[.ca] Barnyard in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide to Raising ... (ISBN 1580174566)

Barnyard in your Backyard:
Excellent book for someone starting to raise livestock either for the first time or after a long absence. Basic information presented in an easy to read and understand format. Gives a good basic understanding of what is needed for the various types of livestock covered. Though I personally would have wished perhaps a bit more depth in some areas overall I found it to be an excellent read and well worth it as an reference book.

Good basic information to help narrow down your interests:
Barnyard In Your Backyard is a decent introduction to animal husbandry. It contains enough basic information to get you started with any of the animals covered, but should really be supplemented with a book specific to the animal you are interested in. The emphasis here was definitely on breadth rather than depth. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I did find the layout of the chapters a bit haphazard. For example, my interest is in ducks and chickens. When trying to figure out what size of run/pasture and sort of shelter would be required, I really had to carefully read both chapters, start to finish, to find all the relevant tidbits that were scattered throughout. The later chapters (goats, sheep, and cows) looked to be a bit better organized, but I only scanned them as they weren't in-line with my interests. The organization and lack of depth doesn't make it a particulaly good reference, but for an introduction to husbandry of several different animals, the authors have succeeded.

Excellent introduction to keeping all manner of animals:
Very thorough, very easy to read. Covers a wide range of animals that you might like to consider keeping. Both high level and detailed information in one volume to suit the kind of inquiry you may be making. Excellent.