Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Disappointing and lightweight, 18 Apr 2008
A little bit funny in places and an occasional insight but by and large poorly written and forgetable.


Feathery fun... and a little bit more., 02 Dec 2007
Like other reviewers here, I thought this book was very entertaining, hugely humerous, and very warmly written. It is not a soppy recollection of chicken tales, but an open and honest (yes, and funny - but how could a book about these fabulous birds fail to be funny?) look at how one man has had his life affected by his feathery pals.

Chapter 2 starts with the words: "The sort of chicken-keeping we were embarking on can be summed up in three words: 'twee' and 'middle class." And I read those words with recognition, not embarrassment. My two ex-Tesco hybrid waifs are currently strutting their stuff around our ill-prepared garden, and laying an average of 9 eggs a week between the two of them.

This book is for people like me. I have recently ordered 2 more copies of this for my newly chickenified friends. Why? Because of its honesty. Because of the little snippets of chicken care secrets. Because of the kindness in this book. Because it's worth its weight in eggy gold!

Laugh out loud funny -- and a few lessons to boot, 04 Sep 2007
I don't recommend reading this in bed next to a spouse who has to get up for an early commute. You could be laughing so hard, you may not be forgiven. I haven't had such a good time reading a book in I don't know how long... terrifically witty & many laugh-out-loud moments.

I agree with another reviewer who said this book can help you make up your mind about having chickens, as it gives the ups and downs and the no nonsense and the you've got to really want to do this kind of thing information woven into the humour. But I think there are quite a few good lessons to be learnd and chix health tips I'd not heard of before, so I'd recommend it also as a way to get some good chicken rearing information.

Eggcellent, 21 Apr 2006
My only criticsm of this book was that it was too short. It is an entertaining tale of keeping chickens, don't expect to learn to much from it for that I'd reccomend Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens but for those still wonderimg about weather to get chickens or not this will make your mind up.

Hen and the art of chicken maintenance, 30 May 2004
This was a really funny book, it had me laughing out loud all the way through but you would have to keep hens for it to be really relevant. A good read and I picked up a few bits of good adviceand felt I had learnt a little about chickens but not an information book.

Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Disappointing and lightweight, 18 Apr 2008
A little bit funny in places and an occasional insight but by and large poorly written and forgetable.


Feathery fun... and a little bit more., 02 Dec 2007
Like other reviewers here, I thought this book was very entertaining, hugely humerous, and very warmly written. It is not a soppy recollection of chicken tales, but an open and honest (yes, and funny - but how could a book about these fabulous birds fail to be funny?) look at how one man has had his life affected by his feathery pals.

Chapter 2 starts with the words: "The sort of chicken-keeping we were embarking on can be summed up in three words: 'twee' and 'middle class." And I read those words with recognition, not embarrassment. My two ex-Tesco hybrid waifs are currently strutting their stuff around our ill-prepared garden, and laying an average of 9 eggs a week between the two of them.

This book is for people like me. I have recently ordered 2 more copies of this for my newly chickenified friends. Why? Because of its honesty. Because of the little snippets of chicken care secrets. Because of the kindness in this book. Because it's worth its weight in eggy gold!

Laugh out loud funny -- and a few lessons to boot, 04 Sep 2007
I don't recommend reading this in bed next to a spouse who has to get up for an early commute. You could be laughing so hard, you may not be forgiven. I haven't had such a good time reading a book in I don't know how long... terrifically witty & many laugh-out-loud moments.

I agree with another reviewer who said this book can help you make up your mind about having chickens, as it gives the ups and downs and the no nonsense and the you've got to really want to do this kind of thing information woven into the humour. But I think there are quite a few good lessons to be learnd and chix health tips I'd not heard of before, so I'd recommend it also as a way to get some good chicken rearing information.

Eggcellent, 21 Apr 2006
My only criticsm of this book was that it was too short. It is an entertaining tale of keeping chickens, don't expect to learn to much from it for that I'd reccomend Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens but for those still wonderimg about weather to get chickens or not this will make your mind up.

Hen and the art of chicken maintenance, 30 May 2004
This was a really funny book, it had me laughing out loud all the way through but you would have to keep hens for it to be really relevant. A good read and I picked up a few bits of good adviceand felt I had learnt a little about chickens but not an information book.

A Cheap and Sensible Book, 17 Sep 2008
Any true DIY enthusiast should be able to read diagrams and be familiar with both Imperial and Metric measures. If in doubt about measurements, just pull out a tape rule and learn. I find this a very good book that does exactly what it sets out to do - show you how to build simple poultry houses with the minimum of fuss.
It would have been handy to have the total lengths of wood required for each coop stated, but unless you intend to build every one in the book, adding up the bits isn't too big a job. B&Q have packs of wood with the dimensions in both Metric and Imperial, but Wickes are much cheaper, and timber yards cheapest and most likely to have the exact sizes you want.

A good design book., 06 Jun 2007
This book takes a modicum of intelligence to get the best from it. It is not a collection of 'how to' plans but more a treatise of coop design with good examples. To convert 1" to millimetres multiply by 25.4 and if the reader can't work out the floor space divided by the required space for each hen from figures given, then he/she has bought the wrong book.

great book concept very poorly executed, 06 Mar 2007
There are many faults such as very poor drawings, no assembly instructions (just panels)+ its completely in imperial with a photograph of a tape measure cut into strips as a coversion chart! However the biggest issue is the houses themselves, the small transport, broody etc boxes look good but the house plans are poor and this is meant to be a poultry house construction book. The ark plans give no idea of how many birds they are for and early in the book the author criticises the generic ark design as wasteful of materials versus usable cubic capacity but doesn't provide an alternative design. Waste of money unless you like puzzles and even then I don't have the confidence in the plans to start

The Perfect gift for your handyperson, 14 Sep 2005
This book was given originally by Santa Claus to my handyperson and as a result I have a well built spacious hen house that is simplicity itself to maintain. the author gives detailed drawings and instructions for several house designs from the smallest to his 'poultry palace'. it is written in a quirky original style by someone obviously experienced with both housing and the birds themselves. I am buying a second copy for another handyperson

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel S.), 10 Mar 2005
I have completed one of his previous constructions and found that I needed to re-draw his plans just so I could read them.
However dispite this fault his ideas worked. But, the biggest let down for me was, particulary in the bigger designs, is no wood list. It takes forever to add all the measurements of the timber required up.

Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Disappointing and lightweight, 18 Apr 2008
A little bit funny in places and an occasional insight but by and large poorly written and forgetable.


Feathery fun... and a little bit more., 02 Dec 2007
Like other reviewers here, I thought this book was very entertaining, hugely humerous, and very warmly written. It is not a soppy recollection of chicken tales, but an open and honest (yes, and funny - but how could a book about these fabulous birds fail to be funny?) look at how one man has had his life affected by his feathery pals.

