Everything you need to care for and keep happy, healthy chickens

With directives on diagnosing and treating sick or ailing chickens, as well as general information on how to keep chickens in peak condition, "Chicken Health For Dummies" is your go-to guide on how to best care for and keep chickens.

Inside, you'll get everything you need to know about chicken health and wellness: an encyclopedia full of common and not-so-common diseases, injuries, symptoms, and cures that chicken owners may encounter. "Chicken Health For Dummies" provides chicken owners with one handy, all-encompassing resource. Helps you identify potential hazards and signs of ill health in your chickenShows you how to properly examine chickens to identify and isolate potential health issues before they spread to the rest of the flockAn encyclopedia full of common and uncommon diseases, injuries, symptoms, and cures for chickens

"Chicken Health For Dummies" joins "Raising Chickens For Dummies" and "Building Chickens Coops For Dummies" to round out the For Dummies reference library as a must-have resource for both rural and urban chicken owners.

Learn how to take care of chickens, pigs, sheep, cows, and other livestock. Each chapter of this fully illustrated book is dedicated to a different animal, and you will learn not only how to take care of them but also what sorts of things you can get from them. Imagine putting together a big breakfast using eggs straight from your own chickens and bacon from the pig. This is an ideal that many dream of but few ever get to experience. Now, with The Ultimate Guide to Raising Farm Animals, that dream can become a reality, and so much more. With tips on farm safety, tips for first-time animal hobby farmers, information on shelters and food and water, and much more, this is advice that you will turn to again and again. If you want to save money, become more self-sufficient, and enjoy healthier, locally sourced food, The Ultimate Guide to Raising Farm Animals is the book you need.

Farming has been in John Connell's family for generations, but he never intended to follow in his father's footsteps. Until, one winter, he finds himself back on the farm and begins to learn the ways of the farmer and the way of the cows. Connell records the hypnotic rhythm of the farming day - cleaning the outhouses, milking the herd, tending to sickly lambs, helping the cows give birth. But alongside the routine events, there are the unforeseen moments when things go wrong: when a calf fails to thrive, when a sheep goes missing, when illness breaks out, when depression takes hold, when an argument erupts and things are said that cannot be unsaid. The Cow Book is the story of a calving season. It is also the story of the cow itself, from its domestication and worship as a God by the Ancient Egyptians to the modern practice of mechanized herds, via the figure of the cowboy, the destruction of the American buffalo, the demise of the aboriginal jackaroos and the consequences of BSE. And, above all, it is the story of Connell's life as a farmer, of his relationship with his birthplace of County Longford, with the community around the family farm, with the animals he tends, and with his father.

Sheep are the thread that runs through the history of the English countryside. Our fortunes were once founded on sheep, and this book tells a story of wool and money and history, of merchants and farmers and shepherds, of English yeomen and how they got their freedom, and above all, of the soil. Sheep have helped define our culture and topography, impacting on everything from accent and idiom, architecture, roads and waterways, to social progression and wealth. With his eye for the idiosyncratic, Philip meets the native breeds that thrive in this country; he tells stories about each breed, meets their shepherds and owners, learns about their past - and confronts the present realities of sheep farming. Along the way, Philip meets the people of the countryside and their many professions: the mole-catchers, the stick-makers, the tobacco-twisters and clog-wrights. He explores this artisan heritage as he re-discovers the countryside, and finds a lifestyle parallel to modern existence, struggling to remain unchanged - and at its heart, always sheep.

Chickens are a fantastic addition to a garden or outdoors space - you don't have to live in the back of beyond to have a few clucking around and giving you fresh eggs. They come in all shapes and sizes: some are layers, some are just born to strut. Mark Diacono begins at the basics, showing how you can raise chickens from eggs, and look after them once they start laying their own. The first part of Chicken & Eggs explains how to think ahead about what kind of chickens you want and how many to get, whether you are going for a breed that lays eggs regularly, or that you might eventually use for eating, or that simply looks decorative. You can choose from Orpingtons, Derbyshire redcaps, Muffed Old English Game, Leghorns and many more. Mark then goes on to show how you can breed chickens, encourage them to lay, work out what kind of eggs you have (are they destined for the eggcup, or will they hatch into baby chicks?), and take care of them day to day, as well as how you can go about getting the birds on the table. The final part of the book is a recipe section that goes far beyond the roast, with lots of delicious ideas for fresh eggs or home-reared chicken. With an introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, this is an essential guide for anyone who can't stop thinking about chicks.

