Customer Reviews

The Chicken Health Handbook

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

This book is VERY well written. The details were helpful in determining what parasite one of my pullets had. I've read five books on chickens in the last month and this was by far the best and most informative of them all!!! It is a very easy to reference to. This book is a must have for any chicken owner or vet.

I will be 13 next month and we have about 30 to 40 full size cickens and 10 bantams and when ever I have a qestion I always rent this book because it is so basic and has so much information !! it has stuff about chicks all the way up to full grown and between .

An easy to read, down to earth book written by a veterinarian, includes topics of diseases, how to deal with the diseases and methods of prevention, chicken anatomy, parasites of poultry, diagnostic guides, environmental problems, vaccination, incubating and brooding of eggs and chicks.

Although there is no doubt that the author is very knowledgeable on her subject, I found the book not very user friendly.

It was purchased with the intent of having a guide to go to when I had health issues with my chickens. There is much information that is technical and unless one wants to study it and try to commit information to memory, it is not a quick reference guide in emergencies.

I also found that many of the medications recommended for treatment of a problem I took time to diagnose, were unavailable; thus rendering the information useless at the time I needed it the most.

Although disappointed, I am unaware of any other current options for chicken health books; I give it a three star rating due to the vast knowledge given.

Having invested a lot of good money in a large flock of over 500 chickens, I was at pains to see that every aspect of their welfare, care and diet was of the best possible quality. I must have been doing something right because my eggs quickly became much sought after. As with all new ventures, however, the honeymoon ended just as soon noticed one of my birds was unwell.

With replacing any sick bird being a far cheaper option than vets bills, it soon became a question of either culling or curing. This book is fairly comprehensive when it comes to poultry health and has proved to be one of the best books on the subject I was able to find. Subjects range from Diet, anatomy, health, parasites, diseases, environment, rats, incubation, brooding and so forth. As I say, fairly comprehensive.

It is very difficult to read a book of this type from cover to cover - although there are sections which should be read and understood by all poultry keepers. Readers will, however, be consulting this book in the hope of finding an answer to something specific. It is important, therefore, to find the symptoms displayed by a sick bird adequately described so that the reader is able to identify the problem and be certain that his diagnosis is correct. Generally speaking, I did find the information to be there, but finding that description of a specific illness, disease or whatever was the hardest part. This can become frustrating - especially when you want to get on and find the correct remedy.

In short, I would suggest this is a very good book. I believe it really does contain the answers to the many and varied questions people will have about the health of their birds but finding that answer did prove to be very difficult at times.

I would, therefore, suggest the serious keeper studies this book over a period of time in order to form a solid appreciation of everything concerned with the health of their Chickens.

NM

Very informative book. This book is very helpful. It would be good for a novice or to add to an experienced poultryman's library. I would recommend.

This is one that I've referred to over and over since I've gotten my chickens. Especially, since my sweet and gentle rooster suddenly died. I liked that it gave instructions on how to save the body for postmortem exam by a state/college agency. Covers a TON of chicken health issues with really good syptom charts, etc.

One thing I would've liked to seen added to this book is perhaps a homeopathic remedy section like what to feed chicks on an emergency basis if the chicken won't eat, or how to flush a poisoned chickens system (which is what happened to my rooster) with common food items found around your house.

Overall, this is one book that I would suggest EVERY chicken owner should get. If you don't refer to it right away, you will!

As a poultry extensionist, this is by far one of my favorites to recommend for those who raise and rear poultry that have had some reoccuring problems! Gail really does put situations into understandable terms for the everyday poultry enthusiast. If you have raised poultry, this one should be on your shelf or at least in easy reach.