Living with Chickens: Everything You Need to Know to Raise Your Own Backyard Flock

Chickens-why not? Tens of thousands of people in all areas of the country enjoy raising these birds, whether for food or companionship. You can, too, with this indispensable guide. Then again, you may want to read Living With Chickens just for the sheer joy of it.

Straightforward prose and dozens of clear, detailed illustrations gives any future chicken farmer the tools he needs to get started, from step-by-step instructions on building the coop to a brief background on chicken biology ("gizzard talk"); from hints on getting high-quality eggs from the hens, to methods for butchering. Vermonter Jay Rossier draws on his own experiences and those of his fellow poultrymen in discussing how to keep marauders from the chicken coop, the benefits of homemade grain versus commercial, and how to live (and sleep) with a rooster in your midst. Personal anecdotes, interesting facts, and lush, full-color photographs of the birds and their landscape round out this comprehensive book.

Jay Rossier is coauthor of A New Lease On Farmland, published by the E. F. Schumacher Society, and writes occasional book reviews for Northern Woodlands magazine. In addition to being a husband and a parent, he reads, writes, and looks after various fowls in Vershire, Vermont.

Geoff Hansen is a photographer and editor at New Hampshire's Valley News and author of My Life As a Dog: The Many Moods of Lucy. His work has appeared in Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times, and the Boston Globe. He lives in Tunbridge, Vermont, with his wife and daughter.

The American Poultry Association, founded in 1873 to help hold up the value of standard-bred poultry and pure breeding, supports sanctioned meets at country-wide poultry shows, and publishes a quarterly newsletter and annual yearbook.

The charm of chickens — Where your chickens will live — Getting eggs to hatch — Raising chicks — Buying adult chickens — Feeding your chickens — Hens and eggs — Butchering your meat birds — The health of your chickens — Chickens and children.