Raising Chickens for Dummies Book Club Discussion

[Sonic Pug]

Anymore comments?

 

[anderson8505]

Hmmm... are three people still a book club?

I'm still reading Dummies, stick with it Sonic & ssmith.

 

[Sonic Pug]

I don't mind sticking with it... I just dont know where the organizer Purely Poultry went?

He had stated that we would discuss chaps 1-5 on the 10th and even had us order our second book. This seems very strange that he has not responded or posted doesn't it?

Anyway, if you're game let's discuss chaps 6 - 10 by the 24th and then the remainder of the book by the 30th.

Did you already pick up the second book?

 

[anderson8505]

Yup I have "How to Raise Chickens" already too. Was this all just a ploy to entice people to buy books from Purely Poultry? Ah, well, in any case, I am learning a lot!

Also, we were supposed to pick November's book on 9/15. I'm fine with putting that off a bit. Or not.

ps.. Oh those garden markers you sell are very cool. I recently planted several rows and used these plastic ones, wrote on them with Sharpies, and, yeah, half of them WASHED off in the RAIN! I need a garden marker that says "Mystery Garden"

 

[bantiesrule]

I read "Dummies" a while ago and don't remember what chapters said what but I was quite impressed with it. My budget is a little limited right now so I had just borrowed it from the library, I might have to reborrow it and do a refresher so I can add more comments.

 

[ssmith1373]

Whether the book club continues or not, Raising Chickens for Dummies is an overall superb book. The subjects it covers are broad with really good suggestions for the novice and experienced chicken people alike. I am glad that I bought the book, for it is one I will use for a reference over and over again.

Chapter 6 covers "Designing and Constructing a Coop." It covers a lot of perspectives: from using what you have to buying pre-fab coops. He touches on the plus and minus of each. It also covers coop locations - which is important. However, if you really want to build your own coop - you will have to look elsewhere for that.
Chapter 7"Coop, Sweet Coopf" covers bedding, feeding/watering equipment and cleaning the coop and roost. It has some helpful suggestions.
Chapter 8 Covers "Feeding Your Flock". It goes from the basics to the benefits of vitamins and minerals in chicken feed. It also covers some of the information on mixing your own feed or using commercial feed. This chapter has some very helpful information as the whether it will benefit the chicken owners financial etc.
What I liked best about this chapter is that it covers "Things to Avoid Feeding Chickens at All Costs" (p 153).
Chapter 9 covers "Controlling Pests and Predators." Most of the information here I sort of knew, but it is good to have the basic problems and possible solutions down for those times when they are needed. It is a pretty good guide for these situations.
Chapter 10: Keeping Your Flock Happy and Healthy - I enjoyed reading this chapter. It gave me some ideas I did not have.

 

[purelypoultry]

I do sincerely apologize for not having posting to this. I have had an unexpected change of events in my life recently that has limited my reading time. When I had this idea I had time every day to read and now I am unable to do so.

I think this book club idea might work best if I take some sort of a passive role in it. I would like to do a give away of once copy of each month's book and also a coupon for each book but I am unfortunately not able to dedicate the time to leading discussions or administration of the book club.

Please accept my apologies.

 

[anderson8505]

It's okay. Stuff happens, and boy does it ever happen around my place!

 

[auntpa-k]

Second that! I 'should' have all this time myself, don't know what happened. ??

?? And everything has to happen all at once and NOW! But we all know that "LIFE happens!"

Once things settle, let us know, and maybe we can try again.

(This 'life' stuff really sucks sometimes!!)

 

[ssmith1373]

I agree. Life happens. What more can we say? Please add some notes when you can. I am glad that I got the book and read it because of this book club.
Does anyone have a suggestion of other good poultry books? I would love to check out some duck and goose books as well.