Chicken Books

[zrossk]

Does anyone know any good books on raising and keeping chickens. I cannot have chickens until i am old enough to move away so that will probably 11-16 years :l. Anyway i want to get a book to learn a lot. Also, are there any clubs i can join in Berks County, Pennsylvania? I am not around chickens a lot because noone has them around where i live so i wonder if there are any clubs where you can be around them and learn about raising them? I will try and call 4-H but they have the same hours as my school day so i have not gotten a chance to call yet. Any help appreciated

.

 

[Avonlea22]

This is the one book I've used as a reference, and I've been quite happy with it:

http://www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Chickens-3rd/dp/1603424695

I'm new to keeping chickens, so I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions. That book and this site have helped me greatly.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

X2!!!

Other chicken books may have more and better photos, but the information in the Storey's Guide is first rate. Some books use half the pages just to describe the different breeds.

In my opinion, the third edition adds some good information, so I'd go with that rather than a cheap second edition.

You can find local folks on BYC in the "Where am I? Where are you!" section. Here's Pennsylvania: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=248345

Berks County 4-H has an email you could try: [email protected]

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[Duramaxgirl]

The Chicken Health Handbook
By
Gail Damerow ...
This is mine and my sisters favorite chicken book. Good common sense guidelines on practical ways to keep chickens. Also head over to the OT (old timers thread) and you can learn a ton on how to care for birds for free!
I hope you can keep chickens sooner... My nine year old has her own coop and she loves it! We just gotta Get her some chicks to fill it now

 

[zrossk]

Thanks for all your help

. I wish i could keep them sooner but i am pretty sure it is illegal where i live and my parents don't want them.

 

[blackbelt]

Yes their are several great books. I own them all and even though I've had chickens for more than 30 years I still use them for reference. You can find them here plus you'll also find a lot of great information. I've been on my homestead for a long time and everything here is the real deal. visit http://simple-living-life.com

 

[LovinChicknFarmn]

First, there is a magazine I love called Chickens and it's published by Hobby Farms. It always has interesting articles about chickens and it always has different kinds of articles in it. I've bought it at Walmart. I think it comes out quarterly, so you can't always find it. One of the first chicken books I read was called Living with Chickens: Everything you need to know to raise your own Backyard Flock by Jay Rossier. It's a nice overview. I bought it and still refer to it sometimes. Than there's a fun book I got as a birthday present called Chicken and Egg by Janice Cole. It's a combination of memoir and cookbook. The author got chickens and knew nothing about raising them, fell in love with them, and wanted to write about it. She develops recipes for cookbooks. There are some delicious egg recipes in there if you're interested in that sort of thing. I recommend it because it is a nice personal look at raising chickens and not just an instructional guide. It's real life.

I also write a blog about my chickens. The link is below. Check it out. I have written about one of my hens being broody, h ow the flock gets along together, hatching and raising chicks, thinks that make having chickens easier, and all kinds of other interesting tid bits. I also mention a few websites on some posts that I like to check out.

Good luck with the chicken research. There are a lot of great resources out there.

 

[Avonlea22]

Quote:
It's now being published bi-monthly, but they still aren't accepting subscriptions. I too love this magazine.

 

[zrossk]

I got Storey's guide the third edition and love it. There are a lot of useful tips.