'One of those enthusiasts whose enthusiasm is hard to resist . . . Always beguiling' Daily Mail 'Hugely inspiring even when it is most bonkers' Sarah Bakewell, New Statesman 'A combination of almanac, commonplace book and diary, this is a tasty oddity . . . Richly entertaining' Independent As the pandemic has caused us all to re-evaluate our lives, becoming more self-reliant and dwelling in closer harmony with nature have emerged as important priorities. Many of us have decided to up sticks and leave the city behind for a less frenetic existence in the country. Whether you've already made your move, or are dreaming of doing so one day, this is the book for you. Covering beekeeping, poultry rearing, pig farming, bread-making, wood-chopping, fire-laying, bartering and much more, How to Live in the Country is the perfect source of inspiration for old hand and beginners alike: useful, informative but also refreshingly honest and realistic. Tom Hodgkinson draws on the wisdom of an eclectic range of thinkers and writers as he guides us through each month of the year, giving lists of tasks for both garden and animal husbandry, offering tips and shortcuts, and weaving in stories about his own experience of raising a young family in rural Devon.

Chickens are many things: sources of meat and eggs, lovable pets, amusing images on merchandise, and a source of comfort at the end of a hard day. Whether we're considering joining the growing flock of backyard chicken-keepers or simply cheered by leafing through images of gorgeous poultry, our love for chickens is strong. The trend for backyard chickens has surged during the pandemic. Amazon searches for chick supplies are up 758%, with local hatcheries recording a 500% demand increase, as people look to reduce environmental impact, improve food traceability, connect with nature, or simply to relish the pure joy of chicken company. The Collins Backyard Chicken-keeper's Bible is the fourth title in this stunning and engaging series, and the perfect smallholder companion to The Beekeeper's Bible. It is packed with everything you need to fully embrace your new chicken-keeping lifestyle. A sumptuous aesthetic is paired with practical tips on identifying backyard breeds and supporting good chicken health, from basic brooding to common ailments, the best backyard breed for you to the right equipment for starting your own home flock, packaged into a beautiful, illustrative gift book. Discover the soft cuddliness of a bantam Silkie, the superb egg-sitting skills of a Plymouth Rock, the best method for constructing a chicken coop, and how to keep your chickens happy and thriving. With The Collins Backyard Chicken-keeper's Bible, discover more about these magnificent and beloved creatures.

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.

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.

This book covers nearly all the aspects of duck rearing system with various duck genetic resources of India, their nutritional requirements, care management, diseases and prevention, slaughter, grading, packaging of meat, nutritional importance of meat & egg and integrated farming. To make this book more competent for farmers, enlisted certain drugs for treatment of different diseases of duck and vaccination schedule has also been included in the text. References have been included in this book to refer the interested reader for details understanding of duck rearing system. The language is kept simple and lucid for ease of understanding. This book will find right place in the hands of researchers, veterinary graduates, students of the animal sciences and farmers who are engaged in duck farming.

Queen Victoria was obsessed with it. Socrates' last words were about it. Charles Darwin and Louis Pasteur made their scientific breakthroughs using it. Hailed as a messenger of the gods, powerful sex symbol, gambling aid, all-purpose medicine and handy research tool, the humble chicken has been also cast as the epitome of evil, and the star of the world's most famous joke. Beginning with the recent discovery, that the chicken's unlikely ancestor is the T. Rex, How the Chicken Crossed the World tracks the chicken from its original domestication in the jungles of Southeast Asia some 10,000 years ago to today's Western societies, where it became the most engineered of animals, to the uncertain future of what is now humanity's single most important source of protein. In a masterful combination of historical sleuthing and journalistic exploration on four continents, Lawler reframes the way we feel and think about all domesticated animals and even nature itself.

Practical how-to advice for keeping chickens "For me, raising chickens, for eggs and meat, has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of our family farm. I am a great admirer of "chicken whisperer" Pammy Riggs, and with her two co-authors she has produced an admirably thorough guide to enjoying the pleasures and avoiding the pitfalls of keeping chickens. Get the book, and take the feathery plunge!" - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Keeping Chickens For Dummies provides you with an introduction to all aspects of keeping chickens, from constructing a hutch to the correct feeding regime. It offers expert advice straight from the River Cottage Chicken Whisperer', so whether you're looking to raise chickens for eggs, meat, or just the entertainment value and fun - Keeping Chickens For Dummies is the perfect place to start. Keeping Chickens For Dummies: * Shows you how to keep chickens in different conditions * Offers guidance on choosing and purchasing chickens * Gives great step-by-step advice on constructing the right housing * Provides expert advice on how to feed and care for your chickens

