# Sheep book recomendations and reviews. *UPDATED March 3/07*



## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Post them here folks good and bad! What's good and what's not worth the paper it's written on? I'll add updated when this thread gets a new submision.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

One of my favorite books and most used is Laura Lawson's book Managing Your Ewe. (I'll add the publisher and ISBN after I get it back from the barn! (  ) This book concentrates on treating sheep health ailments and has detailed treatments for almost all diseases. There are flowcharts in the back that help narrow down problems and references different pages for information. It is written for farmers to use but I've been told it can be a little overwhelming if you're not familier with sheep or treating sick animals. It probably shouldn't be your first book but it should be the second one you buy! It's more than paid for its self in saved lambs and improved practices here.


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

cornell sheep management hand book . don`t have but would love a copy! seen it almost thirty years ago and left a good impression(at the time we had cows) any body seen /have a copy?


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## Calvin (Jun 6, 2002)

Mo' Sheep, Mo' Grass, Mo' Money by Peter Schroedter. A very good book for the person wanting to maximize returns from a grass based sheep operation.
Sheep Dairying by Olivia Mills is very good if you are thinking of going that route.
Also the Merck Manual.
Calvin


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## MAC (Apr 18, 2003)

Here's a list of sheep books recommended by a friend:
http://www.hawksmountainranch.com/hmrbooksmagazines.html

I can't recall one sheep book worth the tree that was killed for the paper it was written on. However, the _very best_ publication I ever read was *Sheep Production*, a series of magazine-style hard-core sheep info which was published in the eighties. Every serious sheep producer should have this, but I don't know if it's still available. If it isn't, I think I'll sell my set on Ebay one of these days.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Another favorite of mine and would be a good beginners book is The Western Canadian Sheep Production manual. It might be hard to find, I'd try the Saskatchewan Sheep Development Board, area code 306-993-5200 It was under $20 in a softcover 8.5/11 book. It has a consise well organised format, short on health treatment but cover basic sheep care well. It is the sort of information that is usable anywhere not just in Western Canada.


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## Brandi in VA (Oct 7, 2002)

Have to second Laura Lawson's book Managing your Ewe and want to add her book Lamb Problems. Not only are the books packed full with info but they got here within 4 days of ordering them. Here's the link to them...
http://www.earthling.com/stores/sbdc/


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

This thread isn't getting much use so I thought I'd give a short reveiw of a book I've often critisized. Thinking about it I've been very unfair and missed the obvious point about an very useful book. Paula Simmons authored a book called Raising Sheep The Modern Way. It is a little dated but I have to say as a first book it is very inspiring and coveres the basics very well. Most importantly it's an easy read. The author has a very relaxed style, a common touch perhaps? I wouldn't be surprised if most sheep farmers/keepers in North America hasn't had at least a quick read, and that says volumes about a book and author we all owe a great deal of respect and thanks to. Pick up a copy they're on eBay all the time!


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## Hank - Narita (Aug 12, 2002)

We are going to a meeting of sheep producers tomorrow. Hope to get names of good books to post. Glad you reminded us to post here.


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## mysticokra (Feb 5, 2003)

I just bought the Lawson books from Hawk's Mountain Ranch for $25.00 each. That's $10 less than Amazon. See http://www.hawksmountainranch.com/

The gentlemen I spoke with sells Icelandic sheep throughout the country. He was very amiable and informative. I suggest you talk to them.


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## Guest (May 19, 2004)

Ross said:


> This thread isn't getting much use so I thought I'd give a short reveiw of a book I've often critisized. Thinking about it I've been very unfair and missed the obvious point about an very useful book. Paula Simmons authored a book called Raising Sheep The Modern Way. It is a little dated but I have to say as a first book it is very inspiring and coveres the basics very well. Most importantly it's an easy read. The author has a very relaxed style, a common touch perhaps? I wouldn't be surprised if most sheep farmers/keepers in North America hasn't had at least a quick read, and that says volumes about a book and author we all owe a great deal of respect and thanks to. Pick up a copy they're on eBay all the time!


This book has been revised by the author, and is now published by Storey's Publications, with a slightly different title. I like this book as well. 

