Book excerpt: This textbook concentrates mainly on the science involved in the raising of production animals, rather than the art of animal husbandry, which must involve thousands of hours of working directly with livestock for mastery. Fourteen chapters cover introductory animal reproduction, genetics, nutrition, breeds, animal health, and general management of various common livestock species. Coverage includes traditional large industries such as dairy cow, goat, beef, sheep, swine, poultry, and equine, and other less common species such as rabbit, camel, and ostrich. The included CD-ROM features study guide software with chapter summaries, vocabulary practice, and self- tests. Shapiro teaches preveterinary science at Los Angeles Pierce College and was a dairy farmer for nearly 20 years. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR