| Christine Heinrichs is an expert in rare breeds of chickens, and her book How To Raise Chickens: Everything You Need To Know shows it! She gives you the basics of chicken housing, feed, and health care, but she also provides in depth history of chickens, descriptions of seemingly every breed known to man, and how-tos for breeding and showing chickens. I'll be honest: my favorite part of the book was the pictures. The book's large, glossy pages are covered in the most gorgeous pictures of chickens you could ever hope for. Long before I finished reading the entire book, I paged through it looking at the pictures, periodically stopping to show my boyfriend my favorite breeds. I jokingly referred to the book as "my chicken porn."
As for how the book rates for guiding a first time chicken owner through the process, it covers a number of basics that you (or I) will need to know. The book brings up a number of incredibly valuable issues, but does not necessarily tell the reader that one way or another is correct. For example, do you want a chicken tractor (movable chicken housing without a bottom) or will that leave your chickens too vulnerable to predators? Perhaps instead you should use the deep litter method of raising chickens - keeping chickens indoors during hot or cold months, with several inches of litter underneath them that will compost with their manure and allow them to forage for bugs and take dust baths as well. Because chicken housing is partially influenced by the amount of space you have available and the predators and climate where you live, it may be best to read through the options and then ask a neighbor who has chickens to weigh in on what's recommended where you live.
The book is much more instructive when it comes to subjects like food and hatching chicks. Heinrichs specifically tells you what to feed the birds when, and how to care for eggs and chicks before and after birth. She provides information for those who wish to make their own chicken feed, as well as recommendations for when and what types of commercial feed your chickens should eat. She does not take a stance on subtherapeutic antibiotics, merely mentioning that they are used in raising chickens and that some people oppose their use.
For those who are not serious chicken breeders or who don't plan to show their chickens, the details on breeds, breeding, and showing chickens may be too much. (Furthermore, I wonder what information important for a newbie chicken owner was skimmed over or left out while the book focuses on preserving rare breeds.) Still, it's nice to have as reference because you never know if or when you might need it. For city dwellers where roosters are not permitted, breeding chickens is more or less off limits. However, you might wish for your small flock of chickens to double as pets and in that case, some of the less common breeds described in the book might appeal to you.
Overall, this book is a great fit for those within the food movement who would like to preserve rare varieties of food, including livestock. The commercial chicken industry shows no sign of moving away from Cornish/Rock crosses for meat and Leghorns for eggs, so it really is up to the backyard chicken owner and small farmer to preserve other breeds of chickens. Genetic variety is nature's insurance, so this important task should not be overlooked.
Heinrichs is a blogger at The Official PoultryBookstore.com Blog, so if you're interested in learning more from her, check it out. |