I just got "The Sheep Book: A Handbook for the Modern Shepherd", by Ron Parker, and I like this one also. The narrative style is pretty unique compared to the other sheep books.

There is another book we checked out from the library, but it really seemed focused on growing sheep for maximum meat efficiency (read: market lamb) output. Not so good for people raising wool or dual-purpose or small flocks, grass-fed/organic, etc.

There is a book of sheep veterinary medicine from Great Britain that we checked out recently also, that I think is very nice, esp. the color pictures. The Merck Vet. Manual is nice, but it covers all animals.

The only problem with most of the sheep books is that if you have a non-standard breed (Shetland, Wensleydale) that are off either end of the size spectrum, some of the recommendations, normalcy, etc. are probably off a bit... but that's part of the adventure, right?

I guess most of all which book/s you like or need depend on why you're raising sheep and what you ultimately want from them.


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## BuffaloGal (Jun 10, 2002)

The first "The Sheep Book" was a 1959 edition by John Mc Kinney. 

Ron Parker's "The Sheep Book" was originally printed in 1983 and has been updated in 2002. The best news is that Ron has graciously put the entire book online in PDF format at http://hem.bredband.net/ronpar/tsb.html

He also has links to how to buy a paper copy of his book, other books, Breed Associations, health notes, Computer Software that can be used for sheep management, and, in case your effort to keep your sheep alive goes terribly wrong, there's information on tanning pelts. You can write to thank him at [email protected].


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Bump----added to the directory 
Please feel free to continue adding to this thread!


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

This is a bit of a bump to the top but I was wondering if anyone had read any good books on wool grading or processing, spinning etc.


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## Rosarybeads (Oct 21, 2004)

SID sheep production handbook. It was/is? produced by the american sheep industry association, and is very widespread. It is a wonderful technical book, not real great for additional subjects, like spinning, etc... But it has most of the major breeds & compares them, lists all sheep diseases with signs & treatment (conventional), has a section on predators, shearing, breeding, etc etc... A huge book. Not real focused on the "natural" way of raising sheep, but a wonderful book nonetheless.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Wide spread for sure!! I can buy it here in Ontario for $75 (CND) and will when I have a spare $75.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Just bumping a few posts so they hopefully won't get pruned


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

And again there's a major pruning so just to keep this avaiable. Be nice to add on to it as well!


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## Abouttime (Oct 17, 2005)

What about "Living with Sheep" by Chuck Wooster. I am new to sheep, but enjoyed this book and certainly learned a lot. It's humorous and an easy read.


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## kirsten (Aug 29, 2005)

I like Laura lawson. I have the sheep book too and then I have one more that is quite valuable, quite expensive but worth it-the veterinary book for sheep farmers. It is English so sometimes I trouble to find things but it is the most extensive book for aliments I have found. I also have used storeys guide to raising sheep by paula simmons until it is worn out for this cause: Most sheep problems are common problems like your first case of bloat. I can readily find the answers to my questions very quickly using this smaller and very easy to read book. For the brief and quick things I turn to Storeys. If the answer is not there, I go to managing your ewe or the vet book. While managing your ewe is good- it is often overkill from a producers standpoint. It is excessive. If everyone shot up their ewes with every vitamin and vaccine she lists, you would do nothing else but give shots. That book overtreats in my opinion. She can't be simple about anything and doubtless her sheep are filled to overflowing with vit A. PLus, she uses lots of gadgets and Storeys at least tells you how to make every gadget at home. Laura does sheep management the expensive way- nice to get instruction via storeys guide on how to do it more cheaply. Same goes for Storyes chicken guide- they are so good to give you the less expensive do it yourself options like tree branches for roosts and stuff like that. Lawson's charts in back baffle me too.

Still I would like to see a far better diagnostic manual than I have thus far seen. The chicken health handbook is the best diagnostic book I have ever seen, laid out in about 4 different ways so that it makes diagnosing whichever way you go about it- a breeze. If anyone knows a similarly great book for diagnosing sheep, I would love to hear about it. I want to be able to look up the symptoms say under the heading "urine" and get the lowdown on which diseases affect the color or consistancy of urine. A symptom based index would be really nice. Storeys is nicely laid out but not complete.

my opinions- kirsten


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

bump


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Just keeping this thread current so its not pruned


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