Book Title: Keeping Chickens
Subtitle: All you need to know to care for a happy, healthy, flock
Author: Ashley English
Genre: House & Home, Reference
ISBN: 978-1-60059-490-8
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Co.
Suggested Retail Price: $19.95
From the book:
At home in spacious homesteads and simple backyards, chickens produce a wonderful source of sustainable, nutritious food and make wonderful pets. With generous doses of experience and humor, Ashley English shares the essential information you'll need to start and maintain your own flock.
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Keeping Chickens is part of the Homemade Living Series that encourages people to embrace local, seasonal food and take an interest in knowing how and where your food is produced. It suggests people explore self sustainability and allows them to enjoy fresh local flavors.
Keeping Chickens offers advice on what newcomers should think about when considering raising chickens. Topics include amount of time available for their care, start up costs, climate, and space. It encourages people to check with their neighbors before purchasing chickens in an effort to keep the peace in their neighborhood. This is especially important if you live in close quarters to your neighbors. Those who live miles away from their nearest neighbor may not need to do this. It also suggests that you check with local government to ensure you comply with whatever codes apply to livestock in your area. Keep in mind that roosters are louder than chickens although chickens make noise themselves. I appreciate that the author took time to write about chicken and children. Not all chickens want to be pets so make sure you understand their temperament.
You'll also find a helpful chapter on how to select the right breed for you. It offers information on size, hybrid or pure breeds, layer versus fryer, anatomy, feather patterns, colors, and dispositions. It also offers information on which breeds are hardiest in the cold or heat and which breeds work well in both temperature extremes. You will also learn how to obtain chicks and start to think about whether or not you want to start with eggs, chicks, pullets or mature birds. If you go with eggs, it discusses how to go about hatching chicks. The section on housing is very helpful and will explain what is needed in both stationary and movable pens. It also discusses predators, fencing, light, bedding, cleaning, nesting and roosts.
Also discussed is feeding and watering your chickens and considerations for things like scratch, grit and table scraps. Chapter 7 is a great primer with everything you need to get started raising chicks and gives you all the essentials on what a chick versus a chicken needs. There is a chapter on health and wellness that will teach you about the common diseases found in chickens as well as proper handling of sick chickens. You'll also learn about the various sizes, shapes and colors found in eggs, quality control and storage of eggs. The last chapter features nine recipes using all of the eggs you'll soon find yourself with. Since our chickens have started laying again this spring, I was thrilled to see these recipes and am looking forward to trying the Zucchini, Basil & Goat Cheese Frittata!
My thanks to the sponsor for allowing me to review this book.
As required by the FTC: I received a product sample in order to write my review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.
Article first published as Book Review: Keeping Chickens with Ashley English on Blogcritics.
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