Ludlow Robert T. - Raising Chickens For Dummies

1. Table of Contents

Raising Chickens For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number is available from the publisher

ISBN 978-1-118-98278-5 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-98280-8 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-98279-2 (ebk)

Across the United States, from California (where Rob lives) to Michigan (where Kim lives) and beyond and even in other countries people are discovering the joy of chickens. Some people want to produce their own food, some are nostalgic and longing for a simpler and more pastoral time; and others were sucked in by some cute chicks. Whatever sparked your interest in chickens, we hope this book helps you become a happy, knowledgeable chicken keeper.

Chickens are a special part of both authors lives. Every day we listen to the questions and concerns people have about chickens. We take great enjoyment in the chickens we own, too. Were thrilled that more cities and townships are allowing people to keep chickens. But that means theres an ever-growing body of folks who need information about chickens. Because Rob and I cant always be there to answer everyones chicken questions, we decided it was time for a modern, comprehensive chicken book that provides quick answers to all your chicken questions.

In this, the second edition of Raising Chickens For Dummies, weve kept all the good parts of the first edition and done some updating to reflect new technology and knowledge about keeping chickens. Weve also expanded some chapters to bring you even more information about chicken keeping.

This chicken book is different from some of the others out there. Its easy to find the answer youre looking for because of the way the book is organized. Go ahead, flip through the book and see for yourself. Nice bold headings direct your eyes to just the section you need, and you dont have to read the whole book for a quick answer.

This book gives you a broad overlook of all aspects of keeping chickens, from laying hens to meat chickens, but you dont have to read it all at once or in any particular order. You can start anywhere in the book that interests you. Today you may be interested in learning how to care for some cute, fluff-ball chicks you fell in love with at the hardware store, and youll find that information here. In 5 months or so, when they begin laying eggs, youll need information on what to do and how to manage hens. That information is here, too.

And if you get tired of those chicks because they all turn out to be big, fat, noisy roosters, well, we give you good butchering instructions to turn them into chicken fricassee. So put this book on your bookshelf in a prominent place. Were sure youll refer to it again and again.

Were careful to use modern, scientifically correct information on chicken care, and we direct your attention to sources of additional information when necessary. If you dont want to read the sidebars or the technical points, you dont have to; youll still get the information you need to become a great chicken keeper. To round out the information, we also throw in lots of good, homey, down-to-earth advice that comes from owning and enjoying our own chickens.

When youre reading this book, you may notice that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and you want to visit one of these web pages, simply type the web address into your computer exactly as its written in the text, as though the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this as an e-book, youve got it easy just click the web address to go directly to the web page.

To get this book flowing, we had to factor in some assumptions about you, the reader. Heres how we've sized you up:

• You want to find out more about keeping chickens or eating the chickens you have.
• You like animals and want to treat them with kindness, and you need some knowledge of their needs.
• Although youve seen and heard chickens, you arent an expert on them yet and you need some basic information.
• You dont want to raise chickens on some monster scale, like 500 laying hens or 2,500 broilers. (We assume the readers of this book want information on small home flocks.)
• You have some basic carpentry or craft skills. (Although we include some very basic plans for building chicken housing in this book, we dont have enough room to teach you building skills. So if you dont have the skills, we give you permission to call on a friend who does.)

Icons are special symbols set in the margins near paragraphs of text in the book. They are meant to draw your attention. Some people use them as a way to access certain pieces of important information, such as tips. This book uses the following icons.