Probiotics are live microbial feed supplements that beneficially affect the host by improving its intestinal microbial balance. The microorganisms come from a whole range of defined strains of probiotics belonging to the groups of lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus spores, and yeasts. Research in nutritional physiology demonstrates the critical importance of a balanced gut microflorain in animal and human physiology. The probiotic concept is concerned with optimizing nutritional intake and digestion by promoting the gut flora perspective. Probiotics act by reducing the feed conversion, resulting in an increase of the daily live weight gain. The improvement of the growth of an animal is achieved through a natural, physiological way: improving digestion by balancing the gut flora, helping the animal to fulfill its genetic potential. This book discusses probiotics' mode of action and probiotics' practical application in poultry production, while explaining the use of probiotics in preventing and fighting poultry diseases, such as Salmonellosis, Necrotic Enteritis, Coccidiosis, bacterial lameness, etc. It will be essential reading for a wide group of readers, including university staff, feed mill companies, poultry producers, veterinarians, and researchers in the field. [Subject: Animal Science, Veterinary Science, Poultry Farming, Agriculture]

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.

Thousands of backyard poultry keepers are signing up all over the country, experiencing afresh the joys of their first hen, their first egg, their happy chuckle in the morning garden. Keeping poultry in the city brings with it not only joys but responsibilities. "The Urban Hen" is the perfect companion for the city poultry keeper and shows you how to maintain a happy, healthy garden or backyard flock in towns and cities everywhere. In this book you'll discover how to: find the best poultry for the small garden - and how to house them properly; feed your birds, tune in to their daily needs and enjoy your own eggs; avoid annoying the neighbours by showing that it is possible to keep poultry without attracting unwelcome pests; recognise healthy happy birds and learn their daily routine; recognise poorly hens; treat them or get help; and, incubate and care for fertilised eggs and raise chicks.

Salmonella is a major pathogen that can result in deadly foodborne illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are 1.4 million cases of Salmonella poisoning each year in the United States from a variety of causes, with undercooked poultry and eggs being the prime culprits. Therefore, intervention strategies are vital to reducing its occurrence. Controlling Salmonella in Poultry Production and Processing provides a complete analysis of the challenges faced in controlling Salmonella in this industry and keeping the public safe from this threat.

Author Scott M. Russell, Ph.D., works closely with the poultry industry throughout the United States and Canada and with companies in Central and South America, Europe, and China. In this volume, he explores:

• The origin of Salmonella in poultry
• Intervention strategies for controlling Salmonella during breeding, hatching, grow-out, transportation, and processing
• How to design a processing plant to eliminate Salmonella
• How to verify intervention strategies to ensure they are working
• Increasing yield during processing while controlling Salmonella
• New regulations being proposed by USDA-FSIS and their impact on poultry companies regarding competition and international exportation of products
• The differences between the EU and the U.S. with regard to Salmonella control

Providing readers with numerous examples of real-world experiences, Dr. Russell offers knowledge gleaned from traveling to poultry plants throughout the world over an 18-year period, assisting processors with identifying the sources of Salmonella in their operations, and developing successful intervention strategies.

Providing a practical and easy to follow guide, this is an ideal book for people beginning with keeping chickens, covering the basics of poultry husbandry. The authors are experienced smallholders and share their advice with the aim of keeping healthy, happy chickens. The physical and behavioural attributes of domestic chickens are discussed in detail, advice on laying hens, breeding and raising chicks, housing, feeding, nutrition and health maintenance are covered, along with egg production, slaughter, collecting eggs and poultry meat products, and egg based recipes.Keeping Chickens is highly illustrated and adapted from the bestselling German book in its 9th edition.

If you want to incubate, hatch, and brood chicks yourself, rather than buying them from a hatchery, this is the guide you need. Poultry authority Gail Damerow explains exactly how to hatch healthy baby chickens, ducklings, goslings, turkey poults, and guinea keets, addressing everything from selecting a breed and choosing the best incubator to ensuring proper set-up and sanitary conditions, understanding embryo development, and feeding and caring for newborn chicks in a brooder. This is an indispensable reference for any poultry raiser, whether you want to hatch three eggs or one hundred.

This book discusses table and hatching eggs, quality-based grading of eggs, pre-incubation, incubation, hatching and post-hatch monitoring period, and how the next-generation management of these process can be enriched by informatics through non-destructive technologies, signal processing, machine learning, AI, IoT applications, etc. This book will be a beneficial resource for egg and poultry science researchers, avian biologists and ecologists, developmental biologists, agricultural engineers, advanced graduate and postgraduate students, and poultry production industry stakeholders.

