The Chicken Whisperer's Guide to Keeping Chickens: Everything You Need to Know . . . and Didn't Know You Needed to Know About Backyard and Urban Chickens

I own most of the books that come up on the first search page under Poultry or Chickens - and I have found something helpful in ever one of them. I had downloaded a few of the author's podcasts (radio shows?) and found him helpful, and I follow him on Twitter but I wouldn't call myself a fan. I was worried this book would be too folksy or just a platform for dialog about the politics of backyard poultry but it's not.Pros-* Extremely well organized* A great presentation on types of chickens* Plenty of actionable/doable hints or ideas* Pragmatic advice* Solid facts (I'm turned off by sloppy fact checking! none of that here!)* Great photos!* Clean, well edited and formated text* Great illustrations* Even my husband read it!Cons-* (like most of these books) plenty of verbiage about duel purpose birds but little information on the actual slaughter or butchering of chickens.I know I know - many of you would be HORRIFIED to address this dirty dark side of chicken ownership but I'm not a vegetarian! I'm an Omnivore and while I absolutely LOVE my hens, when they are done laying they will end up in a pot on the stove.I wish I'd read this book before I started into chickens but better late than never!About me - I have a small flock of eight laying hens that I keep on our suburban farm outside of Kent, OH. This year I'm hatching out over 100 eggs for meat birds (I don't know why - I just got carried away!) as well as putting in a full vegetable garden. I love sprouting and other small space food production. I would like to be procuring all of my meat by the end of this year. Currently I hunt for red meat (venison) and I've butchered three of our roosters. I HATE the killing part but if I'm going to continue to eat meat it seems more honest than buying it at a store. You can follow me on Twitter @HonestOmnivore

I preordered this book and was very excited when it came in. Unfortunately for me, although the book is well organized and filled with lots of great full color glossy pics, I was really looking for something really deep - a (insert your animal of choice here) whisperer should have loads of tips, hints, and deep insights. What I really needed was a copy of the chicken shouter - has that been written yet? This is more Billie Mays than Robert Redford.Good for basic start up info and the family liked all the pics - I was just hoping for more depth - example - the author mentions wing clipping for flight prevention once - and that's it - no instructions, pictures, or anything else. Not trying to be harsh, but this reads as more of a 'chicken for pets' book a 12 year old would pick up at the Petco counter - whose chickens will end up being taken care of by an older, more knowledgeable relative...That being said, I do agree with the first review concerning chickens and tightly settled neighborhoods. Lots of good info there.I do recommend anything by Storey Publishing on the subject - unless you are looking for a pet...

For someone who is new to chickens, this appears to be a great guide. I do wish that there were picture of all of the breeds mentioned in the book, and although there is a glossary in the back, it would be helpful if chicken-centric terms were defined the first time they were used.Aside from those two minor things I'm really pleased with the amount and quality of the information and I look forward to chicken-raising in the future. I feel that this text goes a long way towards preparing a first-time chicken owner.

I like pictures, style, but it is just not very detailed.....I always go to it and end up having to research online instead because it doesn't give specifics.....when and how exactly do you move chicks outside? How exactly do you clean a chicken coop? It is a pretty coffee table chicken book...I enjoyed reading about breads in it the most, but it hasn't helped us as a reference book for first time chicken owners.

I've been a fan of Andy's podcasts so I was pleased to get the book. Like Pat Foreman's book, I purchased Andy's book to help me decide whether I am going to keep chickens in my Chicago yard. The answer is YES. I agree that a little more depth wouldn't hurt, but I wasn't looking for a treatise on chickens. I needed a good overview and I certainly got that!

Great book ! This books gives all the vital information on raising chickens . It also tells about the different illnesses they can get and what you can do for it . This book also tells a bought different breeds of chickens .

Good read

This is a great book for those who have chickens, backyard or farm yard. The delivery was very slow but the book was worth the wait.

I bought this for my Brother and Sister-in-law who started keeping chickens in the Summer. They were already well read and had spent a good year researching the project - being the lovely sensible people they are - so I wanted a book that wasn't too basic, but maybe had some new stuff in it too. We looked at a lots of books on the subject and this one would be a great book if you only bought one. All the basic stuff is there without coming across as patronising, and there's more advanced stuff too. I'm thinking of doing the same thing and keeping Chickens and will do some proper research too. I expect I'll have a few books on the shelf, but suspect THIS will be the most thumbed. Arrived next day.

Although an American publication this book has plenty of information relevant to chicken keepers world wide. It is without much or the jargon found in some other books. Worth having on the shelves, especially if you think there could be something wrong.

Ive got quite a few chicken keeping books but this one goes the extra mile. I like to dip in and out of it as it has some different bits of information that you wouldnt normally read in the usual guides. Great fun and interesting.

Interesting chicken topics and good advise. I would recommend it to people thinking of keeping their own chickens for the first time.

Bought as a present for a friend who has just got her 1st chickens. She found it very helpful & learnt things she didn;t know