The Chicken Health Handbook (Paperback)

by Gail Damerow (Author) "THIS BOOK WAS BORN out of years of frustration in trying to deal with chicken diseases and not being able to find a clearly understandable,..." (more)
Key Phrases: bluish comb, incubator sanitation, powdered bluestone, North America, United States, Reportable Diseases (more...)

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
"...a first-rate guide for the small producer interested in healthful meat and eggs as well as the exotic breed fancier..." -- American Library Association

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Garden Way Publishing / Storey Communications, Inc (January 6, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882666118
• ISBN-13: 978-0882666112
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,796 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry > Poultry
  #5 in	Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Science
  #8 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Veterinary Medicine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Robert Steffens (TN United States) - See all my reviews

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.

20 of 20 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

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.

21 of 22 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 (Northern KY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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!