The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens: Simple Steps for Healthy, Happy Hens

I have been "chicken keeper" for 7 years and I am enchanted by this guide. Kathy has far exceeded my expectations. I expected a guide with very basic information but am blown away by the depth and variety of topics covered. The writing flows and the pictures enhance your understanding. The overall book is beautiful. If you are "thinking" about raising chickens this guide will give you the knowledge that you need to make wise decisions and understand what you are getting into....love is not enough. The preparations are critical for a healthy and happy flock and flock keeper. Go in knowing what to expect and you will enjoy the experience tenfold. If you are an experienced keeper don't turn you "nose up". This guide will enhance you overall knowledge. Kathy has done her homework well and shares with us her hundreds of hours of research and practical experience. I apologize to Kathy for not expecting this treasure trove of practical, insightful, and well researched information. The explanations are short and pack a powerful punch and the guide is beautifully formatted and fun to explore. In the chicken industry we are often kept in the dark about the care and keeping of industry birds. Know where your eggs come from and even if you choose not to raise birds, support those who do and know that your eggs come from happy and healthy hens. I very highly recommend this guide and thank the author and all of you who help make life for chickens the way it should be....happy, healthy and safe ! This will become my "go to" guide and am thrilled to have it on my chicken shelf. If you try this guide you will not be disappointed.

I am a new chicken owner and found myself floundering with millions of questions. I found this book and I really like the way this author shares information. It has a great index where I can look up specific areas that I am concerned about. Her writing is clear and easy to understand. Illustrations are good. If you’re a new chicken owner or if you just want to learn more about Chicken raising I highly recommend this book.

I am so thankful I found this book at the beginning of my chicken keeping days. In the age of social media you will quickly find all kinds of misinformation that will lead you straight to wasted money and even unhealthy chickens. Kathy has years of experience and education on chickens and is a straight shooter. The info in this book is invaluable and I have used it so many times over the past 5 years. You will find all the basics for preparing for chicks, day to day care, specific medical advice for sick/injured chickens, interesting chicken facts, and even how to garden with chickens! This has been a fun read but also a life saver for the few issues I've had, such as scaly leg mites. Do yourself a favor and BUY THE BOOK! I promise you will save yourself from the feeling of overwhelm if you try to follow "advice" from social media. PS- more fun and learning to be found if you follow The Chicken Chick for her FB lives!

I decided to start keeping chickens about two years ago. I love research (nerd) so I scoured the internet for information. I finally hit upon the Chicken Chick site and this is who clicked for me. She has a definite emphasis on keeping her birds safe which is very appealing to me as an animal lover, but also expresses her philosophy about balancing free ranging with quality of life which helped me to be able to let go of some anxiety about free ranging. She gives detailed specifics about coops and safety so my coop was built and secure before I got my first chicks. TCC's book is also an invaluable guide to chicken health. She explains in detail about feeding, treating illnesses and injuries, best practices in cleanliness and cross contamination. Her advice on treating ill chicks saved the life of two of my baby Lavender Orpingtons. They are grown and healthy birds now. I feel confident taking her advice where a lot of sites on the internet seem pretty casual if not flat out cavalier about treating chickens. This book is not about chicken farming and meat birds. It's about keeping birds safely and happily in your backyard in the city (or wherever you live) for eggs and pleasure. TCC is my go-to source whenever I have a question or problem with my chickens. Feeling confident that you can handle a problem when it arises, and it will, adds to the joy of keeping these very interesting creatures in your backyard. My chickens have brought me a lot of pleasure and laughter. Kathy Shea Mormino has written a visually interesting and helpful book, plus she's funny. Can't recommend highly enough if chickens are your thing.