Chapter 2 starts with the words: "The sort of chicken-keeping we were embarking on can be summed up in three words: 'twee' and 'middle class." And I read those words with recognition, not embarrassment. My two ex-Tesco hybrid waifs are currently strutting their stuff around our ill-prepared garden, and laying an average of 9 eggs a week between the two of them.

This book is for people like me. I have recently ordered 2 more copies of this for my newly chickenified friends. Why? Because of its honesty. Because of the little snippets of chicken care secrets. Because of the kindness in this book. Because it's worth its weight in eggy gold!

Laugh out loud funny -- and a few lessons to boot, 04 Sep 2007
I don't recommend reading this in bed next to a spouse who has to get up for an early commute. You could be laughing so hard, you may not be forgiven. I haven't had such a good time reading a book in I don't know how long... terrifically witty & many laugh-out-loud moments.

I agree with another reviewer who said this book can help you make up your mind about having chickens, as it gives the ups and downs and the no nonsense and the you've got to really want to do this kind of thing information woven into the humour. But I think there are quite a few good lessons to be learnd and chix health tips I'd not heard of before, so I'd recommend it also as a way to get some good chicken rearing information.

Eggcellent, 21 Apr 2006
My only criticsm of this book was that it was too short. It is an entertaining tale of keeping chickens, don't expect to learn to much from it for that I'd reccomend Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens but for those still wonderimg about weather to get chickens or not this will make your mind up.

Hen and the art of chicken maintenance, 30 May 2004
This was a really funny book, it had me laughing out loud all the way through but you would have to keep hens for it to be really relevant. A good read and I picked up a few bits of good adviceand felt I had learnt a little about chickens but not an information book.

A Cheap and Sensible Book, 17 Sep 2008
Any true DIY enthusiast should be able to read diagrams and be familiar with both Imperial and Metric measures. If in doubt about measurements, just pull out a tape rule and learn. I find this a very good book that does exactly what it sets out to do - show you how to build simple poultry houses with the minimum of fuss.
It would have been handy to have the total lengths of wood required for each coop stated, but unless you intend to build every one in the book, adding up the bits isn't too big a job. B&Q have packs of wood with the dimensions in both Metric and Imperial, but Wickes are much cheaper, and timber yards cheapest and most likely to have the exact sizes you want.

A good design book., 06 Jun 2007
This book takes a modicum of intelligence to get the best from it. It is not a collection of 'how to' plans but more a treatise of coop design with good examples. To convert 1" to millimetres multiply by 25.4 and if the reader can't work out the floor space divided by the required space for each hen from figures given, then he/she has bought the wrong book.

great book concept very poorly executed, 06 Mar 2007
There are many faults such as very poor drawings, no assembly instructions (just panels)+ its completely in imperial with a photograph of a tape measure cut into strips as a coversion chart! However the biggest issue is the houses themselves, the small transport, broody etc boxes look good but the house plans are poor and this is meant to be a poultry house construction book. The ark plans give no idea of how many birds they are for and early in the book the author criticises the generic ark design as wasteful of materials versus usable cubic capacity but doesn't provide an alternative design. Waste of money unless you like puzzles and even then I don't have the confidence in the plans to start

The Perfect gift for your handyperson, 14 Sep 2005
This book was given originally by Santa Claus to my handyperson and as a result I have a well built spacious hen house that is simplicity itself to maintain. the author gives detailed drawings and instructions for several house designs from the smallest to his 'poultry palace'. it is written in a quirky original style by someone obviously experienced with both housing and the birds themselves. I am buying a second copy for another handyperson

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel S.), 10 Mar 2005
I have completed one of his previous constructions and found that I needed to re-draw his plans just so I could read them.
However dispite this fault his ideas worked. But, the biggest let down for me was, particulary in the bigger designs, is no wood list. It takes forever to add all the measurements of the timber required up.

Good beginners book, 22 May 2008
This is a lovely book for the beginner, since there are lovely colour photos and bite size information covering what you need to know to get into keeping chickens. It is limited, in that once you have your chickens you probably want to have more information and there are only a limited amount of breeds covered but the lay out is reader friendly, digestible and sufficient for the novice to make a good start. Then the fun begins! The book does relay the real joy of keeping chickens and the benefits for children. Well worth reading before getting started on buying coop, hens etc.

The best introduction to keeping chickens we've found, 23 Jan 2008
We've been keeping chickens for a couple of years now, and we wish we had this book when (or even before) we started out. It has information on all aspects of keeping chickens, from coops and enclosures, avoiding health problems, integrating with the existing family, feeding, etc. The text is well-thought-out and clearly written, and the pictures with their associated captions add even more information. Buy this book before you dive in and get your first chook. If you're already a chicken-parent, buy it anyway and keep it to hand always!

Excellent - well worth the price, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

This is just the book I was looking for! Highly Recommended!!, 04 May 2007
Ideal book for anyone who is thinking to keep chickens! Great introduction to all aspects of keeping chickens with just the right depth covering everything from housing, litter materials, feed types, chicken well beings, natural vs artificial fertilised eggs incubations, chicken breeds... etc etc.. All these are explained in plain English together with excellent colour photos to maintain reader interest throughout the book. Did you know that chickens need to eat sand or grits to help digestions? I did not before reading this book! All in all, a great book which is both entertaining and educational to read before keeping your first chicken in your backyard! Definately a 5-Start for this book!!!

A good introduction to keeping chickens, 24 Nov 2006
I've just started looking into keeping chickens in my back garden and found this book really helpful - from picking the right breed to how to house and care for them. It's clearly set out with sound advice and the large colour pictures of the different breed types are great!

Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Disappointing and lightweight, 18 Apr 2008
A little bit funny in places and an occasional insight but by and large poorly written and forgetable.


Feathery fun... and a little bit more., 02 Dec 2007
Like other reviewers here, I thought this book was very entertaining, hugely humerous, and very warmly written. It is not a soppy recollection of chicken tales, but an open and honest (yes, and funny - but how could a book about these fabulous birds fail to be funny?) look at how one man has had his life affected by his feathery pals.

Chapter 2 starts with the words: "The sort of chicken-keeping we were embarking on can be summed up in three words: 'twee' and 'middle class." And I read those words with recognition, not embarrassment. My two ex-Tesco hybrid waifs are currently strutting their stuff around our ill-prepared garden, and laying an average of 9 eggs a week between the two of them.

This book is for people like me. I have recently ordered 2 more copies of this for my newly chickenified friends. Why? Because of its honesty. Because of the little snippets of chicken care secrets. Because of the kindness in this book. Because it's worth its weight in eggy gold!

Laugh out loud funny -- and a few lessons to boot, 04 Sep 2007
I don't recommend reading this in bed next to a spouse who has to get up for an early commute. You could be laughing so hard, you may not be forgiven. I haven't had such a good time reading a book in I don't know how long... terrifically witty & many laugh-out-loud moments.

I agree with another reviewer who said this book can help you make up your mind about having chickens, as it gives the ups and downs and the no nonsense and the you've got to really want to do this kind of thing information woven into the humour. But I think there are quite a few good lessons to be learnd and chix health tips I'd not heard of before, so I'd recommend it also as a way to get some good chicken rearing information.

