Overview

Sheep raising is as popular today as it has been for thousands of years. Some raise sheep as a hobby or sideline, others as their sole source of income. No matter what the goal, successful sheep growing is a cooperation between sheep and shepherd, with each learning about the other in mutually productive ways. The Sheep Book is about the needs and psyche of sheep. It is about fundamentals of feeding, health, care, breeding, selection, and marketing. It is most of all a narrative that will prepare the sheep raiser to learn and to think and to grow. Organized according to the natural reproductive cycle of the sheep, The Sheep Book carries the reader along through a year in a sheep's life during which sheep and shepherd form a rich symbiosis. A knowledgeable shepherd manages a flock in such a way as to provide an appropriate environment for all phases of the annual journey from breeding through pregnancy, lambing, growing of lambs, marketing of lambs and wool, and revitalization of the sheep for another cycle. The Sheep Book guides the reader to treat a sheep like a sheep, working with the instincts of the sheep - trating them as animals with special talents and ways of behaving that can be engaged and directed. The reader is encouraged to learn from the sheep, for they are the best teachers of a successful shepherd.

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9780804010320

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Reviews

Perhaps if sheep were part of my life, they would impose an order on it and bring out in me the calm patience and good humor so evident in this book. - Garrison Keillor, from the Foreword Ron combines intelligent observations with a shrewd and delightful humor, and his practical experience shows through at every turn. Beginner and veteran shepherds alike will appreciate the many how-to-do-it descriptions in these chapters. The reading is always interesting, always clear, and this book would be an asset in any shepherd's library. - Woody Lane, Ph.D., livestock nutritionist The revised and updated The Sheep Book is what the literary critics would call a 'must read' for beginning shepherds. For that matter the lists of sources for supplies, of web sites, of organizations, of breed associations, and of publications will be worth the price of the book to experienced shepherds. Ron's insistence from his first days as a sheep farmer on raising sheep outside on grass with no heavy equipment put him ahead of the low-tech, sustainable ag movement. His scientific background and his 'outside the box' thinking make this a book of substance, significance, and originality without being the least bit pedantic. - Guy Flora, Editor, The Shepherd

Perhaps if sheep were part of my life, they would impose an order on it and bring and in me the calm patience and good humor so evident in this book. - Garrison Keillor

Author Information

Ron Parkar is an academic geologist who turned to sheep raising in 1976. He is author of numerous magazine articles, was editor of The Minnesota Shepherd, and recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Growers. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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