A Family Guide to Keeping Chickens Book Review
This practical, full colour book, is ideal for the complete beginner. Even someone who has never kept animals before should be able to follow the clear, detailed guidance that is given at every stage.
Haynes Chicken Manual Review
The Chicken Manual is written by Laurence Beeken who has an excellent knowledge of keeping poultry. Laurence has kept chickens for over 20 years, both in the back garden and for exhibition showing. He has previously judged at National level and has sat on several international breed club committees as well as contributing to several magazines covering all aspects of poultry keeping.
Keeping Ducks and Geese Book Review
Keeping Ducks and Geese by Chris and Mike Ashton certainly doesn’t disappoint. Just like “Keeping Chickens”, it is very well presented with excellent colour photos and diagrams and it is packed with useful information.
Beginner’s Guide to Caring for Ex-Batts Review
Have you ever been tempted to rehome some ex-batts but didn’t know where to start? This little book is written especially for the new or prospective ex-batt owner, providing the information you need to confidently care for your own little flock of ex-commercial hens…
Success with Chickens Book Review
Jeremy Hobson is certainly no newcomer to the world of poultry, having kept chickens for over 40 years and this is evident in his writing. Jeremy offers very practical advice to chicken keepers and Success with Chickens is both an enjoyable read and useful reference book for newcomers to the hobby…
The Domestic Duck Book Review
I was a little nervous when this book arrived. After all, I have been a big fan of Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks for the last few years. It seemed to cover everything I needed to know about ducks (although it is aimed at the American market) and I didn’t think this book would beat it, but how wrong I was!
21st Century Poultry Breeding Book Review
This book has been long-awaited by poultry breeders but being a novice when it comes to genetics, to be honest, I was a little worried about reviewing it. I was pleasantly surprised though, it is certainly not just for experienced breeders and I was able to improve my knowledge a great deal from this book without getting too confused!
Keeping Chickens Book Review
Having read quite a number of books on the various aspects of keeping chickens, a book that says it’s for the beginner and more experienced keeper alike usually makes me raise an eyebrow. Will there really be anything new I can learn from this book? Well in one word YES!
The Illustrated Guide to Chickens Book Review
The Illustrated Guide To Chickens is a beautifully presented book that covers 100 of the most familiar breeds of chickens found across Europe and North America. Every breed has been painted by the author and artist Celia Lewis (who has co-written two other books on hen care) and accompanies a comprehensive breed profile, covering the breed history, pertinent breed characteristics and some tips about special breed requirements.
Popular Poultry Breeds Book Review
Popular Poultry Breeds was written as a companion volume to Rare Poultry breeds by the same author. Forty of the most popular poultry breeds (large fowl and bantam varieties) have been covered in detail as well as their variants and variations in name and breed standards which can sometimes be considerably different from country to country.
Not Just For Christmas Book Review
It wasn’t until last year that I picked up the name of Janice Houghton-Wallace (founder of the UK Turkey Club incidentally) whilst reading an article she had written and I wondered whether I should investigate further to see whether she had any books published on keeping Turkeys. Well, I wasn’t disappointed, she had a book called ‘Not Just For Christmas’ which has now been added to my ever-growing collection of poultry books.
The Orpington Fowl Book Review
The Orpington Fowl has to be THE book to have on your bookshelf if you are interested in the Orpington breed. The book starts by telling the story of how William Cook created and then sold the Orpington to all corners of the World. He created a dual purpose utility bird that also became popular at poultry shows.
Self Sufficiency Hen Keeping Book Review
Self Sufficiency Hen Keeping by Mike Hatcher is one of a number of new books I have seen appear on the shelves recently and I decided it was time to read it and let you know what I thought. More and more people are starting to keep chickens and if that’s you, as a beginner, you will find this book contains everything you need to know to get started.
Art of the Chicken Coop Book Review
One of the biggest expenses when you decide to start keeping chickens is that of the housing. Your chickens may be relatively cheap, but if you’re looking to buy a coop you can expect to pay anything from a hundred to several hundred pounds. It can be eye watering, and makes a lie of the ‘cheap supply of eggs’ waffle spouted by enthusiasts like me. So if you’re in any way handy, building your own hen accommodation can be a much more viable alternative. Chris Gleason’s ‘Art Of The Chicken Coop’ attempts to offer some inspiration.
British Waterfowl Standards Book Review
At first I thought there would be little need to describe the content of this book to you as the title is so self-explanatory… but I was wrong and it far outweighed my expectations. The book includes superb colour photographs of nearly all breeds of Waterfowl, (many of which are show winners) and includes the new colours of Call and Runner ducks that are so popular at the moment (there are in fact 27 pages devoted to Indian Runners!).