The best BOOKS on raising CHICKENS

by Jennifer Behm  Chicken farmer| Last Updated 10 January 2023

I’m going to take you right inside these books about raising backyard chickens and give you a review of what’s included and what I like best about each one, hopefully by doing so you’ll be ready for your own chicks by knowing exactly what resources will work best to guide you along the way.

Now I know the internet has just about all the information we would ever need for raising chickens. However, there is just something magical about disconnecting from our screens and holding a wealth of knowledge and experience in your hands.

We love books around here, and I knew if I ordered some good ones, that my kids would be inclined to flip through and learn how to care for their new, for little babies, right alongside with me. And we’ve all enjoyed reading about how to raise chickens.

We actually do already have a few grown chickens who have just started laying their eggs, but this is the first time that we’ve ever raised new baby chicks. And we felt we needed all the help we can get.

TOP chickens books

So those are the books that I picked up and have looked at. I’m sure there are many great ones out there, but these are the ones that I did a lot of research on before I even purchased them to make sure that they were going to going to be worth our time. I hope this has been a helpful video for you, whether you already have your chicks or you’re gearing up for your own little flag.

Now, perhaps you’ve never thought about getting baby chicks until I tend to do with these little cuties. And I really love how happy they make my kids.

Remember it, knowledge is power. If anything, I’m hoping I’ve inspired you to dig into a book of interest and learn as much as you can.

Image	Product	Top rated
Best Breeds, Creating a Home, Care and Handling, Outdoor Fun, Crafts and Treats	A Kid's Guide to Keeping Chickens Children's book about chickens Paperback – Illustrated, March 10, 2015 by Melissa Caughey	Check Price
Breed Selection, Facilities, Feeding, Health Care, Managing Layers & Meat Birds	Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, 4th Edition Book about chickens Paperback – Illustrated, December 26, 2017 by Amy K. Fewell	Check Price
An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers	The Small-Scale Poultry Flock The best Guide to Raising Poultry Paperback – October 7, 2011 by Harvey Ussery	Check Price

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TOP books about chickens – review

Best book about raising chickens

BOOK – 101 Chicken Keeping Hacks from Fresh Eggs Daily: Tips, Tricks, and Ideas for You and your Hens

So this next one is one Oh one chicken keeping hacks. Now this one was unlike any of the others in my stack. It was more about the things that you can make for your chickens, what you can do inside the coops, the kind of herbs and other fears that they might like to eat outside of traditional ones.

You’ll see this homemade layer feed, a boredom Buster block, homemade Apple cider vinegar. It’s more about how you can enjoy them. That this is really cute converted chair into a nesting area, very clever, just some really, really fun DIY kind of, hacks for your chickens. And we really enjoyed looking through this and my kids have, um, decided that they want to make several of the ideas in this book. It’s a really fun one. And I believe this one will come in handy for many years for us.

by Lisa Steele Paperback Illustrated, October 9, 2018

Children’s book about chickens

BOOK – A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens: Best Breeds, Creating a Home, Care and Handling, Outdoor Fun, Crafts and Treats

This next one, a kid’s guide to keeping chickens. Definitely one of my kids’ favorites. This one is an absolute delight. So it is by Melissa, from Tilly’s nest as well. Like I mentioned the same author of this, how to speak chicken book. So this one is very, very educational in a really, really fun way.

So when you open the first pages, there’s this cute little index that covers all sorts of things like why chickens choosing the best breeds of chickens.
The chicks, the first six weeks, making a home for your chickens, feeding your flock all about eggs and what to do with the sick chicken handling and training chickens in the garden, chicken crafts, and cooking with eggs.

It’s just a really, really fun, informative book. She talks about her adventures. I’d love that she has these little sections where she has interviewed a kid and ask them why they love their chickens. Those kind of pop up throughout the book. One of our favorite pages is looking at these different kinds of breeds. There’s two pages full of that. And we could identify a few of the briefs that we picked for our little flock. Another favorite page is this it’s one that’s, um, that shows the development of the chicks in six weeks.

Now we thought it was just absolutely crazy right now. Our chicks are only three weeks and we’re looking at how big they’re going to get. And we’re kind of blown away and quickly realizing that we need to get ready for that.

So there’s chicken coop designs, nesting box suggestions talks about the kind of feed that they eat and their digestion, certain treats that you can make for them. She quickly addresses many of the diseases and complications that can happen in a very non overwhelming way, which I appreciated.

And then there’s all sorts of fun activities and things that the kids can do with their chickens to enjoy them. Also, how to bake a chicken. I hadn’t ever thought about bathing and chickens. So that might be something we figure out anyway. I thought this was, this book was really, really fun and the kids just absolutely loved it.

by Melissa Caughey Paperback Illustrated, March 10, 2015

TOP book about chickens

BOOK – Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, 4th Edition: Breed Selection, Facilities, Feeding, Health Care, Managing Layers & Meat Birds

This next one story’s guide to raising chickens. It’s this thick as book that I picked up and probably most definitely has the most information available. So if you’re looking for a book that is just cram packed with everything you ever want to know about chickens, this is definitely the book for you. It says that 2.2 million copies have been printed and sold, and this is the fourth edition. So this story’s guide has been around for a really long time and it’s just packed full of information.

Now, I don’t think it’s one that my kids will sit down and be super engaged in, but I’m assuming it will be a really, really good reference to have just a pullout. And if we’re ever wondering about anything, a really trusted, reliable source. So there is that one. All right, here’s another fun one chicken fact or chicken poop, a little guy that just giggles over the title of this book.

So this one is pretty interesting. There are several myths about raising chickens and things, and this one kind of clarifies whether it’s fact or poop. So I’ll just give you some examples, clean the manure every day from your coop. He says, that’s Pope. That’s good. Cause I didn’t really want to clean it every day.