Eggcellent, 21 Apr 2006
My only criticsm of this book was that it was too short. It is an entertaining tale of keeping chickens, don't expect to learn to much from it for that I'd reccomend Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens but for those still wonderimg about weather to get chickens or not this will make your mind up.

Hen and the art of chicken maintenance, 30 May 2004
This was a really funny book, it had me laughing out loud all the way through but you would have to keep hens for it to be really relevant. A good read and I picked up a few bits of good adviceand felt I had learnt a little about chickens but not an information book.

A Cheap and Sensible Book, 17 Sep 2008
Any true DIY enthusiast should be able to read diagrams and be familiar with both Imperial and Metric measures. If in doubt about measurements, just pull out a tape rule and learn. I find this a very good book that does exactly what it sets out to do - show you how to build simple poultry houses with the minimum of fuss.
It would have been handy to have the total lengths of wood required for each coop stated, but unless you intend to build every one in the book, adding up the bits isn't too big a job. B&Q have packs of wood with the dimensions in both Metric and Imperial, but Wickes are much cheaper, and timber yards cheapest and most likely to have the exact sizes you want.

A good design book., 06 Jun 2007
This book takes a modicum of intelligence to get the best from it. It is not a collection of 'how to' plans but more a treatise of coop design with good examples. To convert 1" to millimetres multiply by 25.4 and if the reader can't work out the floor space divided by the required space for each hen from figures given, then he/she has bought the wrong book.

great book concept very poorly executed, 06 Mar 2007
There are many faults such as very poor drawings, no assembly instructions (just panels)+ its completely in imperial with a photograph of a tape measure cut into strips as a coversion chart! However the biggest issue is the houses themselves, the small transport, broody etc boxes look good but the house plans are poor and this is meant to be a poultry house construction book. The ark plans give no idea of how many birds they are for and early in the book the author criticises the generic ark design as wasteful of materials versus usable cubic capacity but doesn't provide an alternative design. Waste of money unless you like puzzles and even then I don't have the confidence in the plans to start

The Perfect gift for your handyperson, 14 Sep 2005
This book was given originally by Santa Claus to my handyperson and as a result I have a well built spacious hen house that is simplicity itself to maintain. the author gives detailed drawings and instructions for several house designs from the smallest to his 'poultry palace'. it is written in a quirky original style by someone obviously experienced with both housing and the birds themselves. I am buying a second copy for another handyperson

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel S.), 10 Mar 2005
I have completed one of his previous constructions and found that I needed to re-draw his plans just so I could read them.
However dispite this fault his ideas worked. But, the biggest let down for me was, particulary in the bigger designs, is no wood list. It takes forever to add all the measurements of the timber required up.

Good beginners book, 22 May 2008
This is a lovely book for the beginner, since there are lovely colour photos and bite size information covering what you need to know to get into keeping chickens. It is limited, in that once you have your chickens you probably want to have more information and there are only a limited amount of breeds covered but the lay out is reader friendly, digestible and sufficient for the novice to make a good start. Then the fun begins! The book does relay the real joy of keeping chickens and the benefits for children. Well worth reading before getting started on buying coop, hens etc.

The best introduction to keeping chickens we've found, 23 Jan 2008
We've been keeping chickens for a couple of years now, and we wish we had this book when (or even before) we started out. It has information on all aspects of keeping chickens, from coops and enclosures, avoiding health problems, integrating with the existing family, feeding, etc. The text is well-thought-out and clearly written, and the pictures with their associated captions add even more information. Buy this book before you dive in and get your first chook. If you're already a chicken-parent, buy it anyway and keep it to hand always!

Excellent - well worth the price, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

This is just the book I was looking for! Highly Recommended!!, 04 May 2007
Ideal book for anyone who is thinking to keep chickens! Great introduction to all aspects of keeping chickens with just the right depth covering everything from housing, litter materials, feed types, chicken well beings, natural vs artificial fertilised eggs incubations, chicken breeds... etc etc.. All these are explained in plain English together with excellent colour photos to maintain reader interest throughout the book. Did you know that chickens need to eat sand or grits to help digestions? I did not before reading this book! All in all, a great book which is both entertaining and educational to read before keeping your first chicken in your backyard! Definately a 5-Start for this book!!!

A good introduction to keeping chickens, 24 Nov 2006
I've just started looking into keeping chickens in my back garden and found this book really helpful - from picking the right breed to how to house and care for them. It's clearly set out with sound advice and the large colour pictures of the different breed types are great!

More of the Funny Farm...., 04 Sep 2007
After buying the first of Jackie's books (The Funny Farm), I read it from cover to cover, laughing out loud pretty much all the way.
This book is just as un-put-downable. If you enjoyed the first, you'll enjoy this one too. Highly recommended.

Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Disappointing and lightweight, 18 Apr 2008
A little bit funny in places and an occasional insight but by and large poorly written and forgetable.


Feathery fun... and a little bit more., 02 Dec 2007
Like other reviewers here, I thought this book was very entertaining, hugely humerous, and very warmly written. It is not a soppy recollection of chicken tales, but an open and honest (yes, and funny - but how could a book about these fabulous birds fail to be funny?) look at how one man has had his life affected by his feathery pals.

Chapter 2 starts with the words: "The sort of chicken-keeping we were embarking on can be summed up in three words: 'twee' and 'middle class." And I read those words with recognition, not embarrassment. My two ex-Tesco hybrid waifs are currently strutting their stuff around our ill-prepared garden, and laying an average of 9 eggs a week between the two of them.

This book is for people like me. I have recently ordered 2 more copies of this for my newly chickenified friends. Why? Because of its honesty. Because of the little snippets of chicken care secrets. Because of the kindness in this book. Because it's worth its weight in eggy gold!

Laugh out loud funny -- and a few lessons to boot, 04 Sep 2007
I don't recommend reading this in bed next to a spouse who has to get up for an early commute. You could be laughing so hard, you may not be forgiven. I haven't had such a good time reading a book in I don't know how long... terrifically witty & many laugh-out-loud moments.

I agree with another reviewer who said this book can help you make up your mind about having chickens, as it gives the ups and downs and the no nonsense and the you've got to really want to do this kind of thing information woven into the humour. But I think there are quite a few good lessons to be learnd and chix health tips I'd not heard of before, so I'd recommend it also as a way to get some good chicken rearing information.

Eggcellent, 21 Apr 2006
My only criticsm of this book was that it was too short. It is an entertaining tale of keeping chickens, don't expect to learn to much from it for that I'd reccomend Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens but for those still wonderimg about weather to get chickens or not this will make your mind up.

Hen and the art of chicken maintenance, 30 May 2004
This was a really funny book, it had me laughing out loud all the way through but you would have to keep hens for it to be really relevant. A good read and I picked up a few bits of good adviceand felt I had learnt a little about chickens but not an information book.

