The Homesteader's Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook: Raising a Healthy Flock from Start to Finish

by Amy K. Fewell

The Homesteader’s Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook is the modern homesteader’s guide to raising, feeding, breeding, selling, and enjoying the noblest animal on the farm—the chicken. From the rooster’s crow in the morning, to the warm egg in the nesting box, chickens are the gateway livestock for almost every homesteader and backyard farm enthusiast. In this book, you’ll learn everything you need to know about raising chickens naturally. Fewell guides you

This is heritage chicken keeping skills 101, with a modern twist. Not only will you gain knowledge about naturally keeping chickens through every stage of their lives, but you’ll fully embrace the joy and ease of raising all-natural chickens on your homestead.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Agriculture

240 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2019

Reviews

[Scott Lupo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great informational book on natural chicken keeping. I learned a lot on herbs, spices, and oils that keep chickens healthy. Also got a beginning understanding on breeds and coops. Some tips on free ranging.

[Brad Belschner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good reference to keep around to deal with problems if/when they arise. Especially good advice for dealing with baby chicks. Some of the advice in this book is biologically unsound (e.g. the mistaken notion that PUFAs are healthy for chickens), but those parts are easy to ignore.

[emyrose8 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic resource for the beginning chicken keeper. It's very helpful for an experienced keeper who is looking for herbal remedies to improve/maintain the health of their flock.

Lots of basic chicken info: breeds, incubating, raising chicks in brooders.

Then more complex stuff: mixing your own feed, herbs and their uses, preventing and treating illness/wounds, and remedy recipes.

Lastly: how to get your kids involved with raising birds, how to store eggs, creating a business, and recipes using lots of eggs.

[Jenny Hartfelder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent, relatively fast read. It gave a high level overview of selecting and caring for chickens and then walked through herbal supplements you can give your flock to help them stay healthy and address various common issues. Should we get chickens (and yes, we're seriously considering it), this will be a book I purchase to keep as a reference.