Chickens - why not? Tens of thousands of people in all areas of the country enjoy raising these birds, whether for food or companionship. Of course, you may want to read Living With Chickens just for the sheer joy of it. Straightforward prose and illustrations give any future chicken farmer the tools he or she needs to get started. Jay Rossier draws on his own experiences and those of his fellow poultrymen in discussing everything from feeding and housing the birds to keeping marauders from invading the coop. Personal anecdotes, interesting facts, and lush, full-color photographs round out this indispensable guide.

Reviews

These two new books are targeted at anyone with a couple of acres (and even city dwellers where ordinances permit) who would like to raise a few farm animals for meat, milk, eggs, or simply enjoyment. Both volumes are intended for beginners and are written by nonexperts who nonetheless can offer a great deal of practical information and advice based on their own experiences. Peck-Whiting and her family have dabbled in raising chickens, ducks, rabbits, goats, pigs, and cows on their country homestead in the mountains of northern Washington. In Farm Animals, she devotes at least a chapter or two to each of these species while saving the most space for pigs. (She previously wrote Pigs and Other Stories.) The author crams her book with personal anecdotes, enthusiastically sharing the successes and failures of her ventures in a casual, down-to-earth style. While Farm Animals gives readers a relatively quick survey of a variety of livestock and poultry and is best employed as supplemental reading material, Living with Chickens focuses entirely on one species and stands on its own as an excellent introduction to chicken basics for newcomers. Rossier draws heavily on his own experiences raising fowl in Vermont and fits in additional chicken facts as he gives detailed "how-to" advice on housing, hatching, buying, feeding, and butchering. He even includes a chapter on children and chickens. Photographer Hansen (My Life as a Dog) ably captures the essence of chickens at home in various barnyards and other Vermont locations. Both titles are recommended for public libraries. (Index of Living with Chickens not seen.) William H. Wiese, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.