A Cheap and Sensible Book, 17 Sep 2008
Any true DIY enthusiast should be able to read diagrams and be familiar with both Imperial and Metric measures. If in doubt about measurements, just pull out a tape rule and learn. I find this a very good book that does exactly what it sets out to do - show you how to build simple poultry houses with the minimum of fuss.
It would have been handy to have the total lengths of wood required for each coop stated, but unless you intend to build every one in the book, adding up the bits isn't too big a job. B&Q have packs of wood with the dimensions in both Metric and Imperial, but Wickes are much cheaper, and timber yards cheapest and most likely to have the exact sizes you want.

A good design book., 06 Jun 2007
This book takes a modicum of intelligence to get the best from it. It is not a collection of 'how to' plans but more a treatise of coop design with good examples. To convert 1" to millimetres multiply by 25.4 and if the reader can't work out the floor space divided by the required space for each hen from figures given, then he/she has bought the wrong book.

great book concept very poorly executed, 06 Mar 2007
There are many faults such as very poor drawings, no assembly instructions (just panels)+ its completely in imperial with a photograph of a tape measure cut into strips as a coversion chart! However the biggest issue is the houses themselves, the small transport, broody etc boxes look good but the house plans are poor and this is meant to be a poultry house construction book. The ark plans give no idea of how many birds they are for and early in the book the author criticises the generic ark design as wasteful of materials versus usable cubic capacity but doesn't provide an alternative design. Waste of money unless you like puzzles and even then I don't have the confidence in the plans to start

The Perfect gift for your handyperson, 14 Sep 2005
This book was given originally by Santa Claus to my handyperson and as a result I have a well built spacious hen house that is simplicity itself to maintain. the author gives detailed drawings and instructions for several house designs from the smallest to his 'poultry palace'. it is written in a quirky original style by someone obviously experienced with both housing and the birds themselves. I am buying a second copy for another handyperson

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel S.), 10 Mar 2005
I have completed one of his previous constructions and found that I needed to re-draw his plans just so I could read them.
However dispite this fault his ideas worked. But, the biggest let down for me was, particulary in the bigger designs, is no wood list. It takes forever to add all the measurements of the timber required up.

Good beginners book, 22 May 2008
This is a lovely book for the beginner, since there are lovely colour photos and bite size information covering what you need to know to get into keeping chickens. It is limited, in that once you have your chickens you probably want to have more information and there are only a limited amount of breeds covered but the lay out is reader friendly, digestible and sufficient for the novice to make a good start. Then the fun begins! The book does relay the real joy of keeping chickens and the benefits for children. Well worth reading before getting started on buying coop, hens etc.

The best introduction to keeping chickens we've found, 23 Jan 2008
We've been keeping chickens for a couple of years now, and we wish we had this book when (or even before) we started out. It has information on all aspects of keeping chickens, from coops and enclosures, avoiding health problems, integrating with the existing family, feeding, etc. The text is well-thought-out and clearly written, and the pictures with their associated captions add even more information. Buy this book before you dive in and get your first chook. If you're already a chicken-parent, buy it anyway and keep it to hand always!

Excellent - well worth the price, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

This is just the book I was looking for! Highly Recommended!!, 04 May 2007
Ideal book for anyone who is thinking to keep chickens! Great introduction to all aspects of keeping chickens with just the right depth covering everything from housing, litter materials, feed types, chicken well beings, natural vs artificial fertilised eggs incubations, chicken breeds... etc etc.. All these are explained in plain English together with excellent colour photos to maintain reader interest throughout the book. Did you know that chickens need to eat sand or grits to help digestions? I did not before reading this book! All in all, a great book which is both entertaining and educational to read before keeping your first chicken in your backyard! Definately a 5-Start for this book!!!

A good introduction to keeping chickens, 24 Nov 2006
I've just started looking into keeping chickens in my back garden and found this book really helpful - from picking the right breed to how to house and care for them. It's clearly set out with sound advice and the large colour pictures of the different breed types are great!

More of the Funny Farm...., 04 Sep 2007
After buying the first of Jackie's books (The Funny Farm), I read it from cover to cover, laughing out loud pretty much all the way.
This book is just as un-put-downable. If you enjoyed the first, you'll enjoy this one too. Highly recommended.

The usual good stuff from an expert., 07 Jul 2004
Once again, Katie Thear provides a valuable insight into hatching and rearing, in her usual easy to understand prose.

Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Disappointing and lightweight, 18 Apr 2008
A little bit funny in places and an occasional insight but by and large poorly written and forgetable.


Feathery fun... and a little bit more., 02 Dec 2007
Like other reviewers here, I thought this book was very entertaining, hugely humerous, and very warmly written. It is not a soppy recollection of chicken tales, but an open and honest (yes, and funny - but how could a book about these fabulous birds fail to be funny?) look at how one man has had his life affected by his feathery pals.

Chapter 2 starts with the words: "The sort of chicken-keeping we were embarking on can be summed up in three words: 'twee' and 'middle class." And I read those words with recognition, not embarrassment. My two ex-Tesco hybrid waifs are currently strutting their stuff around our ill-prepared garden, and laying an average of 9 eggs a week between the two of them.

This book is for people like me. I have recently ordered 2 more copies of this for my newly chickenified friends. Why? Because of its honesty. Because of the little snippets of chicken care secrets. Because of the kindness in this book. Because it's worth its weight in eggy gold!

Laugh out loud funny -- and a few lessons to boot, 04 Sep 2007
I don't recommend reading this in bed next to a spouse who has to get up for an early commute. You could be laughing so hard, you may not be forgiven. I haven't had such a good time reading a book in I don't know how long... terrifically witty & many laugh-out-loud moments.

I agree with another reviewer who said this book can help you make up your mind about having chickens, as it gives the ups and downs and the no nonsense and the you've got to really want to do this kind of thing information woven into the humour. But I think there are quite a few good lessons to be learnd and chix health tips I'd not heard of before, so I'd recommend it also as a way to get some good chicken rearing information.

Eggcellent, 21 Apr 2006
My only criticsm of this book was that it was too short. It is an entertaining tale of keeping chickens, don't expect to learn to much from it for that I'd reccomend Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens but for those still wonderimg about weather to get chickens or not this will make your mind up.

Hen and the art of chicken maintenance, 30 May 2004
This was a really funny book, it had me laughing out loud all the way through but you would have to keep hens for it to be really relevant. A good read and I picked up a few bits of good adviceand felt I had learnt a little about chickens but not an information book.

A Cheap and Sensible Book, 17 Sep 2008
Any true DIY enthusiast should be able to read diagrams and be familiar with both Imperial and Metric measures. If in doubt about measurements, just pull out a tape rule and learn. I find this a very good book that does exactly what it sets out to do - show you how to build simple poultry houses with the minimum of fuss.
It would have been handy to have the total lengths of wood required for each coop stated, but unless you intend to build every one in the book, adding up the bits isn't too big a job. B&Q have packs of wood with the dimensions in both Metric and Imperial, but Wickes are much cheaper, and timber yards cheapest and most likely to have the exact sizes you want.

