Raising Chickens for Dummies  by Kimberly Willis and Rob Ludlow.  Why am I reading a book on chickens?  If you’re following my Book Reviews, you caught that I just read a great book on raising goats, and chickens and rabbits are the other two animals I’d like to add to my “family” someday.  I’d love to teach my grandchildren about animal husbandry, but I’ve got to understand it first! 

It’s certainly not something someone from the city can wish to do one day and actually do it the next.  There is an incredible amount of information to learn and experience to gain.  I’m not there in either category, but I’d love to learn and gain, while I shepherd people. 

“Raising Chickens for Dummies” is no quick read.  In other words, it isn’t 35 pages and you are supposed to know everything.  It’s 370 pages of good information, without much white space or pictures.  It’s well written and covers the gamut of chickens, but I’d be concerned that after a week of experience, I’d need to spend time re-reading this book in the pertinent areas.  It’s an impressive organization of instruction, advice and warnings from choosing what kinds of chickens you might want from the type of housing and finally the management of handling “Layers” and “Meat Birds.” 

I’ll leave this review very short, because it’s so different from most of the books I read, but off this quick note so that you might consider broadening your horizon of what you read and even consider one day you might want a few chickens for yourself (if your housing codes and covenants allow them).  I do wish the book had more pictures on the suggested structures to be built and handling of the chickens.  There is repetition in explanations, but it is helpful for those who pick and choose what portions of the book are needed.  The authors have done a nice work in repeating what needs to be repeated to ensure you won’t miss something important if you only read chapters 7, 9 or 12 by themselves.  Check out www.backyardchickens.com for more information on raising chickens.