioners and public social and administrative institutions. In such settings the potential for misunderstandings is quite high.

Nutrition is a very broad discipline, encompassing biochemistry, physiology, endocrinology, immunology, microbiology and pathology. Presenting the major principles of nutrition of both domestic and wild animals, this book takes a comparative approach, recognising that there are considerable differences in nutrient digestion, metabolism and requirements among various mammalian and avian species. Explaining species differences in food selection, food-seeking and digestive strategies and their significance to nutritional needs, chapters cover a broad range of topics including digestive physiology, metabolic disorders and specific nutrients such as carbohydrates proteins and lipids, with particular attention being paid to nutritional and metabolic idiosyncrasies. It is an essential text for students of animal and veterinary sciences.

This book deals with all aspects of goat culture, from breeding to feeding, together with the care and treatment of the milk and the making of butter and cheese. The author is well known for her writings and broadcast on the subject, for she draws from a thorough practical knowledge and a lifetime's experience. Contents Include: Why Not Keep a Goat? Breeds and Strains How to Choose a Goat Housing The Use and Abuse of Pasture Feeding Breeding The In-Kid Nanny Kid Rearing Male Goats General Management Milking, and The Care of Milk Butter and Cheese From Goats' Milk How To Treat a Sick Goat What Doctors Say About Goats' Milk

The keeping of exotic animals is becoming an increasingly popular aspect of pet ownership. Reptile owners are becoming more and more inexperienced as the popularity of these animals becomes more widespread. Vets and veterinary nurses are having to familiarise themselves with reptilian illnesses and husbandry issues without being experts themselves. Access to the answers for these complaints is an ongoing problem for the busy vet. This guide plus FREE CD-ROM, provide you with a quick, readily available and detailed answers to the increasing number of reptilian illnesses that are entering the veterinary practice waiting room. Features a problem-based approach to the diagnosis and treatment of common husbandry-related problems in reptile species. Unique checklists ensure accurate assessment of both problem and solution. An easy-to-use reference for the non-specialist - appropriate for all levels of veterinary practice. Offers downloadable assessment forms on a free disk.

"Chickens are a lot more mainstream than veganism and a little bit like kombucha: super weird twenty years ago, now somewhat popular and made even more so by logos, brands, and hashtags." So begins Gina Warren's deep dive into the backyard chicken movement. Digging into its history and food politics, she provides a highly personal account of the movement's social and cultural motivations, the regulations it faces, and the ways that chicken owners build community. Weaving together interviews with urban agriculture advocates, entrepreneurs such as a $225 per hour "chicken consultant," animal rights campaigners, and a fabulous cross-section of chicken enthusiasts, Warren sheds light on Americans' complex relationship with animals-as guardians, companions, and eaters-and what it means to be a conscious eater. As Warren chronicles her own misadventures raising chickens, her pursuit of what's best for her own flock leads past chicken tutus and gourmet chicken treats and into serious attempts at sustainable eating, such as cooking insects and dumpster diving. The result is a fresh and charming story that speaks to backyard chicken owners, while also raising questions about sustainable farming, industrial agriculture, and our connections with the animals we love.

"You’ll be in awe of the work of the American rancher and wildlife alike." — Fox News "... Krantz delivers a true sense of not only the size and scope of Art and Catherine Nicholas’ Wagonhound Ranch, but also the deep sense of stewardship the Nicholas family and their crew bring to ranching every day." — Western Horseman "...Anouk’s photographs tell a visual story of the rancher and his relationship with the land." — The Eye of Photography "A stunning photographic collection that celebrates the reality of ranch life." — Big Sky Journal Wagonhound is a historic working ranch spanning over 300,000 acres in Wyoming, where the elevation ranges from 5,000 feet to 9,000 feet; where talented, strong, and steady quarter horses supplied by the ranch-owned remuda are required to help the cowboys manage the herds in a spectacularly rugged terrain. Catherine and Art Nicholas, who took the reins of the historic ranch in 1999, take the stewardship of the land very seriously — their vision has been to honour tradition, preserve the land, which is steeped in history, and return it to a pristine condition. In Ranchland: Wagonhound, Anouk Krantz’s beautiful photography reveals the daily and seasonal rhythms of the ranch and the daily lives of its men and women cowboys, whose long hard days — starting in the dark and finishing in the dark — involve everything from cattle driving to branding to training the best quarter horses in the country and more. Set in a stunning large-format book, these photographs and the stories offer an inspiring new perspective into today's cowboy/ranching culture and land stewardship of the American West. 

