Practical how-to advice for raising chickens in virtually any backyard!
Raising chickens on a small scale is a popular–and growing–pastime. And Raising Chickens For Dummies provides an up-to-date, thorough introduction to all aspects of caring for chickens, including choosing and purchasing chickens, constructing housing, and proper feeding. Raising Chickens For Dummies provides authoritative, detailed information to make raising chickens for eggs, meat, or backyard entertainment that much easier.
Introduction.
Part I: Choosing Chickens.
Chapter 1: The Joy of Chickens.
Chapter 2: Basic Chicken Biology and Behavior.
Chapter 3: A Chicken Isn’t Just a Chicken:Your Guide to Breeds.
Chapter 4: Buying Chickens.
Part II: Housing Your Flock.
Chapter 5: Choosing Your Housing Type.
Chapter 6: Designing and Constructing a Coop.
Chapter 7: Coop, Sweet Coop: Furnishing and Housekeeping.
Part III: Caring for Your Flock: General Management.
Chapter 8: Feeding Your Flock.
Chapter 9: Controlling Pests and Predators.
Chapter 10: Keeping Your Flock Happy and Healthy.
Chapter 11: Handling Health Problems.
Part IV: Breeding: From Chicken to Egg and Back Again.
Chapter 12: Mating Your Chickens.
Chapter 13: Incubating Eggs and Hatching Chicks.
Chapter 14: Raising Chicks.
Part V: Special Management Considerations.
Chapter 15: Managing Layers and Collecting Eggs.
Chapter 16: Raising and Butchering Meat Birds.
Part VI: The Part of Tens.
Chapter 17: More than Ten Tips for Keeping Healthy, Stress-Free Chickens.
Chapter 18: More than Ten Misconceptions about Chickens, Eggs, and So On.
Index.
Kimberly Willis has raised poultry for more than 30 years. She currently keeps a flock of laying hens and Bourbon Red turkeys on her small farm and works at an MSU county Extension office in Michigan. Rob Ludlow runs BackYardChickens.com, the leading chicken-raising information resource on the Web. Rob and his family raise a small flock in their San Francisco Bay-area backyard.
Raising Chickens for Dummies
Learn to:
Raise chickens in virtually any backyard
Choose and purchase chickens
Construct the right housing
Feed and care for your chickens
Kimberly Willis
Poultry breeder and enthusiast
with Rob Ludlow
Owner, BackYardChickens.com
Your hands-on guide to modern chicken-raising methods
Thinking about raising chickens? This comprehensive, practical guide gives you expert advice on all aspects of keeping chickens in your backyard. Whether you're interested in chickens as pets or as a source for eggs or meat, you'll find all the latest information on housing, feeding, healthcare, breeding, and much more.
Do you speak chicken? learn about basic chicken biology, breeds, and behavior
Select your chickens from eggs to chicks to adults, decide which to buy, how many you need, and find the healthy ones
Take care of a small flock choose a type of housing, construct a chicken coop, feed your birds, and do housekeeping
Make more chickens discover how to mate your chickens, incubate eggs, and hatch and nurture chicks
Reap the harvest manage laying hens, collect and store eggs, butcher meat birds, and package and store meat
Open the book and find:
Basic chicken-keeping requirements
Misconceptions about chickens explained
Top tips for healthy chickens
Do-it-yourself housing ideas
The best feed for your birds
Advice on controlling pests and predators
Hints for optimal egg production
Information on raising meat birds
Answers to combat laying issues
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Distributor: John Wiley & Sons
Publication Date: 08-03-2009
Pages: 408
Measurements: 236.20mm X 185.39mm X 20.299mm X 20.8oz
