The Beginner's Guide to Raising Chickens: How to Raise a Happy Backyard Flock (Raising Chickens Guide)

Editing to add after obtaining chickens: I can definitely say now that I have chickens that I constantly refer back to this book to refresh myself on certain topics! Chicken behavior and health especially. I do wish there was more in there about bumblefoot care as two of the chickens I have came with bumblefoot (but she warns you- do an all over health exam before buying and I skipped that because I felt pretty rushed by the buying process). It seems bumblefoot is more of a common infection than uncommon but I know she covered so many topics, she must have had to pick and choose what to expand on and what to be more vague about. I’m glad she at least mentions it, and thankfully with the vast internet resources I was able to get a great home treatment together to fight and prevent future bumblefoot. Original review: I can’t say enough good about this book! It is rich in information, funny and intriguing to read with personal anecdotes and experiences backed up with research and facts, punny, and it reads like a school text book with vocabulary, a glossary and an index, a full list of a basic and a comprehensive first aid kit for chicken health needs, different options and pros and cons on types of coop bedding, coop plans- there is TRULY no information I can think of needing that I can’t find in this book. It’s so well researched yet Anne’s personal touch makes her feel like a good friend giving you all the best secrets. The artwork and layout is extremely pleasing and makes it even easier and more pleasant to read. I bought this because I plan to get chickens but I would not before I researched their full needs. I feel this book has beyond equipped me and provided extra resources, AND it’s something I can easily refer back to when I need a refresher or am in a specific “stage” of chicken care. It’s separated into two sections, before chickens (BC) and after delivery (AD). (See what she did there?) Overall, if you want to learn about chickens OR even if you have chickens and want to learn more- get this book! My whole family will be reading it before we get any. I really can’t recommend it enough!

This is a must have book for first time chicken owners!! I am a straight beginner. Never have had chickens in my life nor been around them enough to know anything about them. I have gained so much knowledge in this book between behavior, egg colors, chicken breeds, chicken coop builds/must haves, etc. it even gets down into bedding to make sure you choose the correct one for you and your butt nuggets! Me being a first time chicken mom I didn’t even know the questions to ask google and I felt literally clueless. I knew of some questions but felt like I was missing so much information. This book answers all questions along with more knowledge you wouldn’t even know to ask google. I highly recommend this book! I take a highlighter and highlight all my must know things so they are easy to look back and fine and also on the sides of the pages there is room to hand write notes! Amazing book! Can’t get enough of it! I also had a hen drop a egg the night I got the book, first egg I’ve ever experienced had no clue what to do with the egg and went to the book and learned everything I needed to know on how to store and care for my fresh egg! Thank you so much for giving me all the chicken knowledge!🤎 having this books make it so much easier than googling questions and swapping through 100 tabs etc. don’t hesitate get the book! I recommend the paperback cause you can press it down the write, highlight, and it stays open!

This book has great information for anyone who is thinking about getting chickens. The book is easy to read and I went through the entire book in two days. The author covers a lot of topics... including things I had never thought about when planning for my future chickens. I recommend this book to anyone who is considering raising chickens.

Very good basuc and introductory information about chickens and chicken rearing. However I felt the ancillary information could have heen better. The Author tries to make the book more fun with sections about things like "chicken math" explaining how you will buy 4 chickens but end up with 20 because you love them. While cute and fun, not neccesary or informative in my opinion, but other's may feel differently. I would rather have seen more effort put into the coop design section which is predominantly advertised on the cover. It's true, there are coop and run designs, but the descriptions/instructions for internal design regarding roosts and laying boxes left something to be desired. Anyone can figure out how to put up 4 walls which there are plenty of diagrams for. However the roost bars and next boxes only have written descriptions of how to build and where to place them. Including them in the actuall coop blueprint would be immensely helpful for us visual people.

Learned a lot of very important information before getting my chickens. Refer to it off and on now that I have the chickens

Excellent beginners guide for complete novices. Covers everything from choosing breeds, caring for chicks, chicken health, building a coop, dealing with predators, feeding, and more. This book is strictly for egg production and does not cover butchering or meat production.

Very good book. Informative and good tips and pictures.

Great book for beginners looking to get chickens! Tells you everything you need to know. Even my 15 year old picked it up to read!

This is a really good book for a beginner in the chicken keeping stakes. Very informative about everything to do with chickens and how to look after them Plus there are detailed instruction on build coops. This is going to be my bible for the next future while i get my girls settled.

Has been a great beginner guide and reference book for first time chicken owners. Both my wife and daughter have used this to help establish some very happy healthy flocks

Very informative. Covers the all the bases.

Easy, fun book to read. I do feel that this book (alongside an amazon prime video series (Becky's)) has prepared me well for keeping chickens, with good advice of everything required to raise chicks and chickens well. I am sure that I will keep coming back to this book as a reference support throughout my chicken adventures. I knocked one star off, as this is really written for a American audience. It refers to US shops and products, so you will need to figure out the UK (or other) equivalents. Nevertheless recommended read if you like me are new to the world of chicken keeping. So keen to get my little chicks now!

This book is very basic and just gave me ideas of things I need to do more research on which unfortunately is not what I was looking for. I wanted a more comprehensive guide. It is also a book written by a US author and I would rather have had a UK perspective on things particularly legislation.