The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens

Delightful, informative and practical. The pictures are spot on correlating with the text, whether the author is discussing proper roosts, nests, other living arrangements, diseases, threats and proper diagnoses, nutrition and diet plans, egg quality, chick, pellet and hen care, or the obvious love that the author clearly has for her brood.

This is one of the best chicken books I have reviewed, and that is sort of dating it with faint praise, as in comparison, the other chicken books have been quite bad.

This one, I agreed with much of what she was saying.  Her advice is advice, for the most part, that I would have welcomed when I was first starting out, so this is really a good book for the person who is just staring their flock, or thinking about starting it.  She is sort of a Marth Stewart of chickens, in that her hutch area looks all crafty and pretty, and I say "good for her," that that is not the way I run my chicken run.

The major thing I disagree with her on is the use of diatomaceous earth, which she says does more harm than good.  I have used it to get rid of mites that were killing my chickens, so sorry, I disagree.

And she harps quite a bit on not giving your chickens treats, but the treats I give are things like meal worms.  I get that there are treats out there that are just empty calories, but I think she should say that, then to condemn all treats.

So, good for the beginning chicken person.  I learned a few things about the different defects in eggs, and what they were called, so even for someone who has raised chickens for years, there might be a few things that are new.

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

Kathy Shea Mormino is well known for her blog The Chicken Chick and her very active Facebook Page of the same name. Mormino, who is a lawyer by day, is probably one of the most informed chicken owners and advisors that one can find. This book is a very thorough discussion of every single topic relevant to keeping chickens from coop design to safety to feed and my big thing- inclement weather conditions. Considerable information is also included on eggs, egg contamination, and egg anomalies that can be sentinel indicators of dietary deficiencies or of excess vitamins and minerals from an improper diet.

As many of you know, when I move to NH (lurking in the not so distant future) I'm looking forward to having chickens because I love to garden, hate deer ticks and hey, I like chickens and they can really help with both those things (getting rid of garden pests like mosquitoes, beetles, and grubs, and eating ticks!) plus give me something else to love on. (Like I really needed more?) This book is now the Chicken Bible for me. By the time I was halfway through the second chapter I ordered it on Amazon Kindle. It's truly a must-have book for those wanting to care for their chickens.

One of the things I loved about this book, in addition to simply tons of practical information, was being able to address my husband's concern about how this coop and run and free-ranging chickens would affect the appearance of our backyard. The last chapter of the book gives consideration to creating a beautiful chicken yard and how to make sure your chickens play fair with what you plant.

All in all, this is a fabulous book for any prospective chicken owner.

Not just another chicken guide, The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens does have suggestions and advice not normally found in the run off the mill, photograph heavy, barnyard books from blogger-type turned author people. I liked the layout and balance of information with pictures. It was difficult to maneuver in ebook format so I would recommend the real book version. 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.

Great guide for the hobbyists chicken raiser!  Good to get started on a small scale backyard operation. Makes it clear that it's easier than you think, and an enjoyable past time.

I don't have chickens, but I was lucky to hatch chicks for a friend, and I now visit the chickens in her barn sometimes.  This book was helpful in understanding more about the whole chicken-keeping experience.