After a devastating diagnosis at the age of 39, Maureen Maurer was given a second chance at life. Giving up her successful career as a CPA, she took a leap of faith to pursue her childhood dream: teaching dogs to help people with disabilities. She founded two nonprofit organizations, Assistance Dogs of Hawaii and Assistance Dogs Northwest, and unleashed the potential dogs have to help people with special needs. In Wonder Dogs, Maureen shares her story of discovering God's true purpose for her life and the amazing adventure that followed. She also tells the triumphant stories of her beloved dogs and their inspiring partners as they overcome incredible challenges to live life to the fullest. These heartwarming and uplifting accounts show what's possible when we focus on abilities rather than disabilities. Dog lovers everywhere will enjoy this fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at what goes into selecting and training assistance dogs. Anyone who loves stories about second chances and overcoming challenges will find in Wonder Dogs a whole pack of kindred spirits. "This book is a beautiful collection of tales of some of the special dogs who have changed lives with their extraordinary abilities. More than that, it's a generous glimpse into the life of a woman who demonstrates what can happen when you agree to put your whole heart into doing what God created you to do."--Robin Jones Gunn, bestselling author of the award-winning Christy Miller series "Maureen Maurer is every bit as extraordinary as the dogs she loves and trains."--Michael Gartner, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, former president of NBC News "Wonder Dogs will win your heart over! This book gave me a fresh perspective on hardships and how even the most terrible circumstances can be redeemed and turned into joy. This book will give you hope again, in whatever you may be walking through right now."--Alyssa Bethke, bestselling author of Satisfied and cohost of The Real Life Podcast "Prepare to be delighted! You don't often find a book so full of hope."--Kristin von Kreisler, animal advocate and bestselling author of An Unexpected Grace and Earnest "Wonder Dogs shows what a difference one person can make in so many lives."--Kim Komando, national radio host and columnist, Sirius XM, Fox News, and USA Today

An immersive blend of chicken-keeping memoir and animal welfare reporting by a journalist who accidentally became obsessed with her flock. Since first domesticating the chicken thousands of years ago, humans have become exceptionally adept at raising them for food. Yet most people rarely interact with chickens or know much about them. In Under the Henfluence, Tove Danovich explores the lives of these quirky, mysterious birds who stole her heart the moment her first box of chicks arrived at the post office. From a hatchery in Iowa to a chicken show in Ohio to a rooster rescue in Minnesota, Danovich interviews the people breeding, training, healing and, most importantly, adoring chickens. With more than 60 billion chickens living on industrial farms around the world, they're easy to dismiss as just another dinner ingredient. Yet Danovich's reporting reveals the hidden cleverness, quiet sweetness and irresistible personalities of these birds, as well as the complex human-chicken relationship that has evolved over centuries. This glimpse into the lives of backyard chickens doesn't just help us to understand chickens better - it also casts light back on ourselves and what we've ignored throughout the explosive growth of industrial agriculture. Woven with delightful and sometimes heartbreaking anecdotes from Danovich's own henhouse, Under the Henfluence proves that chickens are so much more than what they bring to the table.

'Retire? You can't retire!', Sir David Attenborough told John Bartram, when the man who has been gamekeeper and senior wildlife officer for Richmond Park for the past thirty years announced his intention to step away from the role, bidding farewell to the iconic park which has been his home, the backdrop for a career many would give anything for, and a way of life for so long. During a career spanning four decades John has been the behind-the-scenes mastermind ensuring the welfare and maintenance of Richmond Park's world-famous herd of deer - widely thought of as the finest herd in captivity. Working with these fabled creatures has demanded balancing their needs with the very real, and often fatal, dangers the park's visitors pose to his herd, and John pulls no punches when it comes to his opinion on the deer's place in the scheme of things, the human 'invaders' and the collision of their two worlds. A remarkable diary chronicling the final year of John's charmed life as the guardian of Richmond Park, this memoir tells of the unique demands of each new season, and of the enormous wrench he will feel upon no longer waking up in the midst of so much unchanged and wild beauty.Park Life is a treasure trove of stories and memories, some poignant and moving, others offbeat and hilarious: from the quirk of fate and farcical interview that led to him getting the job, to living in close-quarters with the deer, the tragedy of putting down fatally wounded animals, and the annual ritual of the rut - as dependable as the rising and setting of the sun.

