Reviews by popsicle

This is easily my favorite book on raising fowl. It is absolutely the most comprehensive book I own covering everything from: why to raise chickens, obtaining chicks, manure, processing birds (with photos!), mixing feed, performance spreadsheets, etc.

I appreciate that there are only brief descriptions of breeds the author has experience with. I have other books that attempt to give an overview of many breeds--of course they always leave out so many breeds I wonder why they bother.

If you want to raise birds sustainably, this is your book. The author argues that you should only order straight run chicks; and you should process your extra cockerels, cocks and hens. I have several books that have just a paragraph or two about processing, with maybe a photo or two. This book has a nice photo spread detailing processing, including accepted humane kill methods. Is this book all you need to be confident in your first processing experience? No. However, this book is the clear winner in describing processing compared to all the other general chicken rearing books on my shelf.

The main negative I have about the book is regarding frequent mentioning of issues such as peak-oil. I'm fairly conservative and went to school for resource management--while I don't disagree with much of what he says, I think it will turn a few people off to the many important things he is saying. Considering my degree in natural science I very much appreciate that he does seem to cite his sources (I will admit I haven't looked at what his sources are).

I got the EcoGlow 20 to replace brooding under a lamp. This is easily the best chicken-related purchase I've made in a while. The ease of mind regarding fires is worth the price alone.

So far I've used the EcoGlow 20 to brood 5 Easter Egger chicks until they were 5 weeks or so, then they were feathered in enough. Then I used the EcoGlow 20 in conjunction with a Sweeter Heater to brood 40 birds (2 ducklings, 1 turkey, 37 chicks). I've since been using the EcoGlow to continue brooding the ducklings after separating them from the chicks.

20 day-old chicks could easily fit under this brooder. However, the two runner ducklings are 3.5 weeks old and I doubt a third could fit under there (but they hardly seem like they need it anymore and rather are under there because it's a safe dark place).

I'm not certain because I don't keep detailed records, but I think the chicks have feathered in faster under this brooder than under a lamp. I think this has to do with the over-all temperature of the brooder box is lower than it was when I was using the heat lamp.

I only move the heater to clean under it. I keep the water and feed far enough away from the heat that I have been able to keep an eye on the young chicks for pasty butt when they venture out.

The heater is not hot to the touch, and won't ignite bedding or burn your chicks. It is warm enough to keep chicks happy. I know I've been using it against the manufacturer's recommendation of >50F ambient room temperature. I have my brooders in an unheated shed. Many mornings when I go to the coop the water in unheated pans has ice--I know the temps have been into the low teens at night. Of course the coop is a bit warmer than outside and is draft-free. I haven't lost a single chick to cold. I'm NOT saying it will definitely work for you at temperatures lower than the manufacturer's recommendation since not all coops and chicks are created equally. I took the risk and it worked for me.

I will update this as I have time to write more.

UPDATE (Aug 5, 2015): I had to knock a star and a half off the original 5 star review.

After a few rounds of chicks, the cord attachment broke. My husband soldered it back on. It broke again after a few rounds of brooding. He soldered it back, again. I don't know how long this will last. The cord is very flimmsey--like a cell phone charger cord. It attaches sticking out the side between the legs that require being pried off with a screwdriver (per the instructions). The chicks always manage to pull/perch/whatever on the cord and it gets beat-up while adjusting the legs.

I think this brooder is excellent for somebody that occasionally broods a few chicks. I also think this brooder is excellent considering the reduced fire risk and energy use. However, I brood something on the order of 50 chicks per year, sometimes more. I use the EcoGlow in a brooder box along with a Sweeter Heater. I will replace my EcoGlow with another Sweeter Heater despite the heaftier price tag and higher energy use. The Sweeter Heater has a larger cord that attaches at the top--so no chicks tugging and perching on it.

I knocked one star off this review because I believe the title to be incredibly misleading. This book is hardly a "Complete Guide to Poultry Breeds" but rather a general care guide for several poultry species (Chickens, Ducks, Geese, Peafowl, Quail, Turkeys, etc). The actual breed coverage is as good as most other general care guides. You will not find this to be a book that has lots of color photos of many different chicken breeds.

I knocked a half-star because I think it's a bit expensive compared to other similar books. It's black-and-white with mass-market quality paper.

The information inside seems to be good, and it's a good book if you are thinking about getting other species with your chickens. I originally wasn't too interested in ducks, geese, turkeys, etc. However, I'm ordering a barnyard surprise for this spring, so I might end up with some geese, ducks and/or trukeys, so the book will come in handy after all!

I got this book at the brick-and-mortar mom-and-pop bookstore, so I paid a bit more than Amazon.

The book is a high-quality hardback that is a joy to look at. It's quick and easy to read, though I haven't read it from cover-to-cover, rather in sections as I needed.

There are certainly a lot of similar chicken books available now. This book is redundant to several other books available (on amazon or my bookshelf) though I'm still happy with the purchase. This is the one I usually recommend first to people considering a few laying hens.

In case it's not obvious from the title and book description, this book is definitely written for "city-folk" or people with a few laying hens that consider them pets. I don't think you will find any information about butchering, processing, culling or Cornish Xs. If you are looking to raise a sustainable flock that includes meat birds, I recommend Harvey Ussery's book.

I will add that there are a couple pet peeves regarding chicken breeds. First, what they call Ameraucana is technically "Easter Egger" especially since they say there aren't standardized colors--there absolutely are standardized colors for Ameraucanas. I'm not a breed purist, I have the non-standardized Easter Eggers in my flock. Second, it's Marans singular and plural. There is no such thing as a Maran chicken. They are named after the town (region?) Marans, France. It would be like naming a chicken breed Illinois and calling one an Illinoi.

I got this book when it was on sale for Kindle.

It's a quick read of mostly anecdotal stories of the author and her hens, with a few informational tidbits throughout. There was one story about having to take the chickens to her sister's house while they went on vacation, she had a terrible time catching one of the hens and almost had to leave her behind. I think that would have been a great opportunity to let readers know that they could avoid such a situation if they catch the chickens the night before while roosting.

All the recipes look fantastic. I will say that I found it a bit odd that in the stories the author made clear how uncomfortable she was cooking chicken after getting her hens--yet there are quite a lot of chicken recipes. I think I was expecting more egg recipes but we eat chicken so it's not an issue.