The 12 Best Books On Raising Chickens

Reviews

Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 4th Edition

The fourth version of “Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens” has been one of the most popular chicken-rearing publications for over two decades. The book contains current information about chicken shelters and enclosures, what to feed your hens, poultry health care, rearing chicks, and obtaining chicken meat and eggs.

It also includes the latest study on chicken communication and behavior. This extensive and information-packed fourth edition covers practically every area of chicken care and is filled with color images and graphics. The book can get fairly repetitious at times, despite being nearly too comprehensive.

Pros

• Number-one bestseller
• Current fourth edition
• Complete guide on growing chickens from hatching to slaughter
• Contains the latest studies on chicken communication and behavior
• Full of color photographs and drawings

Cons

• Can become monotonous at times.

 

The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens: How to Raise a Happy Backyard Flock

“The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Chickens” is the most cost-effective book on raising chickens. If you’re new to keeping hens or just wish to increase your knowledge — and your flock — this book will provide you with the information you need to get started. This 2019 publication offers up-to-date information on rearing your own flock.

It includes blueprints for constructing a coop, selecting the correct chicken breed, and rearing chicks, as well as information on what to feed your chickens and drawings of chicken care. This book is an excellent supplement for novice flock keepers!

With only 192 pages, this book is not as detailed as others on the market and is intended for novices. If you have even a basic understanding of chicken rearing, this book will not give you much fresh or original information.

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Ideal for novices
• Current information
• Extensive Illustrations

Cons

• Not that exhaustive
• Not suitable for experienced poultry owners

 

The Homesteader’s Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook

At first look, “The Homesteader’s Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook” may appear expensive, but it offers a detailed guide to growing a backyard flock from the ground up.

Understanding chickens and their behavior, producing eggs, beginning your own poultry or egg company, avoiding and treating diseases organically, and setting up your property, brooder, and nesting boxes are some of the topics covered in this book. The book also contains mouthwatering recipes for eggs and fowl!

This book is ideal for novice and intermediate chicken keepers, although experienced chicken keepers may find some of the content repetitious.

Pros

• Comprehensive guidance from beginning to end
• Contains advice on naturally treating and avoiding diseases
• Assists in launching one’s own egg and poultry company
• Contains great recipes

Cons

• Expensive
• Not suited for experienced poultry caretakers

 

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

“The Chicken Chick’s Guide to Backyard Chickens” is the perfect companion if you are just beginning to grow your own flock of chickens in your backyard, as it was developed with beginners in mind. It addresses coops, chick care, breed selection, and chicken health, as well as all other vital parts of chicken husbandry.

Kathy Shea Mormino collaborated with poultry veterinarians, nutritionists, and academics to give readers with current, authoritative guidance on chicken care.

This book is the conclusion of years of study by Mormino, who has maintained an award-winning blog on chicken care. It provides the same accurate and practical information, along with a plethora of drawings.

This book concentrates on small-scale egg production and keeping chickens as pets, and it contains no information about raising chickens for meat production.

Pros

• Great for novices
• Includes essential information about chicken care and health
• Consultation with poultry vets, nutritionists, and academics.
• The author who has won acclaim
• Full of photographs and drawings

Cons

• Only for beginner keepers
• There is no information on chicken meat production.
• Only information for small-scale keepers

 

The Intermediate Guide to Raising Chickens

If you’ve previously raised chickens in your backyard and want to extend your knowledge and flock, “The Intermediate Guide to Raising Chickens” is an excellent resource to help you progress.

It was published in 2021, therefore it provides the latest knowledge on how to expand your flock, caters to your chickens’ requirements on a large scale, breed, and rear chicks, and transform your expanding flock into a small company.

It also provides important information on keeping your flock healthy, dealing with diseases, and ensuring that your flock receives sufficient nourishment, but it is not the right book for someone who is just beginning to keep chickens.

Pros

• Freely available on Kindle Unlimited
• Excellent for keepers seeking to increase their flock
• Current information
• Specifics on producing and rearing chicks
• Contains information to assist you in transforming your flock into a profitable company.

Cons

• Not suitable for those who have never raised chickens.

 

Backyard Farming: Raising Chickens: From Building Coops to Collecting Eggs and More

“Backyard Farming: Keeping Chickens” is a detailed introduction to raising chickens for eggs, meat, enjoyment, or profit. The book is filled with images and photographs to help you plan and construct your own chicken coop, as well as information on rearing chicks, selecting the appropriate breed, and maintaining a healthy flock.

It also includes advice from seasoned farmers to help you avoid common errors and get your flock out on the right foot from the start.

If you already have expertise in rearing hens, this book will not give you with any new knowledge because it is brief and covers a basic overview. In addition, it was published in 2013, therefore it lacks the most recent facts.

Pros

• Excellent for beginner chicken owners
• Full of precise graphics and images
• Specifics on building your own chicken coop
• Contains advice and techniques from seasoned farmers
• Inexpensive

Cons

• Only a brief summary
• Slightly outmoded

 

How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say

“How to Speak Chicken” is a novel look at how to comprehend the mental processes of your birds and, as a result, be more able to care for them. Melissa Caughey, a best-selling author, has spent a significant lot of time with chickens and noted that they are comparable to our other favorite pets.

She gives practical insight into how hens communicate and interact through vocalization and behavior with her guide. This book describes how hens utilize their senses to comprehend their surroundings and how they build a pecking order. It also offers extensive information about chicken anatomy, emotions, and problem-solving skills.

This book is an excellent addition to the collection of any chicken keeper, but if you’re a newbie, you won’t find much advice on caring for and growing a flock.

