Hobby Farms Chickens: Tending a Small-Scale Flock for Pleasure and Profit is geared toward the hobby farmer looking to begin his or her own flock of chickens on a small farm or even backyard. Author Sue Weaver, who keeps various exotic breeds and countless barnies on her farm, is an expert on all things livestock and an avowed chicken fanatic. This photo-filled guide begins with "Chickens 101" and details the physiology of chickens, members of the Phasianidea family, providing beginning hobby farmers with a basic education in the chicken's unique physical makeup (from wings and feathers to beaks and digestive tracts), behavior, mating, and its unexpected high intelligence. The author offers advice on choosing the right types of chickens to get started: meat, egg, or dual purpose, or maybe even "just for pets." The book is an excellent resource for selecting which breed of chicken is best for the hobby farmer, based on the birds' traits, such as aggression, personality, noise factor, tolerance for heat, confinement, cold, etc. Chickens also provides information on selecting or building a suitable chicken coop for the hobby farmer's brood, outlining the basic requirements (lighting, ventilation, flooring, waterers, insulation, safety, and so forth). A detailed chapter on feeding chickens offers essential guidance on nutrition, commercial feeds, supplements, and water requirements. For the chicken hobby farmer looking to start with a clutch of baby chicks (from his own hen or an outside source), the author provides excellent info on incubators and hatching as well as all of the accommodations and preparation required for hens in the nest box. A chapter on selling eggs and broilers provides timetables, requirements, and dos and don'ts to get a hobby farmer's business off on the right foot. All chicken keepers will find the chapter on health of particular value, with expert advice on preventing common problems and dealing various maladies and diseases. Much detailed information about all of the topics in the book is encapsulated in sidebars. A glossary of over 125 terms plus a detailed resource section of chicken and poultry associations, books, and websites complete the volume. Fully indexed.

Healthy chickens are happy chickens. This one-of-a-kind reference book covers the health problems that plague chickens of all breeds and ages. Practical charts identify common symptoms and causes of infection, while an alphabetic listing of diseases provides advice on treatment. You’ll find helpful descriptions of troublesome ailments of all types, from poor egg production to crooked toe syndrome. Practical remedies and gentle preventative care measures will help your beloved flock stay happy, healthy, and safe.

Chickens: Naturally Raising A Sustainable Flock has quickly become a classic chicken-keeping manual, and is a one-of-a-kind book that you'll return to again and again for advice. Maat van Uitert is an internationally-recognized backyard chicken expert and author of Pampered Chicken Mama (PamperedChickenMama.com), which reaches 10 million readers monthly. She has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and in Reader's Digest, Prevention, Women's Health, and Glamour magazines.

For the family and would-be smallholder, chickens are the obvious first step when venturing into keeping livestock. Chickens also make ideal family pets, requiring less attention than a dog yet still being entertaining, productive and educational. This practical book is ideal for the complete beginner. Even someone who has never kept animals before should be able to follow the clear, detailed guidance that is given at every stage. It includes: · Choosing the right chickens and housing for your garden size · Exploring useful equipment, such as poultry feeders and drinkers · Routine care for your chickens, including what to feed them on · Outfoxing the fox - and other predators · What to do with all those eggs! · Dealing with parasites and ailments · Broody hens and hatching eggs With true-life portraits of chicken keepers, little known facts, and helpful and informative personal anecdotes, A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens, 2nd Edition is an easy and enjoyable read for anyone interested in keeping chickens.

For the family and would-be smallholder, chickens are the obvious first step when venturing into keeping livestock. Chickens also make ideal family pets, requiring less attention than a dog yet still being entertaining, productive and educational. This practical book is ideal for the complete beginner. Even someone who has never kept animals before should be able to follow the clear, detailed guidance that is given at every stage. It includes: · Choosing the right chickens and housing for your garden size · Exploring useful equipment, such as poultry feeders and drinkers · Routine care for your chickens, including what to feed them on · Outfoxing the fox - and other predators · What to do with all those eggs! · Dealing with parasites and ailments · Broody hens and hatching eggs With true-life portraits of chicken keepers, little known facts, and helpful and informative personal anecdotes, A Family Guide To Keeping Chickens, 2nd Edition is an easy and enjoyable read for anyone interested in keeping chickens.

"The Secret Lives of Chickens" does not describe how to raise chickens but rather how chickens live their lives, what their own society is like, what they do in their day-to-day living, their generally contented and happy approach to life, their many wiles, and more. Chickens are much more than we generally assume them to be. They are clever and they outsmart us all the time. What they do, and the situations in which they find themselves, can be humorous, and warm, and friendly. "The Secret Lives of Chickens" is a pleasant, easy to read book. This second edition of the hardcover book has been re-formatted from 10x8 to 8x10, some of the many photos have been spruced up a bit, but otherwise the content is the same.