City Goats – The Goat Justice League’s Guide to Backyard Goat Keeping, Jennie P Grant (Skipstone, 2012)
Jennie Grant is your average 40-something mother with a bungalow in Seattle’s leafy Madrona neighborhood, a happy middle-school child, a tolerant husband, and a pug named Eddie. She also happens to keep chickens and two milking goats, Snowflake and Eloise, and is regionally known as the passionate founder of the Goat Justice League.
Since Grant began keeping milking goats several years ago, she has learned firsthand the remarkable benefits and beauty of keeping goats — how much healthier and easier to maintain a yard with goats can be, the tolerance levels of neighbors, the health benefits of non-industrial foods, and how interacting with goats inspires a connection with nature. City Goats: The Goat Justice League’s Guide to Urban Goat Keeping is her step-by-step guide to raising a pair of dairy goats in your urban or suburban backyard, from learning city zoning requirements and selecting goats to setting up your yard, building a goat shed, feeding and caring, kidding, and milking.
Practical and at times comical (just like a goat!), connected both to nature and the city, and slightly rebellious — City Goats: The Goat Justice League’s Guide to Urban Goat Keeping is a book for gardeners, people committed to eating locally, and anyone who has ever pondered joining the backyard goat revolution.
Topics include:
- Legalizing goats in your city
- Milk-goat breeds (pros and cons)
- Preparing your goat yard
- Creating the perfect goat shed
- Feed, browse, and treats
- Milking and the benefits of fresh milk
- Training techniques
- Breeding (beware of the stud buck!)
- Raising and weaning kids
- Keeping your goats health
- Goat cheese recipes
- And much more