Great book

With the growing popularity of keeping backyard chickens there has been an increasing need for good science based chicken keeping knowledge. This trend has led to so much good and bad information that it's sometimes difficult to discern what is best for our chickens. I have read a lot of books, blogs, and articles to have a good working knowledge of the good, the bad, and the outright ugly. The two books and people I find to have the most value and knowledge is Kathy a.k.a. The Chicken Chick, and her book The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens and Gail Damerow's book The Chicken Health Handbook. The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens is an easy to read concise guide to bringing up healthy baby birds to their more elderly years. Her chapters are well researched and checked through a poultry veterinarian. The pictures give a clear view of healthy vs unhealthy chickens so the reader has a good visual. She includes health tips, winterizing, feeding, freezing water problems, funky looking eggs, spraddle legs, and everything in between and the ever controversial diacomaceous earth and healthy treats

The book has great design, photos, and quality paper. Most of the info in this book should be good for first timers. With 173 pages (not including appendix and non-content pages) it is a fast read due to large photos and layout. As far as depth of info it is a little lacking so I give it 4 stars (I would technically like to give 3.5 stars). The author does give you adequate info to start almost immediately. Note: I purchased this item on sale on Amazon. It was part of a deal so I purchased it slightly lower than retail price so it was worth the price I paid.

Thanks to this simple, yet incredibly informative book, I have a small, healthy flock of beautiful hens. This is my second go-round with chickens. My first went OK, but it was difficult and I always felt like I wasn’t quite hitting the mark and doing best by my birds. I took 3 years off and did research on the internet...and got SOO confused. Either the information was too anecdotal and not reliable or too technical or specialized to really be of any help. Then I found The Chicken Chick. Using the advice found in this book, I learned how to select breeds appropriate for my situation, what factors to consider when choosing or building my coop/run, what equipment I needed, supplies to have on hand in the event of an emergency, common Chicken health issues that I can treat at home (as well as how to know when I’m in over my head and need to head to the veterinarian), proper feeding and handling...the list goes on and on. The book is very well researched and backed up by scientific studies. It is concise, well organized, insightful, humorous, easy to read and beautifully illustrated both with photographs and diagrams. I purchased the Kindle version of the book because I wanted to always have it at my fingertips, which has come in handy more than once when I’ve found myself at a Tractor Supply or feed store and couldn’t remember what product treated what or found myself face to face with another confused “chickaneer” who needed help and didn’t know where to turn. I’m hoping to get the paperback version for Christmas this year.

Arrived quickly and as described. This book is very easy to read and understand. It's written by an American author. The information is relevant wherever you're from. It is well thought out, covering everything you need to know to get you started keeping chickens. It addresses topics like how to get organised before you get chickens, which breeds to consider and why, what you need and what to expect, health basics including how to treat minor injuries and sickness, basic anatomy and diet, also ideas on introducing new chickens to your flock, and how seasonal changes affect your chickens. This is not a complete list of topics. See photo of contents page. I really enjoyed reading this book. It is beautifully illustrated, nicely written (see photo of Chicken bath page), full of details, suggestions, and experienced advice; it also warns you when it's going to talk about the messy, gritty bits before it steams right in with pertinent details. I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you are deciding whether to take the plunge and get chickens then this is the book to buy. You'll be informed and prepared to make the right choices with confidence. If you have chickens, it may give you some fresh ideas, or perhaps explain more clearly why certain behaviours or health conditions are happening with your flock. Great book! Enjoy!

A travers ce très beau livre, Kathy Shea Mormino nous fait partager son univers et toute son expérience sur l’élevage familial des poules, ceci de manière très pédagogique et ludique. A noter les rubriques avec Rachel la petite poule rousse (Bantam de Pékin frisée) très regrettée mascotte du groupe, et sans doute la poule la plus célèbre du web ! Le Chicken Chick’s Guide To Backyard Chickens est une véritable mine d’informations. C’est LE LIVRE qu’il faut avoir pour les passionnés de poules qu’ils soient débutants ou confirmés, surtout à l’heure des cadeaux pour Noël !

Very informative, guidelines were clear

I loved this book, with all its simple and practical knowledge. It was nice to know that the author relied on poultry industry experts as well as her own experience. A great resource for a newbie like me

poca información nueva. y aunque en el libro recomienda no hacer caso a blogs y info de internet. no ofrece más que se encuentra en www. no compraría de nuevo.