'Every essay in this book is magnificent... Mesmerizing.' New York Times 'How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages,' writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she's been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career. These stories consider a range of creatures - the household pets we dote on, the animals we raise to end up as meat on our plates, the creatures who could eat us for dinner, the various tamed and untamed animals we share our planet with who are central to human life. In her own backyard, Orlean discovers the delights of keeping chickens. In a different backyard, in New Jersey, she meets a woman who has twenty-three pet tigers - something none of her neighbours knew about until one of the tigers escapes. In Iceland, the world's most famous whale resists the efforts to set him free; in Morocco, the world's hardest-working donkeys find respite at a special clinic. We meet a show dog and a lost dog and a pigeon who knows exactly how to get home. Equal parts delightful and profound, enriched by Orlean's stylish prose and precise research, these stories celebrate the meaningful cross-species connections that grace our collective existence.

Presents the 41 breeds of sheep you are most likely to encounter on farms, each with a full-page photo and a description of their appearance, history and uses. Only the size of a postcard, the book fits perfectly into a rucksack or pocket so is ideal for the interested rambler who is keen to discover more about the flock fleeing from him at the time. Clear color photographs taken of sheep 'straight from the field' illustrate the immense diversity within this species. This is the bestselling title from the `Know Your' series.

Fresh golden yolk eggs in ready supply, organic fertiliser for the vegetable garden-what's not to love about keeping backyard chickens? This handbook covers all you need to know to get started raising your very own flock of chickens. Whether you're considering getting chickens, or already have a few in the backyard, you will find answers to questions such as: what type of chicken suits your space; where to buy chickens; what to look for when buying chickens; what housing your chickens will require; what your chickens will eat and how to care for your chickens. Included are sections on chicken health, an easy reference breed list and directions on hatching chicks. Providing comprehensive and clear advice, Backyard Chickens offers not only the basics, but also a path into furthering your own interest in chickens by hatching and incubating your own.

Mutton is a great - as yet untold - story with its deep impact on the landscape, history and culture of these islands. This is its turning point. With current heightened public interest in traditional and wholesome meats, now is the time for a serious revival in the popularity of mutton. It once fed the nation and took pride of place on dining tables from peasants to royalty. With the backing of the Mutton Renaissance campaign, it is poised to make a comeback as its extraordinary health and environmental benefits are recognised. Bob Kennard addresses all the issues: what's a wether, mutton as a super-meat, mutton candles, mutton farming round the world, how sheep have shaped the landscape, mutton recipes, braxy ham, salt marsh mutton, butchery tips, lists of mutton breeds, directory of suppliers.

John Barrington was a shepherd to over 750 Blackface ewes who graze 2,000 acres of some of Britain’s most beautiful hills overlooking the deep dark water of Loch Katrine. The yearly round of lambing, dipping, shearing and the sales is marvelously interwoven into the story of the glen, of Rob Roy in whose house John lived, of curling when the ice is thick enough, and of sheep dog trials in the summer. Whether up on the hills or along the glen, John knows the haunts of the local wildlife: the wily hill fox, the grunting badger, the herds of red deer, and the shrews, voles and insects which scurry underfoot. He sets his seasonal clock by the passage of birds on the loch, and jealously guards over the golden eagle’s eyrie in the hills. Paul Armstrong’s sensitive illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the evocative text.

James Herriot's timeless, heartwarming, and perceptive stories about animals and people have charmed millions of readers around the world, and millions more have watched the popular PBS series All Creatures Great and Small, which is based on his four books. The Wonderful World of James Herriot excerpts the best of his stories to shape the larger tale of his life, his family, and his world, illustrated with evocative drawings and family photographs, including a special introduction written by his two children Rosie Page and Jim Wight.

With astute observations and boundless humor, Herriot captures the spirit of the Yorkshire Dales and of rural communities on the cusp of change, before tractors and machines had taken over and modern medicines and antibiotics transformed veterinary work. Herriot's unforgettable portraits of farm animals and the people he served as a country veterinarian are moving, dramatic, warm, touching, and profound.

his beautiful book is the perfect gift for Herriot readers of all ages.