A captivating, beautifully illustrated memoir of a life in nature, and a testament to the mutual rewards and delights of keeping chickens, by the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Flower Yard 'I am a toddler the first time I meet a chicken, and we are equal in size and height. The hen has tiny eyelashes, a strawberry-jam face and a voice of purring clucks. I sense a happy spirit of inquisitiveness and smile in fascination. From that moment on, I will always love the company of chickens. I have found my tribe' Most of us want a dog, or a cat, or a pony when we are young - for Arthur Parkinson, it was always hens. Growing up in an ex-mining town in Nottinghamshire, the other kids in the playground called him 'Chicken Boy'. But the quiet fulfilment of keeping hens became his sanctuary, a tonic for mental and physical health, a connection with his family and the natural world. From the local allotments and his nan's back garden, to Chatsworth and an unlikely friendship with the late Duchess of Devonshire, a famous hen-keeper, Chicken Boy tells the story of the love and satisfaction to be found in caring for living things. Illustrated with Arthur's own characterful watercolours and photographs of his 'girls', and laden with practical hen-keeping tips, gardening advice and introductions to common, rare and pure breeds, Chicken Boy is a one-of-a-kind memoir of a life in nature.

Become self-sufficient at home with this great two book collection. Self-sufficiency For Dummies Collection includes Growing Your Own Fruit & Veg For Dummies and Keeping Chickens For Dummies UK Edition. * From planning a planting calendar to feeding and caring for new plants, Growing Your Own Fruit & Veg For Dummies shows readers how to grow the tastiest fruit and vegetables all year round * Offering expert advice to the reader straight from the River Cottage Chicken Whisperer', so whether you re looking to raise chickens for eggs, meat, or just the entertainment value and fun Keeping Chickens For Dummies is the perfect place to start Fresh eggs, vegetables and fruit straight from your garden. Get started with these great two books today!

A fully updated and expanded new edition of the official reference to all the recognised Poultry Standards in Great Britain The seventh edition of British Poultry Standards contains complete specifications together with judging points for all standardised breeds and varieties of poultry, as compiled by the specialist Breed Clubs and published under the guidance of the Poultry Club of Great Britain. Intended as a manual to aid in the instruction and identification of breeds for the novice through to the veterinarian, this new edition has been thoroughly revised and edited, with numerous changes to breed pictures and profiles, providing a well-defined update for contemporary breeding, judging and exhibiting. Under the guardianship of the Poultry Club of Great Britain, this book details the authorised standards of excellence for each breed, covering categories such as feather markings, breed classification, and defects and deformities. The must-have reference for keepers, breeders, judges and exhibitors of pure bred poultry Features over 500 colour photographs, including 150 new images Includes 10 new breeds as well as all standardised breeds, and features photographs of many different varieties Provides complete specifications and judging points of all standardised breeds and varieties of poultry Recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain British Poultry Standards, 7th Edition is an essential resource for all poultry judges, breeders, exhibitors and keepers, as well as agricultural and veterinary college libraries and conservationists.

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.

Chickens are by far the world's most widely farmed animal, kept for both meat and egg production. They are at the centre of many debates regarding housing and production systems, causing significant interest in what lies behind chicken behaviour. This accessible book covers sensory biology, behavioural development, preferences and aversions, social behaviour, learning and cognition, behavioural issues in different systems and solutions for behavioural problems. Authored by an authority on chicken ethology, it brings together the fields of animal behaviour, neuroscience, psychology and epidemiology to provide a comprehensive understanding of chicken behaviour and help improve the lives of farmed chickens around the world.

"Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks" provides vital information for anyone wanting to keep ducks. It covers everything - choosing the right breed, including rare breeds and hybrid ducks; breeding and rearing practices; feeding; butchering; and, a comprehensive resource section for both the novice and the veteran farmer. New and Expanded features include: expanded breed section; more information on facilities for ducklings, health, and disease treatment; a compendium on marketing and record keeping; section on colour genetics; and, new information on rarer breed conservation.

According to surveys, the public believes the chickens it is buying are wholesome. Poultry Inspection: The Basis for a Risk-Assessment Approach looks at current inspection procedures to determine how effective the Food Safety Inspection Service is in finding dangerous levels of contaminants and disease-producing microorganisms. The book first describes the history behind the current system, noting that the amount of poultry inspected has increased dramatically while techniques and regulations have remained constant since 1968. The steps involved in an inspection are then described, followed by a discussion of alternative and innovative inspection procedures. It then provides a risk-assessment model for poultry, including submodels for each stage of processing. Risk assessment is used to protect health, establish priorities, identify problems, and set acceptable levels of risk. The model is applied both to microbiological hazards and to chemical contaminants.

"Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry "is the only book you need to naturally and humanely raise a wide range of poultry, from chickens and turkeys to waterfowl and game birds -- even uncommon species, such as pigeons, emus, doves, ostriches, peafowl, and swans. Whether you're running a farm or raising a few birds in the backyard, Glenn Drowns tells you everything you need to know about breed selection, housing, space requirements, behavior, breeding, hatching, feeding, health care, and the business of processing meat and eggs. This revised edition includes new and updated information on health and disease, raising birds on pasture, growing your own feed, housing, breeding, slaughtering, and marketing.