A good design book., 06 Jun 2007
This book takes a modicum of intelligence to get the best from it. It is not a collection of 'how to' plans but more a treatise of coop design with good examples. To convert 1" to millimetres multiply by 25.4 and if the reader can't work out the floor space divided by the required space for each hen from figures given, then he/she has bought the wrong book.

great book concept very poorly executed, 06 Mar 2007
There are many faults such as very poor drawings, no assembly instructions (just panels)+ its completely in imperial with a photograph of a tape measure cut into strips as a coversion chart! However the biggest issue is the houses themselves, the small transport, broody etc boxes look good but the house plans are poor and this is meant to be a poultry house construction book. The ark plans give no idea of how many birds they are for and early in the book the author criticises the generic ark design as wasteful of materials versus usable cubic capacity but doesn't provide an alternative design. Waste of money unless you like puzzles and even then I don't have the confidence in the plans to start

The Perfect gift for your handyperson, 14 Sep 2005
This book was given originally by Santa Claus to my handyperson and as a result I have a well built spacious hen house that is simplicity itself to maintain. the author gives detailed drawings and instructions for several house designs from the smallest to his 'poultry palace'. it is written in a quirky original style by someone obviously experienced with both housing and the birds themselves. I am buying a second copy for another handyperson

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel S.), 10 Mar 2005
I have completed one of his previous constructions and found that I needed to re-draw his plans just so I could read them.
However dispite this fault his ideas worked. But, the biggest let down for me was, particulary in the bigger designs, is no wood list. It takes forever to add all the measurements of the timber required up.

Good beginners book, 22 May 2008
This is a lovely book for the beginner, since there are lovely colour photos and bite size information covering what you need to know to get into keeping chickens. It is limited, in that once you have your chickens you probably want to have more information and there are only a limited amount of breeds covered but the lay out is reader friendly, digestible and sufficient for the novice to make a good start. Then the fun begins! The book does relay the real joy of keeping chickens and the benefits for children. Well worth reading before getting started on buying coop, hens etc.

The best introduction to keeping chickens we've found, 23 Jan 2008
We've been keeping chickens for a couple of years now, and we wish we had this book when (or even before) we started out. It has information on all aspects of keeping chickens, from coops and enclosures, avoiding health problems, integrating with the existing family, feeding, etc. The text is well-thought-out and clearly written, and the pictures with their associated captions add even more information. Buy this book before you dive in and get your first chook. If you're already a chicken-parent, buy it anyway and keep it to hand always!

Excellent - well worth the price, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

This is just the book I was looking for! Highly Recommended!!, 04 May 2007
Ideal book for anyone who is thinking to keep chickens! Great introduction to all aspects of keeping chickens with just the right depth covering everything from housing, litter materials, feed types, chicken well beings, natural vs artificial fertilised eggs incubations, chicken breeds... etc etc.. All these are explained in plain English together with excellent colour photos to maintain reader interest throughout the book. Did you know that chickens need to eat sand or grits to help digestions? I did not before reading this book! All in all, a great book which is both entertaining and educational to read before keeping your first chicken in your backyard! Definately a 5-Start for this book!!!

A good introduction to keeping chickens, 24 Nov 2006
I've just started looking into keeping chickens in my back garden and found this book really helpful - from picking the right breed to how to house and care for them. It's clearly set out with sound advice and the large colour pictures of the different breed types are great!

More of the Funny Farm...., 04 Sep 2007
After buying the first of Jackie's books (The Funny Farm), I read it from cover to cover, laughing out loud pretty much all the way.
This book is just as un-put-downable. If you enjoyed the first, you'll enjoy this one too. Highly recommended.

The usual good stuff from an expert., 07 Jul 2004
Once again, Katie Thear provides a valuable insight into hatching and rearing, in her usual easy to understand prose.

Practical sheep keeping, 27 Nov 2007
As both the above say this a great book for any sheep keeper, a must for the small flock owner, but also of interest to the larger farmer. The seems to cover just about everyting you need to know in a practical easy to use sort of way - invaluable when you come rushing in from the farm to check on something.

Practical Sheep Keeping, 09 May 2003
A brilliant book. I have a small flock of Lincoln Longwools that arent the easiest of sheep to learn with. This book was by my side during my first lambing with them, and every lamb was delivered healthy, I feel thanks to the help offered by this book. I have never lambed before and certainly never investigated up a sheeps rear end!!! I had to pull all bar one of the lambs out, with some up to 9kg in size. I wouldnt of had the confidence to do it without some help, and all I had was this book!! Buy it.. if you're new with sheep it'll be of great use. It also offers advice on all round shepherding/land management and sale.

If I could afford only one book on sheep, this would be it., 29 Jul 2000
This is an excellent book and I have found it an invaluable reference work. We run a small flock of DorsetX sheep and this is one of the books we refer to most. It is primarily intended for keepers of small flocks (20-100 ewes). It covers a wide variety of topics and if I could afford only one book, this would be it. Anyone who has livestock or a small farm will find it useful. I have found the chapters on grassland management and marketing particularly helpful. These topics are often omitted from books of this type. If your lambing percentage is low, or your lambs fail to get top price then you could benefit from this book, we certainly have. It is, as the name suggests, a practical guide. There is plenty of good advice from someone who has obviously done it.

Two other books I would strongly recommend are 'The Veterinary Book for Sheep Farmers' by David Henderson and 'Practical Lambing' by Andrew Eales.

Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Disappointing and lightweight, 18 Apr 2008
A little bit funny in places and an occasional insight but by and large poorly written and forgetable.


Feathery fun... and a little bit more., 02 Dec 2007
Like other reviewers here, I thought this book was very entertaining, hugely humerous, and very warmly written. It is not a soppy recollection of chicken tales, but an open and honest (yes, and funny - but how could a book about these fabulous birds fail to be funny?) look at how one man has had his life affected by his feathery pals.

Chapter 2 starts with the words: "The sort of chicken-keeping we were embarking on can be summed up in three words: 'twee' and 'middle class." And I read those words with recognition, not embarrassment. My two ex-Tesco hybrid waifs are currently strutting their stuff around our ill-prepared garden, and laying an average of 9 eggs a week between the two of them.

This book is for people like me. I have recently ordered 2 more copies of this for my newly chickenified friends. Why? Because of its honesty. Because of the little snippets of chicken care secrets. Because of the kindness in this book. Because it's worth its weight in eggy gold!

Laugh out loud funny -- and a few lessons to boot, 04 Sep 2007
I don't recommend reading this in bed next to a spouse who has to get up for an early commute. You could be laughing so hard, you may not be forgiven. I haven't had such a good time reading a book in I don't know how long... terrifically witty & many laugh-out-loud moments.

