Animal Husbandry / Sheep / The Sheep Book for Smallholders
'The only book on sheep you will need!'
Packed full of detailed information The Sheep Book for Smallholders covers every aspect of keeping sheep on a small scale. Beginning with a brief overview and comments on the rise and fall of the artisan shepherd the author has divided the book into the shepherd's calendar so that the sheep keeper knows what to expect with each season. All aspects of looking after the flock are covered including selection, culling, nutrition, housing, lambing, pasture management, ailments and prevention. There are also sections detailing home-slaughter and butchery and processing the fleece as well as spinning and weaving, sheepdog training and sheep for dairying. In addition the book has a huge and useful appendicies. Hardback 320 pages
Reviews
Add ReviewM. Brookbank - Dec 4 2009 10:25AM
Have just received this book after having it on order for ages, and I'm extremly pleased with it, well worth the wait. The book is divided up into the different seasons, so it is easy to pick up and find out what you should be doing at what time of year, as well as having a chapter on land management and sheep magagement systems. It is well written with good photographs to illustrate different techniques such as turning a shep over, and what to look for in foot care. Also there is a chapter on home slaughter and using the by products of the animals.
Anke - Dec 14 2009 2:04PM
This book just answers ALL the questions any prospective sheepkeeper on a smallholding scale might have. Read it BEFORE you get your sheep and keep it handy for referring to any probems you may come up against once you have got them. Written in a very direct and no-nonsense style and peppered with personal anectdotes and photos. Also very good (and unique for currently available sheep books in UK) to have sections on milking sheep, home-slaughter, preparation of skins and wool spinning/dyeing. Comprehensive reference section for breed societies in UK.
Kate Castledine - Jan 12 2010 11:57AM
"I am really enjoying this wonderful book. It would have been such a help if I had had a copy when I started shepherding. Tim is superb at telling you what you really need to know. I am sure it will become a classic. Please will you put my name down for any further publications by this author."
Janice Randle - Jan 12 2010 5:12PM
When you first start reading the book you realise that Tim has been working with Sheep for a long time. His writing is easy to read and on your level. It takes a lot of observation and skill to write such a book. I have some experience with Sheep and wish that such a book as The Sheep Book for Smallholders existed all those years ago. I had to buy several books to gain any useful knowledge. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in keeping sheep or would like to know more about them.
Al Lyons - Jan 22 2010 8:59PM
this is article is written to persuade you for your own benefit that this is the all round but detailed book to guide you in sheep keeping that you NEED. A knowledge of the Author's articles in a number of publications and his farming ethos meant that I couldn't wait to get this book, (Well, at least it had better have been in the christmas stocking!!). I have just finished reading it from cover to cover and am now considering the need to get a second copy; one that can be read and re-read of an evening and look good on the coffee table and one to act as a comfort and aid when out lambing, shearing, grading or seperating the sheep or training the sheepdog (one day!!), butchering our own lambs from the abbatoir(every year) or preparing, spinning and weaving our fleeces (first year). Use the book to arrange the sheep tending year in your diary; use it to both challenge yourself that you are doing the best for yourself and your sheep and to guide and aid you through absolutely everything you will need to do with sheep. I am not sure there is anything else Tim Tyne could write about sheep that isn't in this book but if he wrote it I would be buying it.
