We followed the book's instructions and she started laying again in 4 days!

Great help!

The only thing missing is an anatomy section on chickens...for us truly clueless.


A must for the chicken owner   December 25, 2002
 46 out of 46 found this review helpful

Best investment I made to help me raise my chickens! Information is right on, helped diagnosing "broody's" to viruses. Phenomenal information on hatching, breed types, feeding & behaviour. Other books I had purchased before were difficult to understand or just to generalized. I now have a flock of 16 free range chickens, (7 of them hatched by my hens), and my 8 mature hens are producing from 25 - 60 eggs a week. In comparison to my friend who has a flock of 35, my chickens are healthier (free range hers are caged), have little or no cannibalistic habits (her chickens are 1/2 bald for the fighting), and produce substantially more eggs than hers. Now I am buying her a copy for Christmas!

Most of the book is well organized and thought out. There are a few places where better cross referencing would help, but overall, you can find what you are looking for. Definite cover to cover read and keeper for future reference.


A "One-Size Fits All" Complete Guide   July 22, 2001
 39 out of 39 found this review helpful

This book is a complete guide to everything you need to know about raising chickens. I started as an ignorant amatuer and, after having read this book, know just about everything I need to know. It covers all the bases- health, showing, adult care, grower care, chick care, breeding, incubation and hatching, blueprints for housing, a helpful glossary, ect. I have raised a sucessful, healthy flock on this book alone! Good for an expert or beginner, expert exhibitor or amatuer, easy to understand, informative, and fun to read!


A very good book for those new to poultry...   June 13, 2005
 38 out of 39 found this review helpful

This book and Damerow's other book, "The Chicken Health Handbook" are the two I recommend to new chicken owners. This book focuses on getting you started, and includes the following chapters:

1. Choosing the Perfect Chicken
2. Housing
3. Feeding
4. Meat Bird Management
5. Butchering Day (and Good Eating to Follow)
6. Layer Management
7. Table Eggs
8. Managing Breeders
9. Incubation and Hatching
10. Chicken Care
11. General Management
12. Health Management
13. Showing
Glossary
State Resources
Organizations
Recommended Reading
Videos
Suppliers
Index

The only quibble I have with this book is that Damerow includes very little on how to effectively treat a sick chicken, other than culling it. This can be unsettling to the novice poultry owner, who is not always ready to cull those birds that are pets. That's why I like to recommend also purchasing her other book on health (see above.) It is a much more exhaustive reference with symptoms and treatments for various illnesses (chickens, unfortunately, are susceptible to a large number of ailments.)

But all in all this is a very good book for the beginning fancier, and well worth the purchase.