I agree with another reviewer who said this book can help you make up your mind about having chickens, as it gives the ups and downs and the no nonsense and the you've got to really want to do this kind of thing information woven into the humour. But I think there are quite a few good lessons to be learnd and chix health tips I'd not heard of before, so I'd recommend it also as a way to get some good chicken rearing information.

Eggcellent, 21 Apr 2006
My only criticsm of this book was that it was too short. It is an entertaining tale of keeping chickens, don't expect to learn to much from it for that I'd reccomend Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens but for those still wonderimg about weather to get chickens or not this will make your mind up.

Hen and the art of chicken maintenance, 30 May 2004
This was a really funny book, it had me laughing out loud all the way through but you would have to keep hens for it to be really relevant. A good read and I picked up a few bits of good adviceand felt I had learnt a little about chickens but not an information book.

A Cheap and Sensible Book, 17 Sep 2008
Any true DIY enthusiast should be able to read diagrams and be familiar with both Imperial and Metric measures. If in doubt about measurements, just pull out a tape rule and learn. I find this a very good book that does exactly what it sets out to do - show you how to build simple poultry houses with the minimum of fuss.
It would have been handy to have the total lengths of wood required for each coop stated, but unless you intend to build every one in the book, adding up the bits isn't too big a job. B&Q have packs of wood with the dimensions in both Metric and Imperial, but Wickes are much cheaper, and timber yards cheapest and most likely to have the exact sizes you want.

A good design book., 06 Jun 2007
This book takes a modicum of intelligence to get the best from it. It is not a collection of 'how to' plans but more a treatise of coop design with good examples. To convert 1" to millimetres multiply by 25.4 and if the reader can't work out the floor space divided by the required space for each hen from figures given, then he/she has bought the wrong book.

great book concept very poorly executed, 06 Mar 2007
There are many faults such as very poor drawings, no assembly instructions (just panels)+ its completely in imperial with a photograph of a tape measure cut into strips as a coversion chart! However the biggest issue is the houses themselves, the small transport, broody etc boxes look good but the house plans are poor and this is meant to be a poultry house construction book. The ark plans give no idea of how many birds they are for and early in the book the author criticises the generic ark design as wasteful of materials versus usable cubic capacity but doesn't provide an alternative design. Waste of money unless you like puzzles and even then I don't have the confidence in the plans to start

The Perfect gift for your handyperson, 14 Sep 2005
This book was given originally by Santa Claus to my handyperson and as a result I have a well built spacious hen house that is simplicity itself to maintain. the author gives detailed drawings and instructions for several house designs from the smallest to his 'poultry palace'. it is written in a quirky original style by someone obviously experienced with both housing and the birds themselves. I am buying a second copy for another handyperson

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel S.), 10 Mar 2005
I have completed one of his previous constructions and found that I needed to re-draw his plans just so I could read them.
However dispite this fault his ideas worked. But, the biggest let down for me was, particulary in the bigger designs, is no wood list. It takes forever to add all the measurements of the timber required up.

Good beginners book, 22 May 2008
This is a lovely book for the beginner, since there are lovely colour photos and bite size information covering what you need to know to get into keeping chickens. It is limited, in that once you have your chickens you probably want to have more information and there are only a limited amount of breeds covered but the lay out is reader friendly, digestible and sufficient for the novice to make a good start. Then the fun begins! The book does relay the real joy of keeping chickens and the benefits for children. Well worth reading before getting started on buying coop, hens etc.

The best introduction to keeping chickens we've found, 23 Jan 2008
We've been keeping chickens for a couple of years now, and we wish we had this book when (or even before) we started out. It has information on all aspects of keeping chickens, from coops and enclosures, avoiding health problems, integrating with the existing family, feeding, etc. The text is well-thought-out and clearly written, and the pictures with their associated captions add even more information. Buy this book before you dive in and get your first chook. If you're already a chicken-parent, buy it anyway and keep it to hand always!

Excellent - well worth the price, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

This is just the book I was looking for! Highly Recommended!!, 04 May 2007
Ideal book for anyone who is thinking to keep chickens! Great introduction to all aspects of keeping chickens with just the right depth covering everything from housing, litter materials, feed types, chicken well beings, natural vs artificial fertilised eggs incubations, chicken breeds... etc etc.. All these are explained in plain English together with excellent colour photos to maintain reader interest throughout the book. Did you know that chickens need to eat sand or grits to help digestions? I did not before reading this book! All in all, a great book which is both entertaining and educational to read before keeping your first chicken in your backyard! Definately a 5-Start for this book!!!

A good introduction to keeping chickens, 24 Nov 2006
I've just started looking into keeping chickens in my back garden and found this book really helpful - from picking the right breed to how to house and care for them. It's clearly set out with sound advice and the large colour pictures of the different breed types are great!

More of the Funny Farm...., 04 Sep 2007
After buying the first of Jackie's books (The Funny Farm), I read it from cover to cover, laughing out loud pretty much all the way.
This book is just as un-put-downable. If you enjoyed the first, you'll enjoy this one too. Highly recommended.

The usual good stuff from an expert., 07 Jul 2004
Once again, Katie Thear provides a valuable insight into hatching and rearing, in her usual easy to understand prose.

Practical sheep keeping, 27 Nov 2007
As both the above say this a great book for any sheep keeper, a must for the small flock owner, but also of interest to the larger farmer. The seems to cover just about everyting you need to know in a practical easy to use sort of way - invaluable when you come rushing in from the farm to check on something.

Practical Sheep Keeping, 09 May 2003
A brilliant book. I have a small flock of Lincoln Longwools that arent the easiest of sheep to learn with. This book was by my side during my first lambing with them, and every lamb was delivered healthy, I feel thanks to the help offered by this book. I have never lambed before and certainly never investigated up a sheeps rear end!!! I had to pull all bar one of the lambs out, with some up to 9kg in size. I wouldnt of had the confidence to do it without some help, and all I had was this book!! Buy it.. if you're new with sheep it'll be of great use. It also offers advice on all round shepherding/land management and sale.

If I could afford only one book on sheep, this would be it., 29 Jul 2000
This is an excellent book and I have found it an invaluable reference work. We run a small flock of DorsetX sheep and this is one of the books we refer to most. It is primarily intended for keepers of small flocks (20-100 ewes). It covers a wide variety of topics and if I could afford only one book, this would be it. Anyone who has livestock or a small farm will find it useful. I have found the chapters on grassland management and marketing particularly helpful. These topics are often omitted from books of this type. If your lambing percentage is low, or your lambs fail to get top price then you could benefit from this book, we certainly have. It is, as the name suggests, a practical guide. There is plenty of good advice from someone who has obviously done it.

Two other books I would strongly recommend are 'The Veterinary Book for Sheep Farmers' by David Henderson and 'Practical Lambing' by Andrew Eales.

Secret Lives Indeed, 28 Jul 2008
A book entitled "The Secret Life of Cows" might at first be one you feel might be best left out of view on your bookshelf, lest curious visitors start to form strange views of your private interests. But leaving aside the serious interests of farmers and students of ethology, this is a book to read and re-read - as one reviewer put it, deserving of becoming a cult classic!

