Hello there, i see you raise cattle! Im gently toying with the idea of raising cattle someday, are there any books or resources that u have found helpful that you would recommend? :)) thanks!
Hi! There are heaps of books and stuff out there but I haven’t read any of them lol. I learnt everything either at school (when I showed cattle, and was a cattle judging competitor), or immediately prior to having the animal I was being lectured on come directly at me in the drafting yard. Which I can say is extremely effective but not very accessible to most people.
Idk what country you’re in but online resources I use are; state department of agriculture/primary industry websites (mines the NSW DPI), those have got your laws, pests, diseases, nutrition info, etc on them. The laws on acquiring and keeping livestock are probably the most important thing to understand before you even start.
The various studstock breed websites, usually have some stuff about the breeds structure/eval/temperament on them.
The Rural Bookshop is Australia based and has heaps of books about everything. As I said, I haven’t read any of them, but they’re designed to inform people and they’re usually always the most current print. You could probably find related titles elsewhere.
There’s lots of blogs (off Tumblr), and the Backyard Herds forum. I’m not on BYH so I don’t know how reliable people on there are, but their sister site for chickens is really helpful so I’m guessing the folks there are similar. The blogs can be hit or miss but alongside government/scientific sources they can be really helpful.
Don’t forget to look in your library first! They usually have an animal/livestock section with books on just about everything.