Pros

• Absolutely free on Kindle Unlimited
• Number-one bestseller
• A fascinating view into chicken communication
• Includes extensive information about chicken anatomy

Cons

• Not informative for beginners

 

Raising Chickens for Dummies

The “For Dummies” series has explored virtually every topic conceivable, and “Keeping Hens for Dummies” is the franchise’s entry into raising backyard chickens. The book was released in 2019, so it offers up-to-date advice on selecting and purchasing hens, as well as building coops and combating pests.

This book will also show you how to improve egg production and address laying concerns, as well as how to feed for optimal health and address frequent health problems. Also included is a detailed guide on keeping chickens for both eggs and meat, with advice on egg collection, storage, and slaughtering.

This book lacks personal experiences and anecdotes from experienced flock owners and reads more like a textbook or encyclopedia.

Pros

• Current information
• Provides details on coop construction
• Assists in selecting and acquiring chicken breeds.
• Describes ways to enhance egg production
• Details rearing chickens for meat and for eggs

Cons

• Lacks personal stories and advice from seasoned caretakers

 

Raising Chickens: Beginners Guide to Raising Healthy and Happy Backyard Chickens

The book “Growing Chickens” by Janet Wilson is perfect for novices who are interested in raising their own backyard flock.

The book contains a complete list of frequently asked questions to help you determine if raising chickens at home is the best option for you, as well as extensive step-by-step directions to assist you to choose a coop type and how to build it, as well as where to place it and how many chickens to maintain.

It also explains how to pick the appropriate breed for your purposes and how to maintain the health and happiness of your new flock after it has been established.

The images in this book are entirely black and white, despite their utility. In addition, it is a fantastic beginner’s guide to raising chickens but has little information about producing meat, expanding your flock, or creating a company.

Pros

• Great for novices
• Detailed FAQs
• A set of detailed instructions
• Details about coop planning and construction

Cons

• Photographs are in black and white.
• For beginners only
• Little information on flock size

 

Backyard Chickens: A Practical Handbook to Raising Chickens

“Backyard Chickens: A Practical Handbook to Raising Chickens” is a comprehensive guide written by a fourth-generation chicken keeper and is suitable for both novices and experts. The book includes a comprehensive introduction to rearing chickens, selecting the ideal breed, feeding your flock, and addressing frequent health concerns.

It also discusses chicken behavior, including bullying, to help you obtain a deeper knowledge of your flock’s inner workings. Last but not least, it is filled with color images and photographs that illustrate particular instances of health and behavior.

This book is mostly a memoir of the author’s own experiences and not a detailed guide to rearing chickens. Additionally, the content is at times rather broad and more suited to novice keepers than experts.

Pros

• Written by a chicken keeper of the fourth generation
• A practical manual for novices
• Details chicken behavior
• Full of color artwork and photographs

Cons

• Only suitable for beginners
• Not very precise

Buyer's Guide

Do you really need a book on chicken rearing?

There are several books on the market about keeping backyard chickens, making it difficult to pick which one to purchase. Considering how simple it is to conduct a Google search, it is unsurprising that many rookie chicken keepers choose blogs and articles over books, given the abundance of publicly accessible material on the internet.

However, books remain useful, especially when it comes to animal care. Books on growing hens provide extensive, step-by-step instructions on rearing chickens, eliminating the need to go through several blog pages to obtain the information you want.

Obviously, this does not mean that the internet does not give any value when searching for information about chickens — it most certainly can — but a book can be a more brief and straightforward approach to getting what you need, especially when you’re just getting started.

Numerous of these books also include personal stories and tales about chicken-rearing, which is invaluable knowledge that can help you avoid making the same mistakes that others did, so that you may be successful from the start.

Considerations before purchasing a book on rearing chickens

Author

This is likely the most crucial factor to consider when purchasing a book on chicken farming. The author should have personal experience with chicken rearing and share personal tales, achievements, and failures from which the reader may learn.

Despite the importance of the standard knowledge of chickens, it might be quite beneficial to hear about the personal experiences of other chicken owners.

Content

Are you completely inexperienced with chicken keeping? Do you already possess some knowledge and wish to expand your flock? Or are you an experienced chicken keeper who wants to learn more about chickens?

These are key considerations, as some publications are geared solely toward novices, while others provide unique, in-depth material that is beneficial to experienced chicken keepers.

Illustrations

Illustrations and images are excellent aids for knowledge transfer, particularly when it comes to selecting chicken breeds, recognizing health concerns, and constructing and maintaining coops.

Books on topics such as constructing chicken coops should provide extremely thorough instructions and images of each stage. Similarly, literature that aid in identifying breeds and health concerns should have color photographs.

Many of these titles are also available as audiobooks.

Conclusion

We strongly suggest all of these books on chicken rearing, but “Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens” has been one of the best-selling books on chicken rearing for over two decades, and is thus our top pick. Nearly every area of chicken care is covered, making this book perfect for both novices and seasoned chicken keepers.

“The Beginner’s Guide to Growing Chickens” is the most cost-effective book on raising chickens. This book offers up-to-date information on how to construct a coop, how to pick the correct chicken breed, what to feed your hens, and thorough chicken care tips for those who are new to raising chickens.

“The Homesteader’s Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook” is a quality, complete handbook on growing a backyard flock, with all the knowledge you need for understanding chicken behavior, producing eggs, beginning your own poultry or egg company, and naturally avoiding and treating diseases.

Finding the appropriate book on growing your own hens might be difficult due to the abundance of options. Whether you’re a total novice or a seasoned pro, BestForPets (bestforpets.org) hopes that our in-depth evaluations have helped you locate the best books on raising chickens!