Backyard Chickens: Beyond the Basics

by Pam Freeman

A must-have for every backyard chicken keeper, Backyard Chickens 2.0 goes beyond introductory lessons and explores the realities of raising a flock for eggs -- and entertainment, of course! From odd eggs and molting to feeding and preparing for the seasons, this book covers the subjects beginner books don't adequately address and re-examines common knowledge that may not actually hold true. It's a resource to turn to time and again for expert advice to make sure your birds are happy, healthy, and productive.

Author Pam Freeman, an editor and "Ask the Expert" columnist at Backyard Poultry magazine, draws on her years of experience fielding reader questions to identify and clearly explain many common - and some not-so-common - issues in chicken keeping. How do you add new chickens to your flock? What is the pecking order and how can you change or control it? Is it better to raise chicks by hand or with a broody hen? What do you do when you collect eggs and discover: lash eggs, calcium deposits, soft eggs, eggs within eggs, or wrinkled eggs? In Backyard Chickens 2.0, readers will find not just answers, but a book full of "coop truth" that helps them continue on their journey. Because as every chicken owner knows: Chickens are individuals and real-life chicken keeping often takes you far from the beaten path.

Chapters include Expanding Your Flock, Flock Behavior, Life with a Rooster, All About Eggs, Chicken (and Egg) Health, Predators, Feeding Your Chickens, Chicken Keeping Through the Seasons, and Coop Truth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Animals

192 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2017

About the author

Pam Freeman is the editor of Backyard Poultry magazine and Countryside magazine. After she received four Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks from the Easter Bunny, her flock quickly grew and Pam launched pamsbackyardchickens.com. In the years that followed, she hand-raised chicks, nursed chicks and chickens back to health, and experienced the entire lifecycle many times over. Pam is also a resident "Ask the Expert" columnist for Backyard Poultry magazine and continues to write regular posts and articles about chicken keeping and homesteading. In her spare time, Pam loves to hunt for antiques, bolster her life list as a life-long bird watcher, plus tend her herb and perennial gardens that are set up to encourage local wildlife such as bees, butterflies, and birds.

Reviews

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and beautifully arranged, Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics, will thoroughly educate the new or future chicken owner. Pam Freeman does go beyond the typical How-To poultry book that fill the shelves at the library. You can even find a listing of hen breeds that typically go broody, meaning - will try to hatch eggs. This will save you time from researching individual chicken breeds to choose what type of relationship and purpose you wish to accomplish for your backyard flock.
Full Disclosure: I was allowed to read a copy of this book for free as a member of NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. The opinions I have expressed are my own and I was not influenced to give a positive review.

[cellomerl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good information in this nifty little book. I read it very quickly. Most books about backyard chicken keeping are a bit too basic, but this one actually addresses the concerns of the more “intermediate” flockster. It has nice photos, a very interesting section about eggs, a very good section on first aid, and another on using herbs in the chicken coop. It gave me some interesting ideas to try. There are a couple of errors and a few typos and repeated sentences, so the book might have benefited from a better editor. It could easily have had three times as much information and it still would have been interesting.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book! I volunteered to help take care of the chickens at our school over the summer. This gave me so many tips and tricks! It has really been invaluable. I like it so much I am going to purchase a copy of my own to have on hand and to share with others who may end up helping with the chickens once school starts.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read over 20 chicken books now, and I still learned a lot from this one. I like the voice and the approach here; it's well written and gives details that other books don't. It's balanced and realistic, but still offers the magic of chickens.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book with lots of helpful information on tending a backyard flock. I would give it 5 stars, but there were several editing issues of repeated sentences that were bothersome.

[JustHB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a basic book on keeping chickens. Not really advanced.

[Janis Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group – Voyageur Press for providing me with a free electronic RC, via Netgalley, in exchange for an open and honest review.

When I first started reading this book I was a little worried it was going to be too location specific to be of much help to me... As in, it is very obviously written for an American audience and that can sometimes make a book not that useful to me – an Australian reader...

BUT! I was totally wrong. I mean, yes there are areas of ‘Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics’ that were indeed location specific – like the predator section – but to be honest, that didn’t detract from the overall usefulness of this book.

For those who have not read my previous reviews, I am a chookie owner. I have six right now but spring is just kicking off here in the Adelaide Hills and so I hope to fix up the coop and figure out how to get me some more. Just don’t tell my husband. :-D

And so I am indeed qualified to give judgement on the usefulness of this book. And useful I did indeed find it. Yes there were sections I did skim a little as it was either something I already knew/ did or felt not relevant, due to my location - see how to deal with racoons. Goannas, snakes and red back spiders in the coop… would have been helpful (though I am pretty on to fixing those) but I can’t say racoons have even been a bother. Foxes on the other hand… hmmm, I best not tell my son the urine deterrent or he’ll be all over that… or have it all over everything. :-/

Oh, what? You suddenly realise I am a TMI reviewer?

So anyway, back to ‘Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics’. I found the majority of the book very interesting and extremely useful. Especially the ideas on how to increase your flock and what to do with egg eaters.

I have other backyard chicken books that go more into diseases, illnesses and natural remedies than this book did… but that is not saying it is lacking as it did cover a lot of the basics and important issues too.

All in all I found it a great little resource for those wanting to have some chooks in their family as ‘Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics’ will help guide them through to first few hurdles and then some.