For many of us, seeing a cow in a field is nothing strange. They are a part of the landscape, just "there", minding their own business and rarely near the top of the list in a countryside safari. But for me, this is the appeal of this beautiful study - taking a closer look at what goes on on the other side of the farm wall, being prepared to be surprised at what we might often regard as being quite ordinary.

Unsurprisingly, we learn that there's more to the life of a cow than might first be assumed - wonderful anecdotes and keen observations introduce us to the unique personalities and fascinating societies of these overlooked creatures.

I will never gaze at a staring bovine in quite the same way again.



Brilliant, 28 Nov 2005
An absolutely brillant book. Having worked with cattle and knew them as individuals it was interesting to read someone elses views on cattle, and how left to their own devices are perfectly capable of looking after themselves (even better than us!) Highly amusing and well worth reading

Chew the cud, 10 Dec 2003
This book is truly beautiful and is written with great affection and respect. A real insight into living with cows on a daily basis, getting to know them and how they react when allowed to live freely and make their own choices. Certainly makes you think about the issues surrounding intense farming and the effect this is having on these intelligent, wonderful creatures. Also includes sections on sheep, hens and pigs. If you love cows, you've probably been looking for this book for some time.

Keeping Pet Chickens, 06 Jan 2009
An excellent book essential to all of those who desire to keep this multi purpose creature. Very instructive and useful. I have kept chickens on and off for 30 years and can still find a use in further studying.

well presented and consise guide when just starting out, 28 Oct 2008
This is a very usefull book for those just thinking of or beginning to keep pet chickens, it gives a short guide to the most popular breeds, good housing advice, and also pointers on keeping your flock happy and healthy. The only downfall I think is that it falls short on advice on sexing your chicks, I would have found that really usefull as my hens hatched 5 this summer. However, I recommend this book to all backyard flock keepers!

Great for a starter, 17 Jul 2008
This is a lovely little book full of nice colour pictures. If you are completely brand new to chicken keeping this book is a good starter for you - it was to me! You'll soon find though that you'll be looking for one with a bit more detail and specific information.

Common sense, 17 May 2008
I bought this book because of everyone else comments, saying how good it was. But I don't feel like its told me anything I don't know. Of course you need to use dust mite powder or to check for fleas, these are very simple things. But there's no information on what to do if your hen's looking ill or any real health advice. Very disappointing.

Good book for those considering to keep pet Chucks, 14 May 2008
I got this book before getting my chickens and it gave me a high level overview of what would be required. I would recommend this book to any one considering getting pet chickens but once you have your chucks you will probably be best getting a more detailed book to help with those niggly intial queries.

Disappointing and lightweight, 18 Apr 2008
A little bit funny in places and an occasional insight but by and large poorly written and forgetable.


Feathery fun... and a little bit more., 02 Dec 2007
Like other reviewers here, I thought this book was very entertaining, hugely humerous, and very warmly written. It is not a soppy recollection of chicken tales, but an open and honest (yes, and funny - but how could a book about these fabulous birds fail to be funny?) look at how one man has had his life affected by his feathery pals.

Chapter 2 starts with the words: "The sort of chicken-keeping we were embarking on can be summed up in three words: 'twee' and 'middle class." And I read those words with recognition, not embarrassment. My two ex-Tesco hybrid waifs are currently strutting their stuff around our ill-prepared garden, and laying an average of 9 eggs a week between the two of them.

This book is for people like me. I have recently ordered 2 more copies of this for my newly chickenified friends. Why? Because of its honesty. Because of the little snippets of chicken care secrets. Because of the kindness in this book. Because it's worth its weight in eggy gold!

Laugh out loud funny -- and a few lessons to boot, 04 Sep 2007
I don't recommend reading this in bed next to a spouse who has to get up for an early commute. You could be laughing so hard, you may not be forgiven. I haven't had such a good time reading a book in I don't know how long... terrifically witty & many laugh-out-loud moments.

I agree with another reviewer who said this book can help you make up your mind about having chickens, as it gives the ups and downs and the no nonsense and the you've got to really want to do this kind of thing information woven into the humour. But I think there are quite a few good lessons to be learnd and chix health tips I'd not heard of before, so I'd recommend it also as a way to get some good chicken rearing information.

Eggcellent, 21 Apr 2006
My only criticsm of this book was that it was too short. It is an entertaining tale of keeping chickens, don't expect to learn to much from it for that I'd reccomend Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens but for those still wonderimg about weather to get chickens or not this will make your mind up.

Hen and the art of chicken maintenance, 30 May 2004
This was a really funny book, it had me laughing out loud all the way through but you would have to keep hens for it to be really relevant. A good read and I picked up a few bits of good adviceand felt I had learnt a little about chickens but not an information book.

A Cheap and Sensible Book, 17 Sep 2008
Any true DIY enthusiast should be able to read diagrams and be familiar with both Imperial and Metric measures. If in doubt about measurements, just pull out a tape rule and learn. I find this a very good book that does exactly what it sets out to do - show you how to build simple poultry houses with the minimum of fuss.
It would have been handy to have the total lengths of wood required for each coop stated, but unless you intend to build every one in the book, adding up the bits isn't too big a job. B&Q have packs of wood with the dimensions in both Metric and Imperial, but Wickes are much cheaper, and timber yards cheapest and most likely to have the exact sizes you want.

A good design book., 06 Jun 2007
This book takes a modicum of intelligence to get the best from it. It is not a collection of 'how to' plans but more a treatise of coop design with good examples. To convert 1" to millimetres multiply by 25.4 and if the reader can't work out the floor space divided by the required space for each hen from figures given, then he/she has bought the wrong book.

great book concept very poorly executed, 06 Mar 2007
There are many faults such as very poor drawings, no assembly instructions (just panels)+ its completely in imperial with a photograph of a tape measure cut into strips as a coversion chart! However the biggest issue is the houses themselves, the small transport, broody etc boxes look good but the house plans are poor and this is meant to be a poultry house construction book. The ark plans give no idea of how many birds they are for and early in the book the author criticises the generic ark design as wasteful of materials versus usable cubic capacity but doesn't provide an alternative design. Waste of money unless you like puzzles and even then I don't have the confidence in the plans to start

The Perfect gift for your handyperson, 14 Sep 2005
This book was given originally by Santa Claus to my handyperson and as a result I have a well built spacious hen house that is simplicity itself to maintain. the author gives detailed drawings and instructions for several house designs from the smallest to his 'poultry palace'. it is written in a quirky original style by someone obviously experienced with both housing and the birds themselves. I am buying a second copy for another handyperson

Poultry House Construction (Gold Cockerel S.), 10 Mar 2005
I have completed one of his previous constructions and found that I needed to re-draw his plans just so I could read them.
However dispite this fault his ideas worked. But, the biggest let down for me was, particulary in the bigger designs, is no wood list. It takes forever to add all the measurements of the timber required up.