It’s very entertaining to read, very informative and can give you a little more confidence if you come across controversial topics and you’re not sure what to do.

by Gail Damerow Paperback Illustrated, December 26, 2017

The best Guide to Raising Poultry

BOOK – The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers

I like this book. As a brand-new “flockster” (as the author describes us), I have actually reviewed a number of poultry and also poultry books and also I enjoy this finest by far. It’s wisely created as well as arranged as well as the author, leaning on years of experience, supplies an all-natural path to elevating poultries efficiently while keeping to the birds’ natural impulses as well as demands. While I’m not a homesteader, my hens are more animals than sustenance, this book must get on everybody’s shelf.
Although most of the books cover the very same subjects such as the essentials of elevating chicks, building coops, etc., I have actually not been disappointed covering the exact same subject matter with this publication as the author’s perspectives use greater insight into the demands of the flock. Had this been the first publication I read on the topic, I could have stopped there. This may be the last publication on the topic (other than “The Poultry Health Handbook) I’ll review.

by Harvey Ussery Paperback  October 7, 2011

BEST Book on chickens for kids

BOOK – The Homesteader’s Natural Chicken Keeping Handbook: Raising a Healthy Flock from Start to Finish

This one is called the homesteaders natural chicken keeping handbook by Amy K. vowel. So what I really liked about this book was the natural chicken keeping.

There are very conventional ways to feed and raise your chickens. She dives a lot into the more natural ways like what herbs they love and how you can make your own natural organic feeds for your chickens. And she points out that you are what you eat in this case. You can see how that might be. If you are enjoying your chickens eggs.

She has a lot of stories, a lot of words, and it’s a really good one. If you’re just wanting to sit down and really read and dive into a book, I don’t know that my kids will ever read this one from cover to cover, but she has a lot of good information and you can kind of turn to the chapters, raising chicks nationally.

She talks about, natural preventatives and treatments for the complications that can come up, what to do with broody, hint, hints that want to, protect their little eggs and hatch them. She goes into great detail onto that and how to nurture that. And what happens when you have a broody chick?

Also in this book, she talks about, um, raising chickens for business, for meat or to sell the eggs. So that’s a really interesting perspective to hear from someone who has done eggs commercially and for business. She also talks about the chicken breeding business. So there are several ways to, use your flock to help supplement your income.

What I really loved about this book was the more natural approach. It gave us several ideas of what we could grow or buy to feed our chickens naturally. And I think that’ll be fun to kind of dive into and see if that’s something that they like and that they thrive on.

So really, really good informative book and kind of a different approach from more conventional chicken raising.

by Amy K. Fewell Paperback Illustrated, May 1, 2019

The Beginner's book on raising chickens

BOOK – The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens: How to Raise a Happy Backyard Flock

The beginner’s guide to raising chickens again, because it’s so wordy. I don’t see it being one that my kids would really dive into, but it could be a really great resource to keep on hand. Um, there’s not a lot of photography in here. It’s mostly like words and digital sketches, but it covers a lot of information. Um, I don’t want to say any of these books are bad. They’re all definitely good, but this is probably one that I might be returning just because I don’t think it’s one that we will make the most of or that my kids will enjoy, but it is very, very well-written and very thorough.

This is a superb book for those brand-new to hen maintaining and well-seasoned hen friends alike. It does more than cover the fundamentals – it gives real life advice on the facts of bringing feathered women as well as gents into your house. I want we had this book when we first started with our 5 women! We were completely unprepared for the quantity of hen poop that would certainly take control of our backyard, however also just how much we would fall for our new cozy member of the family. This publication is essential for those wanting to start a flock or generate a couple of (or lots of) brand-new enhancements. Also, chicken mathematics is a very genuine point!

by Anne Kuo Paperback Illustrated, June 4, 2019

Book on raising chickens for eggs

BOOK – The Chicken Chick’s Guide to Backyard Chickens: Simple Steps for Healthy, Happy Hens

Let’s dive into the last one. The chicken chick’s guide to backyard chickens, simple steps for healthy happy hens.

So this is Kathy Shea, more Mino, and I believe she refers to herself as the chicken chick. So really cute. This one, I loved it. It was almost like a happy balance between super informative and, entertaining, an easy to read.

There are several photos and real life examples of raising your chickens on their really good balance between photos and words. So I do feel like this is something that my older kids could probably soak up and enjoy. She covers all the good stuff.

Let’s take a look at the index really quickly,
why to keep chickens,
creating a healthy,
comfortable home,
dealing with predators and pests on selecting your chickens,
caring for the baby chicks,
food and water,
health basics,
seasonal considerations,
chicken psychology,
and all about eggs and landscaping with chicken.

by Kathy Shea Mormino Paperback Illustrated, October 1, 2017

Best book on raising chickens

BOOK – How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say

Let’s first dive into this book called how to speak chicken. Now it is written by Melissa. She is, she’s a blogger at Tilly’s nest. This is one of her, of two of her books that I actually have. I thought it was a very, very clever book. She spent a great deal of her life, observing chickens and learning about how they communicate. She talks about things like they’re, they’re made in calls and behaviors, things that they say after they had, or they’re brooding all sorts of fun stuff about what your chickens might be telling you by the way that they act and, communicate with you.

So it’s very interesting just to learn the nature of chickens and how they communicate. So this was a really honed in focus book that I thought was very clever. My kids have enjoyed reading it, have enjoyed reading it as well.

Here’s a little look at the back, how to flocks establish a pecking order.
How do chickens learn from each other?
How do hints talk to their chicks?
How do chickens express their emotions?
How did they greet each other?
A lot of fun stuff just to get to know your chickens and their personality and how they might be talking to you.

by Melissa Caughey Paperback November 28, 2017

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