This visually appealing guide provides all the information that you need in order to start keeping poultry. A buyer's guide shows what features to look for in healthy poultry, and essential information is provided on good poultry husbandry to ensure optimum welfare. A beautifully illustrated guide to poultry breeds of the world follows. Each breed is illustrated with a lavish photograph, and comprehensive text describes the breed type and characteristics. A final chapter looks at popular goose, duck and turkey breeds. If you are interested in keeping chickens in the back yard, selling eggs for profit, or exhibiting pure breeds, this is the perfect book for you.* Includes a comprehensive visual directory of the world's pure breeds or poultry, turkeys, ducks and geese, describing the key characteristics of each. * Common everyday questions are answered, including What is involved in keeping poultry at home? Can chickens make suitable pets? How do I make a poultry house? What is the financial outlay? and What breeds should I choose? * Information is provided on poultry housing, maintenance, feeding, security, health and hygiene.

This is a comprehensive and attractive lifestyle guide to keeping ducks and geese - from what to consider before buying them, how to house them, their welfare and even egg selection. They make wonderful and rewarding pets, and come in all shapes, sizes and colours, providing delicious eggs which are high in protein and are ideal for baking superior cakes. Geese make handy lawn mowers and ducks are perfect for vegetable and allotment gardeners as they love to feast on insects and other pests. With so much versatility, the desire to rear ducks and geese has never been greater. The book begins with a fascinating brief history of domesticated waterfowl, and then moves onto first considerations before purchasing your ducks or geese, such as goose and duck anatomy and behavior. There is a detailed section on all of the 40 common breeds of duck and goose, enabling you to make the right decision about which ones to choose. The book features extensive information on planning and welfare, helping you to ensure that you have the right type of space and housing, along with important feeding information. There are also guidelines on how to deal with any eventuality, such as telling the neighbors, going away on holiday and cleaning. Useful for anyone considering breeding from their waterfowl, there is advice on egg production, egg incubation and hatching, as well as a whole section on rearing. A lavish lifestyle chapter provides recipes for using the rich eggs, along with fun activities for all of the family including quill making and decorating eggs. Keeping Ducks and Geese fuses contemporary lifestyle design and an authoritative text, to appeal not only to those who already keep waterfowl, but also to those who are thinking of having them or even just aspire to the self-sufficient lifestyle that they represent.

Tony Iley looks at the development of the working dog - focusing on the Collie - before describing the pup and its early training through to being a working dog. As a shepherd who has competed at trials for many years his chapter on trials is very illuminating. He also describes what to look out for in the breeding and selection of a dog. This book will be a delight, not just to those who are interested in sheep-dog trials, but anyone who wants a better insight into the wonderful relationship between a dog and his owner.

Few farmyard and back-garden animals display such appealing and amusing characteristics as chickens. Some continually scratch the ground in search of insects, many just bustle and hustle, while others reveal self-importance through a measured walk. They would have been outstanding vaudeville acts, but their egg-laying and meat-producing abilities have been hijacked by Man to produce food for millions of people throughout the world each day. Decorated throughout with historical woodcuts and engravings, and packed with intriguing facts and folklore, this book is not only a charming gift but is also a useful practical guide.

[F]or anyone who has ever sat in a city office dreaming of owning a smallholding one day and living off the land, this book will inspire them to take the plunge. Rated 5 stars by The Telegraph I raced through this beautiful story with mounting awe and excitement. What Lynn and Sandra have achieved on their croft in Scotland is a miracle of rebirth on land Isabella Tree, author of Wilding The inspiring story of two courageous women who took the leap and embraced a whole new way of life. Kate Humble, author of Home Cooked As seen on the BBC’s This Farming Life  Our Wild Farming Life is what happens when you follow your dreams of living on the land; a story of how two people became farmers – and how they learned to make a living from it, their way. Lynn and Sandra left their friends, family and jobs in England to travel north to Scotland to find a small piece of land they could call their own. They had no money, no plan and no experience in farming. They had in mind keeping a few chickens, a kitchen garden and renting out some camping space, but instead, they fell in love with Lynbreck Croft – 150 acres of wild Scottish Highlands filled with opportunity and beauty, shrouded by the Cairngorms mountains. This is the inspirational true story of Lynbreck Croft – a regenerative Scottish croft rooted in local food and community – and the dreams of two women in search of a new, wilder existence. In Our Wild Farming Life, Lynn and Sandra recount their experiences as they rebuild their new home and work out what kind of farmers they want to be. They learn how to work with Highland cattle, become part of the crofting community and begin to truly understand how they can farm in harmony with nature to produce wonderful food for themselves and the people around them. Through efforts like these, Lynn and Sandra have been able to combine regenerative farming practices with old crofting traditions to keep their own personal values intact.

