The Complete Guide to Raising Chickens: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply

Front Cover
Atlantic Publishing Company, 2011 - Business & Economics - 288 pages

Properly raised chickens can be a major boon to any household looking to save money on eggs and poultry. The average hen lays 260 eggs per year, which means that with just six chickens, your family could have 1,560, or 130 dozen, eggs a year. Not only can this save your family significant money on groceries, but you can also harvest and sell eggs at farmers markets or local supermarkets. Additionally, you can raise poultry for meat, saving you a weekly trip to your grocer s deli counter. Raising chickens is relatively inexpensive, and they are easy to maintain if you are equipped with the right knowledge. Plus, your family will love having these quirky and fun birds around. With The Complete Guide to Raising Chickens: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply, you can have a happy and healthy flock that provides your family with countless benefits.
In this book, you will find comprehensive information on understanding how to raise your new flock, no matter if you live in the city or on a small farm. Starting with the basics, this book begins describing the different goals and reasons you may want to have these birds, whether for eggs, meat, breeding, selling, showing, or just to have them as pets. You will learn how to understand chickens and how to decide which breed to purchase depending on your needs, as well as where to purchase your chickens and handle them. After reading this book, you will know what your chickens will need and how to take care of them so you can meet your goals for the birds.
You will learn what kind of housing your chickens need, including everything from runs and bedding to lighting, perches, and nesting boxes. Once you are an expert on chicken coops, you will explore the proper methods and forms of feed each breed needs. This book provides details on how to breed chickens for egg production and how to collect and store the eggs, while additional information is included on how to manage your breeders and hatch eggs. This book covers the entire lifespan of the chicken, including hatching, egg cultivation, mating, and slaughter. Additionally, you will rarely have to call the vet with this book s information on chicken health and anatomy.
We interviewed top chicken farms and experts for this book, and their expertise and experience is compiled in this book to provide practical information on maintaining chicken health, how different seasons affect chicken care, and how to raise chickens for meat. The Complete Guide to Raising Chickens is the perfect guide for any new chicken farmer to have in hand.
Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

 

Contents

Introduction
11
To Own or Not to Own
33
Blue Ribbon Chickens
43
Home to Roost
87
Picking up Chicks Shopping
113
Hatching Eggs
133
Health and Anatomy of
151
Breeding Chickens
175
Training and Showing Your
193
Glorious Eggs
201
The End of the Road
225
Chictionary A Glossary of Terms
257
Bibliography
283
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