Good beginners book, 22 May 2008
This is a lovely book for the beginner, since there are lovely colour photos and bite size information covering what you need to know to get into keeping chickens. It is limited, in that once you have your chickens you probably want to have more information and there are only a limited amount of breeds covered but the lay out is reader friendly, digestible and sufficient for the novice to make a good start. Then the fun begins! The book does relay the real joy of keeping chickens and the benefits for children. Well worth reading before getting started on buying coop, hens etc.

The best introduction to keeping chickens we've found, 23 Jan 2008
We've been keeping chickens for a couple of years now, and we wish we had this book when (or even before) we started out. It has information on all aspects of keeping chickens, from coops and enclosures, avoiding health problems, integrating with the existing family, feeding, etc. The text is well-thought-out and clearly written, and the pictures with their associated captions add even more information. Buy this book before you dive in and get your first chook. If you're already a chicken-parent, buy it anyway and keep it to hand always!

Excellent - well worth the price, 01 Nov 2007
If you are thinking about keeping chickens everything that you need to know is in this book. Absolutely excellent!!

This is just the book I was looking for! Highly Recommended!!, 04 May 2007
Ideal book for anyone who is thinking to keep chickens! Great introduction to all aspects of keeping chickens with just the right depth covering everything from housing, litter materials, feed types, chicken well beings, natural vs artificial fertilised eggs incubations, chicken breeds... etc etc.. All these are explained in plain English together with excellent colour photos to maintain reader interest throughout the book. Did you know that chickens need to eat sand or grits to help digestions? I did not before reading this book! All in all, a great book which is both entertaining and educational to read before keeping your first chicken in your backyard! Definately a 5-Start for this book!!!

A good introduction to keeping chickens, 24 Nov 2006
I've just started looking into keeping chickens in my back garden and found this book really helpful - from picking the right breed to how to house and care for them. It's clearly set out with sound advice and the large colour pictures of the different breed types are great!

More of the Funny Farm...., 04 Sep 2007
After buying the first of Jackie's books (The Funny Farm), I read it from cover to cover, laughing out loud pretty much all the way.
This book is just as un-put-downable. If you enjoyed the first, you'll enjoy this one too. Highly recommended.

The usual good stuff from an expert., 07 Jul 2004
Once again, Katie Thear provides a valuable insight into hatching and rearing, in her usual easy to understand prose.

Practical sheep keeping, 27 Nov 2007
As both the above say this a great book for any sheep keeper, a must for the small flock owner, but also of interest to the larger farmer. The seems to cover just about everyting you need to know in a practical easy to use sort of way - invaluable when you come rushing in from the farm to check on something.

Practical Sheep Keeping, 09 May 2003
A brilliant book. I have a small flock of Lincoln Longwools that arent the easiest of sheep to learn with. This book was by my side during my first lambing with them, and every lamb was delivered healthy, I feel thanks to the help offered by this book. I have never lambed before and certainly never investigated up a sheeps rear end!!! I had to pull all bar one of the lambs out, with some up to 9kg in size. I wouldnt of had the confidence to do it without some help, and all I had was this book!! Buy it.. if you're new with sheep it'll be of great use. It also offers advice on all round shepherding/land management and sale.

If I could afford only one book on sheep, this would be it., 29 Jul 2000
This is an excellent book and I have found it an invaluable reference work. We run a small flock of DorsetX sheep and this is one of the books we refer to most. It is primarily intended for keepers of small flocks (20-100 ewes). It covers a wide variety of topics and if I could afford only one book, this would be it. Anyone who has livestock or a small farm will find it useful. I have found the chapters on grassland management and marketing particularly helpful. These topics are often omitted from books of this type. If your lambing percentage is low, or your lambs fail to get top price then you could benefit from this book, we certainly have. It is, as the name suggests, a practical guide. There is plenty of good advice from someone who has obviously done it.

Two other books I would strongly recommend are 'The Veterinary Book for Sheep Farmers' by David Henderson and 'Practical Lambing' by Andrew Eales.

Secret Lives Indeed, 28 Jul 2008
A book entitled "The Secret Life of Cows" might at first be one you feel might be best left out of view on your bookshelf, lest curious visitors start to form strange views of your private interests. But leaving aside the serious interests of farmers and students of ethology, this is a book to read and re-read - as one reviewer put it, deserving of becoming a cult classic!

For many of us, seeing a cow in a field is nothing strange. They are a part of the landscape, just "there", minding their own business and rarely near the top of the list in a countryside safari. But for me, this is the appeal of this beautiful study - taking a closer look at what goes on on the other side of the farm wall, being prepared to be surprised at what we might often regard as being quite ordinary.

Unsurprisingly, we learn that there's more to the life of a cow than might first be assumed - wonderful anecdotes and keen observations introduce us to the unique personalities and fascinating societies of these overlooked creatures.

I will never gaze at a staring bovine in quite the same way again.



Brilliant, 28 Nov 2005
An absolutely brillant book. Having worked with cattle and knew them as individuals it was interesting to read someone elses views on cattle, and how left to their own devices are perfectly capable of looking after themselves (even better than us!) Highly amusing and well worth reading

Chew the cud, 10 Dec 2003
This book is truly beautiful and is written with great affection and respect. A real insight into living with cows on a daily basis, getting to know them and how they react when allowed to live freely and make their own choices. Certainly makes you think about the issues surrounding intense farming and the effect this is having on these intelligent, wonderful creatures. Also includes sections on sheep, hens and pigs. If you love cows, you've probably been looking for this book for some time.

extroadinary Chickens, 14 Jun 2005
i think Stephan green Armytage's books are fantastic and look forward to buying more. I recommend them for everyone

A colourful and original style of Poultry book., 14 May 2001
There are many disappointing books on Poultry and "The Fancy" However, this certainly is not one of them. It is original in it's photography, which really makes the book what it is, a MUST for Poultry enthusiasts and interesting for others too. Although this is not a particularly factual book, it more than makes up for it by it's enjoyable pictures.

THE Chicken-Fanciers Pin-Up Book of All Time!, 09 Dec 2000
Most books on chickens are technical, with perhaps a few, blurred snaps of birds taken by the author on a winter's day in the back yard. With "Extraordinary Chickens" - prepare for your eyes to stretch wide and your jaw to drop! This is VOGUE-style photography at its very best (how DID they manage to get these birds to pose so beautifully in the studio?). Every feather of every chicken is there in glorious, lush detail - from traditional farm-yard favourites to REALLY extraordinary exotics. There are photographic 'studies' too, with close-up montages of different feather patterns, of different foot and comb formations; whole 'clouds' of chicks of various breeds; and comical joint portraits of tiny, wiry types next to enormous, fluffy 'puff-ball' varieties.

This is an extraordinarily beautiful and amusing book, at a very good price, and one which even non-chicken fanciers would find hard to resist buying. Clucking good!