Fresh Eggs Daily: Raising Happy, Healthy Chickens...Naturally

by Lisa Steele

More than ever, Americans care about the quality and safety of the food they eat. They're bringing back an American raising their own backyard chickens for eggs and companionship. And they care about the quality of life of their chickens. Fresh Eggs Daily is an authoritative, accessible guide to coops, nesting boxes, runs, feed, and natural health care – with time-tested remedies from a fifth generation chicken keeper who has more than a decade of experience under her belt following her own simple and practical advice. Lisa Steele promotes the benefits of keeping chickens happy and well-occupied, and in optimal health, free of chemicals and antibiotics. She emphasizes the therapeutic value of herbs, edible flowers and natural supplements to maintaining a healthy environment for your backyard flock. Her tips and advice will benefit the first-time chicken keeper and seasoned veteran alike. This is one of those "especially for now" kinds of books, when food security is appearing on our to-do lists.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Reference

164 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2013

About the author

LISA STEELE | Fresh Eggs Daily

Dubbed “Queen of the Coop” by the media, Lisa Steele is a 5th generation chicken keeper, author of several top-selling books on raising poultry as well as two cookbooks. She is founder of the popular backyard chicken keeping brand Fresh Eggs Daily with nearly 1 million followers worldwide. In her free time, Lisa can usually be found cooking and baking using fresh produce from the garden and fresh eggs from her coop or curled up in a corner reading. She lives on a small farm in Maine with her husband, their corgi, and mixed flock of nearly three dozen chickens, ducks and geese. She loves pretty things, good coffee, classical music and snow - especially at Christmas time.

Learn more at: www.fresheggsdaily.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/FreshEggsDaily
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FreshEggsDaily
Email to: Lisa@fresheggsdaily.com

Reviews

[Rosemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the past year, I have read this author's daily blog posts and communicated with her on Facebook. So I was very excited to read this book, her first. It is an easy-to-understand instructional guide to raising backyard chickens the natural way. Although I don't have chickens yet, they are on my homesteading to-do list. And this book will sit prominently on my homesteading reference book shelf.

[Alisa Kester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely, hands-down, the BEST book on keeping chickens ever. A must-have.

[R.J. Kottke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource book to keep in your library if you have chickens.

[Heidi Ramsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's easy to read with a lot of DIY herb chicken treat recipes. Just herbs though and lots of unsubstantiated opinions.

[casey (ink drinker) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with a lot of advice for beginners. I can't wait to start raising my own chickens and I feel like I'll have no trouble after reading this book.

[Jek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another must buy. First impression was it’s more for pet chickens than homesteading but as I got through it got better and had lots of practical ideas I haven’t seen elsewhere. Still some more frivolous stuff but the kids want to do some to spoil the chickens occasionally. Very good for quick reference so good for home library.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an engaging read and excellent resource that I refer to often. My chickens are happier and healthier for the homeopathic remedies I learned!

[Melissa Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the moment I'm raising chickens for the first time - I have 5 hens and 1 rooster (and no I didn't intend to get a rooster. It took about 5 months to realize that she was actually a he). For the most part I've been learning as I go and things have been going fine. But at some points I'm not 100% sure what to do.

For example, my rooster was really frustrated etc. for a while and was taking it out on the hens, mostly by mounting them a lot (he still does this now but not nearly as often as he used to) so their backs started bleeding a few times. I already knew that chickens are technically cannibals by nature therefore I was really afraid that they'd see/smell the blood and basically start eating each other. So I went and looked in this book and found solutions for what to do when a hen has a wound.
I've only turned to this book for advice like that twice. But that's not the only thing that makes this book useful.

It contains lists of treats I can give them and things that are toxic to them, symptoms of different illnesses and how to treat them, fun ideas for treats, general how-to things, a list of items I should have on hand in case certain problems arise (like if I have an egg bound hen - meaning the egg is stuck inside them - there are things I'd need in order to treat them and I'd need them ASAP because if the egg doesn't come out in 48 hours they'll die), etc.

This is really just a good book to have around if you're raising chickens. And I don't mean just for first-time chicken owners. This is good for even the experienced people as well.

The only downside is that this book doesn't have every single answer for every single question you have - in those cases you can turn to the site and easily get the answer. But if it were to have all the answers you need, it'd be such a huge book that you'd need a forklift in order to pick it up. It's just really good as a general guide. Fresh Eggs Daily has a website as well that has a TON more information so that's the best place to look for any solutions you might need for problems but this is just a really good book to have around in case you can't get to a computer/the internet.

[Jennisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource!

Such good information. Easy to read. Great recipes. Every stage of a chickens life. Highly recommend for anyone raising chickens.