Originally published in 1924 and regularly revised since then, this book is an exhaustive study of the craft of pig-keeping. Full of detailed instructions from a more natural era of farming, this book tels all that you need to now to successfully rear pigs, and is still of great practical use today. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Contents Include: What's Wrong? - The Danish System - The Open-Air System - The Breeds - The Breeding Herd - Farrowing and Weaning - The Foods - Feeding - Registration and Identification Marks - Vitamins - The Absorption of Foods - Balanced Rations - Rations For In-Pig Sows and Gilts - Rations For Sows With Young - Rations For Young Pigs - Rations For Pigs From 3 to 6 Months Old - Rations For Fattening Pigs - Weighing - Diseases - Short Notes - The Outlook - Imports of Bacon, Hams, Pork and Lard - Pig Societies - Breeders' Tables - Memoranda

Working cowboys live on as genuine legends who rode through a golden moment in American history. In the 1980s historian/ author Patrick Dearen went looking for the last of these fading icons.
The trail took him to dozens of onetime cowhands in their 80s, 90s, and even 100s whose aged eyes lit up and voices seemed young again as they spoke of their experiences on the trail. From these honest-to-goodness cowhands he collected priceless, spellbinding true stories of the incredible hardships of braving the elements, dealing with stampedes and runaways, and good-natured hoorawing with their companions.
These stories bear the unmistakable brand of an Old West that is now but a dusty grave on a long-lost trail. Dearen chronicles the tales and introduces the cowboys who tell them, with tender respect and love.

Stimulating and thought-provoking, this important new text looks at the welfare problems and philosophical and ethical issues that are caused by changes made to an animal's telos, behaviour and physiology, both positive and negative, to make them more productive or adapted for human uses. These changes may involve selective breeding for production, appearance traits, or competitive advantage in sport, transgenic animals or the use of pharmaceuticals or hormones to enhance production or performance. Changes may impose duties to care for these animals further and more intensely, or they may make the animal more robust. The book considers a wide range of animals, including farm animals, companion animals and laboratory animals. It reviews the ethics and welfare issues of animals that have been adapted for sport, as companions, in work, as ornaments, food sources, guarding and a whole host of other human functions. This important new book sparks debate and is essential reading for all those involved in animal welfare and ethics, including veterinarians, animal scientists, animal welfare scientists and ethologists.

Homing phenomena must be considered an important aspect of animal behaviour on account of their frequent occurrence, their survival value, and the variety of the mechanisms involved. Many species regularly rely on their ability to home or reach other familiar sites, but how they manage to do this is often uncertain. In many cases the goal is attained in the absence of any sensory contact, by mechanisms of indirect orientation whose complexity and sophistication have for a long time challenged the skill and patience of many researchers. A series of problems of increasing difficulty have to be overcome; researchers have to discover the nature of orienting cues, the sensory windows involved, the role of inherited and acquired information, and, eventually, how the central mechanisms process information and control motory responses. Naturally, this book emphasizes targets achieved rather than areas unexplored and mysteries unsolved. Even so, the reader will quickly realize that our knowledge of phenomena and mechanisms has progressed to different degrees in different animal groups, ranging from the mere description of homing behaviour to a satisfactory insight into some underlying mechanisms. In the last few dacades there have been promising developments in the study of animal homing, since new approaches have been tried out, and new species and groups have been investigated. Despite this, homing phenomena have not recently been the object of exhaustive reviews and there is a tendency for them to be neglected in general treatises on animal behaviour.

This book is a complete guide to all aspects of pig keeping. Full of practical advice, instruction, and useful diagrams and photos, it focuses mainly on the three most important aspects of pig keeping - Housing, Feeding and General Management. Contents Include: Policies in Perspective - Choosing the System - Housing - Pig Keeping Equipment - Feeding in Theory - Feeding In Practice - Feeding A Matter of Choice - Breeding Better Pigs - Management Breeding Stock - Management Farrowing - Management Rearing - Management Fattening - Health and Disease - Copper or Gold? - Grading Standards for Bacon Pigs - Price Conversion Table - Chemical Analyses of Feeding Stuffs - Standard Rations for Home Mixing - Useful Addresses - Notifiable Diseases of Pigs - Pork, Bacon or Heavy Hog? - Standards of Performance for Breeding and Fattening Pigs - References