Raising Chickens For Dummies [Paperback]

Kimberley Willis (Author), Rob Ludlow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2009

Practical how-to advice for raising chickens in virtually any backyard!

Raising chickens on a small scale is a popular–and growing–pastime. And Raising Chickens For Dummies provides an up-to-date, thorough introduction to all aspects of caring for chickens, including choosing and purchasing chickens, constructing housing, and proper feeding. Raising Chickens For Dummies provides authoritative, detailed information to make raising chickens for eggs, meat, or backyard entertainment that much easier.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Raising Chickens for Dummies

Learn to:

• Raise chickens in virtually any backyard

• Choose and purchase chickens

• Construct the right housing

• Feed and care for your chickens

Kimberly Willis

Poultry breeder and enthusiast

with Rob Ludlow

Owner, BackYardChickens.com

Your hands-on guide to modern chicken-raising methods

Thinking about raising chickens? This comprehensive, practical guide gives you expert advice on all aspects of keeping chickens in your backyard. Whether you're interested in chickens as pets or as a source for eggs or meat, you'll find all the latest information on housing, feeding, healthcare, breeding, and much more.

• Do you speak chicken? — learn about basic chicken biology, breeds, and behavior

• Select your chickens — from eggs to chicks to adults, decide which to buy, how many you need, and find the healthy ones

• Take care of a small flock — choose a type of housing, construct a chicken coop, feed your birds, and do housekeeping

• Make more chickens — discover how to mate your chickens, incubate eggs, and hatch and nurture chicks

• Reap the harvest — manage laying hens, collect and store eggs, butcher meat birds, and package and store meat

Open the book and find:

• Basic chicken-keeping requirements

• Misconceptions about chickens explained

• Top tips for healthy chickens

• Do-it-yourself housing ideas

• The best feed for your birds

• Advice on controlling pests and predators

• Hints for optimal egg production

• Information on raising meat birds

• Answers to combat laying issues

About the Author

Kimberly Willis has raised poultry for more than 30 years. She currently keeps a flock of laying hens and Bourbon Red turkeys on her small farm and works at an MSU county Extension office in Michigan. Rob Ludlow runs BackYardChickens.com, the leading chicken-raising information resource on the Web. Rob and his family raise a small flock in their San Francisco Bay-area backyard.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (August 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470465441
• ISBN-13: 978-0470465448
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where Was This Book Last Year?, August 6, 2009

By 

Joe D. Bryant (Greenwood, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising Chickens For Dummies (Paperback)

I started raising chickens last year. Before that I read a lot of chicken books and got some necessary basic information. Many of the books were much too technical for my level and/or for what I wanted to know.

The wonderful thing about this book is the way it's written. Every subject area starts off and ends with simple, thorough explanations for the reader. After reading a page or two, I invariably realize that I fully understand what normally would have been confusing and complicated.

I keep it by my recliner, open it anywhere, read the page and learn something new every time. I seriously doubt that I will ever need to buy another book about chickens.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All of the Answers in One Place, August 10, 2009

By 

Renee C. Fraser (Simi Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Raising Chickens For Dummies (Paperback)

I bought a number of books on chickens two years ago when I was first entertaining the idea of keeping hens. I can toss them all out now that I have this book. I sure wish it was out when I started this project!

Everything you really need to know to raise chickens is in this book. The authors give clear and reasonable recommendations on vaccinations, worming, feeding... just about everything you can think of.

The book is easy to use and clearly organized. It's also engagingly written. I have more confidence in my chicken-keeping after reading this book.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have book, August 2, 2009

By 

Jimbob Rebel - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Raising Chickens For Dummies (Paperback)

This book is the ultimate in chicken books and I have a bunch of them! If I had to pick out one chicken book to give as a gift or to recommend to a new chicken person it would be a copy of this one. And if for some reason the book doesn't have the answer to the question you have then the people on the website listed on the cover will have it and they are very helpful! The book is easy to read and very easy to understand. Get a copy today! Mine didn't come from Amazon but it is so good that I want to give it 5 stars and let everyone know about it! And I very rarely review anything. This deserves my review! Signed the Mrs of the account holder and yes, I am a chicken addict! Now go buy a copy of this book and get yourself some pets that will make you breakfast! :)