Review: A Great, Essential Handbook Improved by Adding The Backyard Chickens Breed Guide. Fantastic!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 12, 2014
This 127-pages for the two books makes for a terrific deal. I already owned and reviewed Book One (The Backyard Chickens Handbook) and am re-posting that review herein, but only after discussing Book Two (The Backyard Chickens Breed Guide).Book Two The Backyard Chickens Breed Guide:In his discussion of the breeds, Mike Anderson (no relation to me) leads each breed with a photograph (except for two, one of which has a line drawing and the other, sadly, Anderson has thus far been unable to obtain a picture of) and then he posts a just-the-facts information followed by a detailed discussion of the breed.I have raised several of the breeds discussed and agree 100 percent with his assessments. In fact, Anderson is one of the few writers I've agreed with regarding Brahma chickens being good layers, as well as a quiet, docile breed. Kudos to Anderson.If I had purchased this book only, by itself, I might not praise the book so strongly, for much of the information in Book Two is readily available on the web. But, adding this book WITH The Backyard Chickens Handbook is a brilliant stroke.Which explains why I feel it necessary to post the more salient points of Book One. Together, these books equate to some of the best available information for backyard chicken farming by self-sufficient homesteading.Book One The Backyard Chickens Handbook:I have at least two dozen books on raising chickens. My favorite was printed in 1885, but I have books from the early 1900s, the 1920s, the 1940s and several others more recently. Yet, if I only had Backyard Chickens: The Beginner's Guide to Raising and Caring for Backyard Chickens, I would have enough information to succeed with a few chickens for eggs.Besides the excellent organization and easy-flowing manner in which Rashelle Johnson explained the salient points, what I found exceptionally welcome was the inclusion of two photographs - one was of a chicken tractor. Curious about the chicken tractor? Get the book.Although this is such a terrific book on backyard chicken raising that I can't praise it too much, there was one ever-so-minor point I would be remiss in not highlighting:The author stated that one British study reported the percentage of chickens carrying salmonella was far more prevalent on large, commercial farms where hens are kept in cages (23% vs 4 to 6 % or so on organic farms). I'll not quibble with the statement as presented by Johnson, for my gut tells me it's accurate. My concern is the the writer did not give the source or a link to the study.Again, despite this one very technical point, I absolutely loved Backyard Chickens. It is an outstanding 76-page book for anybody considering a small flock of laying hens.