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BOOK REVIEW:

Raising Sheep the Modern Way by Paula Simmons  

Garden Way Publishing

Review by Victoria Varga

A must have and a “must-read” for every sheep owner is the excellent and extremely informative reference guide,  (or ‘Shepherd’s Bible’ as many sheep ranchers call it) “RAISING SHEEP THE MODERN WAY”, authored by Paula Simmons, a Garden Way Publishing Classic.

This wonderful, 278-page guide containing absolutely everything you could possibly want to know on the subject of caring for and raising lambs and sheep, is an invaluable resource in times of emergency or for general interest.

Its bright blue soft-cover is easily spotted on the bookshelf of your local bookseller or feed store, and is readily available in print to order, if you cannot find it on the store shelf.

Whether you have two sheep, or two hundred, and you are experienced, or perhaps a novice, this wonderful publication will guide you through every step of attaining and caring for sheep. Everything from purchasing, fencing, housing, breeding, lambing, feeding, and wool handling is covered in detail, and several excellent sections encompass much useful and needed information as well, on veterinary care and lambing problems, hoof-care and medication. Many ‘exotic’ breeds are covered and breed standards are delineated for each type of sheep, and will certainly give the new sheep rancher an excellent resource for choosing the breed type they may be looking for.

An experienced 30 -year sheep rancher herself, author Paula Simmons is one of “our own”, residing now in British Columbia, and is involved presently in designing and manufacturing wool processing equipment. She is also the author of several published wool spinning and weaving handbooks and three cookbooks.

In “RAISING SHEEP THE MODERN WAY”, she gives credit to veterinarian Dr. Darrell Salsbury, DVM, for the abundant and trustworthy technical and medical guidance that overflows throughout this excellent reference book. No farm library should be without it!

Some of the praises for “RAISING SHEEP THE MODERN WAY” from very satisfied readers, (as listed on the back of the book itself)  state the obvious:

·        “An invaluable book. I started my sheep raising solely from using it!” -Mary Singer, Bellingham, MA

·         “As a beginner in sheep raising, I would never have made it without this book”. – Lenora Knox, Cottondale, AL

·        “Beyond excellent; my bible. A must for the beginning sheep farmer”. – E. Kenneth Beckwith, Barneveld, NY

·        “I can’t count how many times the book went to the barn with us, and if it wasn’t for the book, we might have lost a couple of sets of twins. I am highly recommending it…”

        – Lynda Mattice, Morewood, Ont.

And I would have to agree whole-heartedly with all of the above. As a sheep owner myself, this book has indeed come with me and my husband into the barn during lambing, has not left any holes in information on raising sheep and giving quality care to these fine, woolly friends.

If you share your land with sheep, or are even just perhaps thinking about raising sheep, do yourself and your future animals a great service and become well informed through this fact filled and easily understood guide to sheep raising. It will truly be a well -used addition to your home agricultural library.