Customer Reviews

Keeping Pet Chickens: You don't need much space to Enjoy the Bounty of Fresh Eggs from Your Own Small Flock of Happy Hens

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

 

 

This is a cute little book, but a very slim volume indeed. I've been considering getting some pet chickens for the backyard but I don't want to do it for some time (I want to wait and see how the whole bird flu thing plays out), so this was a fine introduction for me. It covers the basics of feeding, cleaning up after, and maintaining a home for your chickens. I have a better idea now of what kind of effort will be involved in keeping a few hens, how many eggs I can expect, and what kind of modifications the backyard will need. But I don't think you can rely on this book alone if you are already serious about adopting some chickens and need a thorough reference volume. There is very little information here about looking after the birds' health, for instance, and they only give information about a handful of breeds.

Note: this book is written by the makers of the Eglu, which is a pre-fabricated plastic chicken coop for people who just want 2 or 3 chickens as pets. The writers do not identify themselves this way, but I have checked the Eglu website, and the same bearded guys appear on it. To their credit, they discuss how to clean and care for traditional wooden coops as well. But this book also comes free with any purchase of an Eglu. So if you think you might get an Eglu, you might as well not buy this book now since you'll get it for free later.

My 8 year old daughter gave this to me for Christmas. I've kept chickens for many years. I don't believe the writers of this book know what theyre talking about. When I read that the authors worked for a company that sold henhouses, it made perfect sense. Anyway, if you really want information on chickens, buy the American Standard of Perfection and/or The Beginners Guide to Raising and Showing Chickens (DVD..its awesome)- both available from the American Poultry Association website.

This is an excellent book if you are looking to have just a few chickens in your back yard for eggs and/or are a beginner. It also shows how chicken keeping has moved into the 21st century with the wonderful Eglu, as well as showing the different types of chicken housing available. Perfect and well recommended.

I know absolutely nothing about keeping chickens, so this book helped me alot. It is full of detailed facts about anything you would ever need to know about owning and keeping a flock of chooks in a productive and happy environment. Great for beginners like me!

`Keeping Pet Chicken' is a good beginners guide to all things chicken related. This book covers a variety of topics from chicken anatomy, breeds, housing and runs, food and water, preparing your garden, buying your chicken, eggs, seasonal tips, handling, cleaning, behaviour, healthcare, breeding and more besides. This is in hardback format and has extensive and attractive photography throughout. Each chapter has a `handy hints' sidebar and there is plenty of information to get you started. This is quite basic and you may need to explore other books once your interest has been pricked for more in-depth knowledge, but for your first forays into keeping chickens as pets then this is an excellent place to go. Clear, attractive and with just enough information for those completely new to poultry care.

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I learned a lot about chickens from this book -- very informative, great pictures of different breeds of chickens, pictures and info about chicken coops, feeders, etc., lots of tips and information about how to care for your chickens -- this is a book I will go to a lot. Well written, I enjoyed it.