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

by Andy G. Schneider, Brigid McCrea

Are you looking for a great way to reconnect with the earth, the community, and your food sources? Keeping backyard chickens is a fun, simple way to start making this happen, even with limited space in your backyard. Let the Chicken Whisperer (poultry personality Andy Schneider) teach you everything he knows…and everything you need to know…about raising a backyard flock! Ditch the super-technical manuals and enjoy Andy's unique, common-sense perspective in  The Chicken Whisperer's Guide to Keeping Chickens . This fun, comprehensive guide is a perfect fit for your busy lifestyle. Inside, you’ll —The Benefits of a Backyard Chicken Flock—So You're The Art of Incubation— The Art of Brooding—Home Sweet Coops & Runs—Nutrition, Health, and Wellness…and much more!

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Animals, Agriculture, Reference

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

About the author

Andy Schneider, better known as The Chicken Whisperer® has become the go-to guy across the country for anything chickens. Over the years he has helped a countless number of people start their very own backyard flocks. He is not only the author of, The Chicken Whisperer's Guide to Keeping Chickens, Chicken Fact or Chicken Poop, and The Chicken Whisperer's Guide to Zero Waste Chicken Keeping, but also Editor In Chief of, Chicken Whisperer Magazine, National Spokesperson for the USDA-APHIS Avian Health Program, and Host of the very popular, Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer web radio show and podcast. He has been featured on CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, TIME Magazine, The Economist, USA Today, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New Life Journal, and countless other local and national publications.

Andy takes pride in offering science based, fact based, and study based information to his fans to make sure they have the right information to care for their backyard flocks. His latest project, Fact or Chicken Poop provides a place for his fans to go to find out if the information they read on a chicken blog or chicken forum is either Fact or Chicken Poop!

Andy travels the country with his family spreading the chicken love from state to state. Events are typically held at feed and seed stores and include a Getting Started with Backyard Chickens workshop, book signing, Q&A, pictures and autographs, and lots of free educational materials.

Andy likes to remind his fans that when reading chicken blogs and chicken forums your four favorite words should be, Show Me The Proof!

Reviews

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative. So much information regarding diseases and predators it made me think twice about wanting to get started with chickens again. I still think I'll do it.

[Becky Enright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough and easy to follow. I can't wait to use this info when we buy our house and set up our chicken space

[Jacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're interested in producing your own food, you might be considering keeping backyard chickens. Sound daunting? Never fear! Andy ("The Chicken Whisperer") Schneider and Brigid McCrea have distilled the knowledge you need to select and care for your flock into this easy-to-use guide. Schneider has shared his poultry expertise for years as a radio personality and contributor to publications including Mother Earth News and Grit magazine. McCrea's Ph.D. in poultry science adds to the book's pedigree.

Filled with beautiful photographs and helpful hints, The Chicken Whisperer's Guide sets itself apart from jargony husbandry manuals by providing relaxed, straightforward information the poultry novice can use and understand. Expected topics such as how to raise, house and properly feed your flock are here, and Schneider and McCrea also explain how to find out if backyard chickens are legal in your neighborhood, and what to do if neighbors consider them poultry non grata. A chapter on popular breeds outlines their virtues and personalities, specifying which breeds lay the most eggs as well as which ones are gentle with children. A section on disease and parasites combines with peripheral information such as an identification guide to predators' tracks and a primer on common poisonous plants to help readers recognize and correct threats.

Whether you're considering chickens or have a brood already, The Chicken Whisperer's Guide will open your eyes to a world of feathered possibilities.

***This review originally appeared in Shelf Awareness Readers Edition. Sign up for this free and awesome newsletter at http://www.shelf-awareness.com for the latest news and reviews! This review refers to an ARC provided by Shelf Awareness.***

[Jina · Rating 3 out of 5]

While promoting urban farming, this book does nothing but focus on backyard chickens as if you are keeping them mostly for companionship and breeding. As someone who wants low maintenance chickens in their backyard/pasture for eggs to consume, I didn’t feel this book wasn’t terribly helpful. The author makes it sound like you must own an incubator as you always buy chickens as eggs - which you then have to incubate and raise from chicks. However, a quick Google search shows that you can buy already hatched chicks and also full grown chickens from other local farms. I don’t want to breed chickens (which isn’t necessary to get eggs). If I were to get chickens, they would share a grazing area with goats - yet this book made it sound like I am cruel for wanting to allow my chickens to walk around without being completely enclosed (above, below, all around). I get that you want to protect your livestock, but these birds have been around for so long that some of the suggestions honestly come off as a bit too much unless you have a very limited space for your chickens. While I did learn some basic chicken care and facts that I didn’t know before, I don’t feel my desired style of keeping backyard chickens was addressed by this book.