As it is a resource book I will go into the layout, format, etc. It was okay, but please bear in mind that I was reading an electronic version and so any issues I had were mostly due to that format. The paper format will not have these issues… BUT! I did find it rather clunky and hard to read at times. Plus the pictures and little blurbs throughout the book did detract from what I was trying to read more than I wish they had. Again, if I had been reading it as a paper book these issues would not have existed.

Other than that it was a clear, concise, easy to read and easy to follow format and layout. Nice, clean, open pages and relevant pictures throughout made it into why I feel it would be an excellent resource book for those just starting out as being chicken parents.

Although I do feel ‘Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics’ is mostly aimed at new chicken owners or potential chicken owners, I did find it useful myself and I’ve own chickens on and off my whole life. I wouldn’t call myself a chicken expert, more someone who knows how to be owned by chickens. ;-) So I honestly do feel like it justifies the “beyond the basics” part of its title.

Would I recommend this book to others?

I think I would, you know? Despite the minor location specific issues, I loved the personal stories and touches Ms Freeman added to the book and feel it makes it a good chook reference book to have. It’s not just a “how to” book, it’s written by a fellow chook addict who is there to help. So, yes, a book I can see myself recommending.

Would I buy this book for myself?

I would be sorely tempted to you know… For the same reasons as above. The personal touches help the reader connect to the book and the passion for chooks. I also found the blog style “how to” writing style easy to follow and learn from so could honestly see myself buying this as a reference book to go with my others.

In summary - a good, easy to follow guide to helping you raise backyard chickens.

[Amy Softa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a novus chicken owner. I’ve owned chickens and other poultry ever since moving to the country 13 years ago with some success but also some loss. Earlier this year I began battling a particularly smart and crafty raccoon and lost my entire flock. So this spring I am starting over and have been seeking out these chicken books for new tips and ideas on how to get this new flock off on the right foot. When I saw this book up for review I didn’t hesitate in putting in a request for review on the blog.

I’m so glad I did because while there is quite a bit of basic information here there is also a ton of new (to me) information that I found helpful too! I plan on purchasing my own copy of this book to add to my home library for reference. Also because while the e-book I reviewed was alright it did slow down my nook and the lovely pictures that the author referenced in the text would not load properly. So this is definitely a book to have in print! (not that I’m sure it is offered any other way….) Anyway, the chapters are broken down into a logical sequence and are thorough in their coverage of the topics discussed. The book isn’t as technical as some and the author doesn’t lecture but informs based upon an example of what has worked for her. There were a few antidotes from her own flock but most of this book was geared towards help a fellow chicken owner manage their flock.

Some of the sections I found particularly helpful and interesting were on egg formation and color, wound care, predators, and coop truth. But honestly, there is a lot of good information for anyone beyond an expert that is. If you are a new chicken owner or someone like myself who has owned birds for a number of years this could be a helpful book to have on hand. I found myself reading well past my bedtime and taking mental notes of things to try out with my own flock. I’m so glad I read this book!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first started raising chickens, low many years ago, otherwise known as 6, I knew next to nothing about chickens, what was normal, what wasn't normal. There were books out, but they tended to be dry, and didn't have the questions that I was asking. They had a lot of info, just not the stuff I was looking for, such as whether to keep eggs refrigerated or not, how to deal with roosters, predators, and different kinds of chicken poop, which believe it or not, there are different kinds.

Oh, if only I had had this book back then.

For example, there is a chapter on predictors where she talks about losing half her flock to a dog, that got on her land. She then goes into details not only of what predictors to look out for, but what to do about that. One of the things she suggests is getting a rooster, and believe it or not, that has helped. But, surprisingly, she doesn't mention the biggest thing that has helped keep my hens safe from raptors (hunting birds that don't need to land to catch their food). I had the rooster, and he was good at protecting his girls, but we were losing one a day, for a while. It turned out having a rooster could only help so much. We tried a scarecrow, the striped all sorts of things. Finally, one of the hawks ate one of the local crow babies, and after that, the crows kept the hawks at bay. :)

I love how detailed Pam is, and also how personal she is. When she is talking about taking care of wounds, and such. She tells how she had to tend to wounds, and the story behind it.

So, you get an instructi0on book, as well as one woman's journey into backyard chickens.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review

[Katilipops · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learn new things in every chicken book I read, but was a little disappointed in the level of "beyond" in this one. For example, integrating flocks is sort of a next level thing and the details were lacking.

[Tonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very useful book for someone who isn't a beginning chicken parent, but isn't yet a seasoned veteran. I learned several things and now have plans for a chicken herb garden (if I can talk my husband into it).

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great if you're keeping chickens as pets or having them for hipster urban points.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference with lots of photos

[Electric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love chickens. I'm glad I read this book before we committed to raising them!

[Kim McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very handy reference guide to raising chickens, especially for this newbie! I’m sure I will keep referring back to this helpful book over the years.

[Glenn Hammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book.

[Bethanyanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and helpful book

[Brenna Ledesma]

excellent resource

[Philosophy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this was pretty basic, but there’s still some really useful stuff here!

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really helpful beginner book, despite the title being 'beyond the basics'. It does feel like a lot of the information here would best suit a beginner like me, as nothing seemed that complicated or advanced. Will be coming back to this one for ongoing reference.

[Alisa Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good BASIC chicken-keeping book.