I love it when real life replaces "the book." Andrew and I are finding that a lot of our experiences are running counter to what a lot of mainstream livestock books had instructed us--we are opting more for observing our own, specific animals and reacting to them, rather than applying an impersonal formula. I found the same applied to my son when I was a new mother, haha! One of my favorite bits of advice I read was "read your baby, not the book."

Of course, there's one Book that trumps that advice, but in every other case...;).