The Chicken Health Handbook [Paperback]

Gail Damerow (Author), Jeanne Smith DVM (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 1994

Packed with relevant information for all breeds and ages, this book covers nutrition, disease, immunity, and anatomy. Written for the chicken fancier and nonspecialist.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The editor of Rural Heritage has written a first-rate guide for the small producer interested in healthful meat and eggs as well as the exotic breed fancier raising birds for show. Having published a number of general guides to backyard poultry, including one for children, Damerow here concentrates on everything that can go wrong: diseases; problems associated with keeping birds in close quarters or caging them; litter; cannibalism; vitamin deficiency, resulting in poor molting; incubators that are too hot or too cold; predators; and the invasions of rats. She stresses that the best preventative measures involve protecting one's flock against outside influences (such as wild birds or other chickens), careful culling, and balanced nutrition. Damerow is a good writer, carefully walking the line between insulting the reader's intelligence, a flaw with many books of this sort, and giving more technical information than growers need. Her discussion of how one keeps straight which chick came from which mating--which involves the injection of food dyes into fertilized eggs, and carefully marking the webbings of feet--is downright ingenious. Flawless. John Mort

Review

“This book is the best guide to chicken health.  The practical charts it contains will help you pinpoint common symptoms and the cause of disease.  An alphabetic listing of diseases provides quick access to treatments and remedies for nearly any poultry ailment.” – American Small Farm

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Garden Way Publishing / Storey Communications, Inc; First Edition edition (January 6, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882666118
• ISBN-13: 978-0882666112
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,617 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Medical Books > Veterinary Medicine > Food Animals
  • #16 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Sustainable Agriculture
  • #36 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry

More About the Author

Gail Damerow and her husband operate a family farm in Tennessee where they keep poultry and dairy goats, tend a sizable garden, and maintain a small orchard. They grow and preserve much of their own food, make their own yogurt and ice cream, and bake their own bread. Gail has written extensively on raising livestock, growing fruits and vegetables, and related rural skills. She shares her experience and knowledge as a regular contributor to Backyard Poultry magazine, as a contributor to numerous other periodicals, and as the author or contributor to more than a dozen country skills how-to books.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is an excellent book!! December 5, 2002

By Robert Steffens

Format:Paperback

I have 30 bantam chickens, and I turn to this book all the time whenever I have a proplem. I highly recomend it for anyone that is or is going to raise chickens. Whenever you have a problem you just turn to the diognoses charts, match the symptoms and the age, and find out what it is. You then go the back and find the disease, and then it tells you how to treat it, prevent it, if there's any human health risk and much MUCH more!! It also tell you EVERYTHING else you need to know on how to raise them. I VERY highly recomend this book as well as Storys Guide To Raising Chickens by Gail Dammerow as well.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Handy Reference for All Poultry Breeders July 11, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I first came across this book from my local library in Australia. I was very impressed that firstly a woman had written the book, (since it appears that Poultry Breeding/Exhibiting seems to be a very male interest here!) and secondly that she had done a great job.

There are lots of practical ideas and simple methods of diagnosing and treating diseases all in laymans lingo. Which drugs will work on particular diseases and warnings about using the drugs. Particularly helpful was the reference of each disease and other diseases which might have the same symptoms. Since reading this book, I have seen it recommended many times by other chook breeders on www.the-coop.org message board.

I was concerned that this might be written for "Americans only" but there are actually references to Australia and most of the diseases and treatments apply here also. Unfortunately, when I went to purchase this book from my local book store, I was told that it was unavailable in Australia and my library must have purchased a joblot of books from America to originally have it to loan.

Thanks to Amazon books, I will now own a copy of this book which I am sure will be read again and again.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource for any poultry owner... May 16, 2005

By Laura Haggarty

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the first book I turn to when I have a question regarding the health of my chickens. I breed purebred bantams and large fowl, (as well as ducks, guineas, and geese.) Damerow's book has just about everything you need to know when it comes to keeping your birds healthy, or dealing with it when they're sick.

Her chapters include:

- Chicken Health

- Health and Nutrition

- Anatomy of a Chicken

- External Parasites

- Internal Parasites: Worms

- Internal Parasites: Protozoa

- Infectious Diseases

- Environment Related Problems

- Diagnostic Guides

- Postmortem Examination

- Therapy

- Enhancing Immunity

- Incubation and Brooding

- Chickens and Human Health

- Diseases and Disorders

She also includes a glossary, a list of suppliers, state poultry laboratories, and a list of recommended reading material.

If you own chickens, and care about their health, you owe it to yourself and them to get this book. Don't hesitate, buy it!