The Family Cow Handbook: A Guide to Keeping a Milk Cow

Has a lot of good information for beginners and experienced Milk Cow owners , there is another called Keeping a Family Cow we also recommend that came out before and is updated has a Forum to help as well. Happy Milking !

I Love Cows. And I want to learn everything I can about taking care of them and raising them. My attention span wavers really easily but the pictures in this book and the easy description make me think that I can really do all this stuff!

This is a nice overview book...a good first cow book.Nice color photos and they list temperament of the various breeds not just productivity and stats which is nice for the backyard family farm interested in a "family friendly" cow.I do wish that they would have included color photos of the various health related issues (instead of just showing what healthy hooves (for example) look like), but one can consult a more in depth book for that sort of thing.I did find the writing to be somewhat choppy every now and then (he'll mention a specific term and then define it a whole chapter later (which isn't helpful at the current reading point :)). Something to note, but not that big of a deal.Overall it is a great basic book and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in exploring the idea of having a family cow.

I LOVE this book. I have read almost every family/house cow book available and this book is my favorite. Definitely the book to have if your considering getting your own cow. Lots of great information and the many pictures it has is a wonderful bonus.

This is a good book for those just getting into farming and are choosing different animals. If you are interested in a certain animal, I would get a book about that animal.

I was fairly disappointed with this book. I had previously read THE FAMILY COW by Dirk Van Loon from the library, and then bought this one hoping to begin my own reference library. Sadly, this book is just too generic. There was nothing in it that I couldn't have learned from Wikipedia and an afternoon surfing the internet. The pictures were nice, but overall this book should be for someone who has zero knowledge of anything related to milk cows and no ability to use Google. I would highly recommend the aforementioned book as well as KEEPING A FAMILY COW by Joann Grohman. Her book is probably the most informative and detailed, and covers every question you could possibly have. THE FAMILY COW HANDBOOK is more of a coffee table book...a conversation starter for dinner parties.

bought the family cow book because we're considering purchasing a "family cow". the book is very detailed. easy reading. and great for 11yo+ reading. its informative for families that are adopting a cow.i highly reccomend this book

Great book

I buy lots of book over amazon and this was by far one of the best books. It gave just the right amount of information that i wasn't left with questions. I'm very excited to put the information that I've learned to use, i was especially pleased with the chapter that helps you choose the perfect family cow for your needs and preference. I feel ready for when the times comes that I finally buy my milk cow.So I strongly recommend this book for anybody, even if you have owned cows for years i think this a great choice to add to your collection. I know I'm glad that i added this book to my shelf.

It is a brilliant reference book for someone who is new to the small holding life. It ahs helped us to make sure we are fully prepared for when we do decide to buy the cow.

Easy reading, covered all the things you need to know when contemplating getting a house cow. Great reference book to get you started.

I am new to the milk cow world and wanted a relatively concise, easy read to get me started. This book delivered just that. In it, you'll find an introduction to nutrition, breeds, reproduction, evaluation of your cow (and how to purchase the best cow for you), health and diseases, manure management and finally a chapter on cheese making. My only complaint is that the author repeatedly mixes up the "trachea" (which is NOT the opening to the stomach, as written in the book) with the "esophagus" (NOT the opening to the lungs, as stated in the book) in the health section. This could be a problem if someone follows his directions on how to tube feed a calf and drowns the poor thing in the process. Other than that, a good book.

excellent book, very informative, lots of nice photos of cows