[Dawn Gallop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I loved the book, as a mom to nine children I don't have time to look on the Internet as I am too busy to taking care of stuff from chickens, to herbs, to goats...and cooking! Although I love looking in the Internet it just isn't something I have a huge time for. I enjoyed that it was all in one book. I have learned a tremendous amount of knowledge and will continue to refer back to the book as needed. I even tell others the knowledge I learnt and tell others of the book who want to begin with chickens. I love my chickens and so does my husband! Who is thankful I read the book! I have also bought more chicken and egg books. Please if you know of other books I would enjoy please tell me. Happy reading!

[Denise Mansfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

Originally in my eagerness and fascination with chickens, eggs, herbs and overall healthy chickens I loved this book, until it came to my attention that this is just a collection of info used and/or copied without permission from several online sources and blogs. Book has no sources of credit for information stated. Since recently learning of this unbecoming behavior I am totally disappointed and revising my review of this book to 1 star.

[Cate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I read the Dummies book first, but found myself overwhelmed by the potential hazards and concerned about the use of antibiotics and vaccines. I don't like using those myself - I would rather build up my immune system and treat infections naturally, when possible - so why would I want to dose my chickens? Lisa Steele speaks my language of herbs and natural remedies. I feel much better equipped to care for a flock. Tomorrow, I plan my herb garden, with this book in hand!

[Kunal Sampat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across Lisa's book after 3 years of raising chickens. I wish we had bought this book earlier. This is an easy to follow book with lots of practical tips. Don't let all the different herbs mentioned in this book overwhelm you. The key message here is to focus on natural food and natural remedies for a healthy flock. Give your chickens herbs, pesticide-free weeds, garlic, yogurt and apple cider vinegar to keep them healthy.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely outstanding! A great reference for natural feeds and remedies for your backyard chickens. Admittedly, it's not a beginner's chicken-keeping guide, but that's not to say that everyone who has a chicken doesn't desperately NEED this book.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

So-so. Not what the title led me to believe it would be -- general advice on raising chickens for eggs -- but rather a whole bookful of lists of herbal home remedies for chickens. I may use some of the advice, but I was annoyed that I'd splurged on it at the used-books store.

[Kevin Driskill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great reference for natural remedies but should not be seen as exhaustive. There are great tip and tricks and I believe the concept is attractive to many people - natural versus chemical treatment. Good to have on the shelf and a fast easy read.

[Lisa Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book great information. in an easy to understand way. all the tips are easy to understand and implement. I read a lot of books before I got my chickens and this was the best of all of them.

[Arlene Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the herbal approach. This spring I will be planting more herbs in my garden.

I like the herbal approach.. This spring I will be planting a lot more herbs in my garden. Thank you for writing this book.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little book for those who want to have healthy chickens and to produce the best quality eggs. Explains the purposes of many herbs that can be given in food or water to both keep your flock healthy and to make beautiful bright yolks in your eggs.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of good information about raising chickens.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Had a lot of great ideas I can use with my
chickens. I rarely buy books, usually I just get them from the library.
This is one I want to buy.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting ideas for raising healthy backyard chickens. Love all the ideas.

[Aubrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Great tips on keeping chickens and how to use herbs, food, and other natural solutions. I'm going to be referencing this book for years to come.

[Betsy Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chock full of great information, however it is pretty much copy and paste information from her website. Skip the investment and follow the blog.

[Cordula Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book if you wish to raise your chickens organic and healthy without chemicals .

[Serity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely one I need to buy!

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very detailed and some of what I read will be beneficial when my new chickens arrive next month. However, this book was also a bit discouraging. There is no way I will have the time, or the finances, or the yard space, to follow every instruction and suggestion in this book. I am not a full-time farmer or a stay-at-home housewife and I do not have a huge yard to grow a huge garden full of all the herbs that the author says that my chickens will need to lead healthy and happy lives. And if I continually purchased every herb and plant that the author claims to be necessary, it will cost more to feed three hens than it costs to feed my family of humans. I also feel like much of the advice is is the unsubstantiated opinion of the author, with very little established science to back it up. I will be reading other books to prepare for chicken ownership.

[Betsy Ross · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be insipid. The author comes across as extremely bombastic and full of herself. She is shamelessly and excessively self-promoting and conceited. The 'braggy' tone throughout her book is so 'cringe-y and irritating. I have extensively followed, read, researched, etc. other author's chicken keeping books and sites and found them much more informative and correct, and all without sounding so officiously smug. The author has visited other sites and directly taken other's ideas that then they appear on her social media within days. They are not her ideas, and she does not attribute them to where she saw them. I have seen comments about her regarding this from others on a very respected poultry site as well. Personally I would not buy her books, etc., or follow any of her social media, etc.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made chickens sound fun and gave a lot of advice about using plants you might already be growing to keep the flock healthy and happy. Some good recipes for natural cleaners and for fermenting your own raw apple cider vinegar too. We probably won’t get hens, but if we do I will consider buying this book to reference.

[Emily Griswold Bunty · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly excellent little book, filled with practical advice, sweet photos, and a love of chickens! The book covers every possible thing you can do with plants (especially) herbs to benefit your chickens and their environment. Will definitely use much of this advice when we get our first hens next month.