The first edition of The Small-Scale Poultry Flock helped thousands of small-scale farmers and smallholders adopt a practical model for working with chickens and other domestic fowl based on natural systems. In this expanded and thoroughly revised edition, readers will find plenty of all-new material. Author Harvey Ussery introduces readers to his new favorite breed of chicken, Icelandics; describes how he manages his breeding flock using a clan mating system; presents detailed information on the use of trapnests and record-keeping spreadsheets for evaluating breeding hen performance; and provides step-by-step instructions for construction of an ingeniously designed mobile poultry shelter. Readers will also find fully updated information and tips on all aspects of flock management, including: growing (and sourcing) feed on a small scale cultivating earthworms and grubs as high-protein poultry feed brooding (and breeding) at home implementing manure management using electric net fencing for ranging flocks using poultry as insect and weed managers in the garden and orchard enlisting your chickens as garden tillers and compost-makers protecting the flock from predators keeping the flock healthy working with mother hens In The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, Revised Edition Ussery presents a sustainable and ecologically friendly model that can be adapted to a variety of scales. His advice and examples throughout the book will prove invaluable for beginner farmers, growers looking to incorporate poultry into their programme and experienced farmers looking to create a truly sustainable system.

*WATERSTONES WELSH BOOK OF THE MONTH* My Family and Other Animals meets The Secret Life of Cows: this rediscovered gem tells the charming tale of how a baby llama transformed a Welsh farming family forever. Things llamas like: Snaffling cherry brandy, Easter eggs, and the Radio Times. Curling up in 'tea-cosy' position by the fire. Orbiting, helicoptering, and oompahing. Locking victims in the lavatory. Things llamas dislike: Being adopted mother to an orphaned lamb. Invitations to star on Blue Peter. Snowdonia's rainfall. The dark. Ruth Ruck's family live on a Welsh mountain farm, no strangers to cow pats on the carpet and nesting hens in the larder. When dark days strike, they embark on a farming experiment to cheer them all up - but raising a baby llama proves more of an adventure than expected . Reissued with a new foreword by John Lewis-Stempel, Along Came a Llama is a delightful 1970s farming classic: a charming, witty potrait of country life that will warm the hearts of animal lovers everywhere. 'Full of soul ... One departs this book a convinced llama-lover ... It is a guide to the future. To a good life.' John Lewis-Stempel

'A vital, thorough and accessible history that everyone who cares about the past or the future should read.' Rosamund Young, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Cows ______________________________________ The story of the relationship between humankind and cattle, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Counting Sheep. To tell the story of the relationship between humankind and cattle is to tell the story of civilisation itself. Since the beginning, cattle have tilled our soils, borne our burdens, fed and clothed us and been our loyal and uncomplaining servants in the work of taming the wilderness and wresting a living from the land. There has never been a time when we have not depended on cattle. As human societies have migrated from the country to the city, the things they have needed from their cattle may have changed, but the fundamental human dependence remains. Blending personal experience, recollection, interviews with farmers, butchers and cattle breeders and studding the narrative with little-known nuggets of technical detail, Philip Walling entertainingly reveals the central importance of cattle to all our lives.

Poultry are a major source of valuable high-quality protein for much of the world's population, so food security is heavily dependent on maintaining poultry health. They are also increasingly important as specialist hobby animals in back-yard flocks. Despite this, veterinarians specializing in the care and health of these important domestic animals are few and far between, and many vets in small animal practice have little real experience of poultry health management and disease. Providing a comprehensive overview, this new handbook will help to plug this gap with 46 chapters of practical and accessible poultry health and management. The book: Covers the poultry industry, basic avian biology, infectious and non-infectious diseases and their agents, infection control, and disease investigation and legislation. Includes full colour images for ease of identification and diagnosis, in addition to practical guides to disease prevention. Considers areas of increasing global importance, such as antimicrobial resistance. Written by international experts, this book forms a valuable illustrated resource for veterinary professionals, veterinary students, or those entering the poultry industry.