[Sher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another urban or neighborhood guide to keeping a few (or more) hens in your backyard- includes how to find out if your region allows chickens. covers poisonous plants with photos, keeping chickens with other animals, coop design for neighborhoods, breeds, health care, excellent photo and info section of rising peeps (the best I have seen so far), shows the various predators and gives advice for how to figure out what type of animal is coming around your coop (detailed pictures of tracks and behavior information regrading different predators). Excellent book to read if you are starting out with chickens in addition to Storey's Guide, which is a standard read.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice chicken book. Clear and easily accessible info. A USA based book so the breeds shown were all available in the US.Pretty pictures. Not a whole lot of info on coop building if you're looking for plans or anything. One thing I did wish was that all the chicken pictures would have mentioned what breed the chicken was. Except in the breed section they weren't called out and I was left wondering what the pretty chicken was. Still all the right info for a beginning chicken keeper.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very informative & helpful. It answered a lot of my questions. From coops, to chicks, to vaccines, to different types of birds & feed. If you are considering getting chickens this is your book. With that being said, it really needs some help with editing. There are so many unfinished sentences. I had to figure some of them out on my own. That’s why I docked it a star. I hate bad editing.

[Ligaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference for those wanting to start keeping urban chickens! Very thorough explanation from preparing for the coming chicks, or even hatching your own, to taking care of a hen that's ill. Some terminology was never explained and I found the descriptions of the different breeds of chicken organized a bit randomly. The photographs are beautiful and the author clearly knows his stuff.

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear, simple, complete and interesting guide about chickens. A must for everyone who wants to keep chickens but are not so familiar with them. All the important topics are covered. Thank you Goodreads Giveaways!

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons of information about keeping chickens. A bit cautious and intimidating but a good overview and who's to say he's wrong or overly cautious? Plenty of information about keeping things clean, predators, housing, and illnesses.

[Scott Lupo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information for backyard and urban chicken keeping. If you are looking for free ranging, homesteading type of chicken keeping, this may not be the resource for you. Still lots of great information but focused on the urban chicken keeping aspect.

[Donna Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book with lots of pictures and info. I especially liked the information on different breeds of chickens.

[Ivy Murillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The basics and a tad more. It was informative. I feel like their could have been a bit more added but overall a solid good book to keep for reference.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly informative and comprehensive for all types of people. It includes DIY tips for chickens and funny anecdotes,

[Teresa Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting & informational - I ended up buying my own copy!

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and quick to read with lots of info.

[Erica]

Not quite as well organized as some chicken guides. Great resource at the back for how to fix abnormalities with baby chicks' feet.

[Samantha Boudreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jilly Marie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a helpful book to get me ready to welcome baby chicks in a few short weeks! I definitely feel more competent to be a chicken mama now!!

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great information, but some of it conflicts with other, more recent books. For example, there are at least two places in the book where the authors mention using chicken wire to predator proof your coop / run, but nearly all current sources recommend against chicken wire because the holes are too big and can be manipulated by raccoons and other predators. Most recommend 1/2 inch hardware cloth instead. The info about biosecurity was also good, but as a first-timer, it's nearly enough to scare me away. I have *never* heard of anyone scrubbing their shoes in a footbath before entering their chicken run. Country folks around me have kept chickens for generations with no issues, while taking common sense precautions, so some of this is a little bit of city-slicker overkill. I consider this a decent overview, but not a definitive guide, by any means. I found The Beginner's Guide to Raising Chickens by Anne Kuo to better meet my knowledge needs and to encourage me to tackle this new adventure rather than feel like it's too hard to reasonably work to keep the hens healthy and happy.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A practical, well-designed, and thoroughly photographed simple guide to raising chickens. Because of my profound dislike of Cesar Millan, I always have a negative knee-jerk reaction whenever anyone purports to be the "whisperer" of any particular animal, and I'm not sure that Andy C. Schneider necessarily deserves that title. (Chickens are not that hard to care for. And what would a "whispered" chicken even look like? Excessively docile? Some breeds are already that way, without any additional "whispering" needed.) Anyway. It's very easy to read and reference, and the abundance of photographs are pleasing and helpful. A good introduction to backyard chicken rearing.

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a friend who owns chickens. I read this book to get an idea of whether keeping chickens is something that would be a good fit for my family. I learned so much about chickens. I will definitely not be getting them now because of the wealth of predators we have in our area and the low amount of free time we have. I feel very mentally prepared to get them when we are ready in other ways.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Lots of pictures and diagrams; good layout; good structure; very accessible. My favourite part was the descriptions of the different breeds of chickens. I hadn't realized that they had such a range of personalities. Nice to know that you can choose your chook based on whether you want white or brown eggs, independent & feisty v.s. happy to have the kids snuggle & take it round the garden in a pram, good layers v.s. good eating, cold resistant etc.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book about keeping chickens that I have read and it was great. A lot of topics are covered with great pictures and not too much depth to make the idea overwhelming. I think I am ready to start keeping my own chickens and I'm sure this book will help.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very informative about beginning to raise chickens. I've read through the book and feel pretty confident and knowledgable in preparation for when my boyfriend gets his laying hens. I will continue to rely on this book for reference.

[kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just got chickens, and this was a great introduction to how to care for them. It was easy to read and the tone was engaging and authoritative enough without being annoying. It covers all the basics, but I've still had to Google several things—a book this short can only cover so much.

[Mickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the ABSOLUTE beginner--I don't think this is a must have for any reference shelf. I would have enjoyed more whispering...much as I expect from the podcast--more solutions for intermediate problems, next step chicken-keeper education.

[Zacaro Caro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to get chickens for Easter, making plans now, this is the first book of many from the library, and a good one. I may buy it to have in hand it has really good tips, and he has a PhDs in poultry science. Lots of good pictures too.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straight forward

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.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh I love chickens!