Product Description

This encyclopedia is packed with sensible advice and practical guidance for all aspiring poultry keepers. This first part explores all aspects of keeping chickens, including choosing, housing, day-to-day management, feeding, eggs and breeding, coping with chicken behaviour, health care and showing. The second part presents detailed profiles of more than 90 breeds, complete with fascinating insights into their history and temperament.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9055 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
Interpet Publishing has launched, Mini Encyclopedia of Chicken Breeds & Care, the sixth in its pet encyclopedia series. The 208-page book provides information on care as well as a guide to the range of breeds available. The guide is split into two sections, the first includes advice on housing, health care, feeding, breeding and showing, while the second looks in detail at the history and temperament of more than 90 breeds including light breeds, heavy breeds, true bantams and game birds. Interpet said 'The book provides valuable information for the increasing number of people interested in keeping poultry as pets, for their eggs, or for showing and breeding. It's amazing how many kinds of chickens there are now and how different species vary in look, size and temperament. Many hobbyists have gaps in their knowledge of chickens and their welfare so good quality accessible information is welcomed. Poultry keeping is booming and Mini Encyclopedia of Chicken Breeds & Care has all the components to be a top seller.' --Glee Wire

This combination of focused text and highly illustrated content results in a book that is unrivalled in terms of its depth of coverage of individual breeds. Featuring easily accessed advice and hundreds of photographs, the mini-encyclopedia packs a huge amount of information into a pleasingly chunky format. Crammed with facts and pictures, and all at a very affordable price, this mini-encyclopedia punches well above its weight in terms of value for money. --Pet Trade World

This handy mini encyclopedia is crammed with useful information and tips, not to mention wonderful photography which would enthuse any prospective or fledgling poultry owner. Split into two parts, the first section of the book is like a guide and provides information on which type of chicken might be best for the would-be owner: housing chickens, management and feeding, eggs, breeding chickens, understanding chicken behaviour and health care, as well as a section on showing birds. Part two focases on breeds - both light and heave. So anyone wanting to know the differences between say the 'Scotts Dumpy' and the 'Sicilian Buttercup' would be well advised to read this book. Even those who are not bothered about brushing up on thier breeds may still enjoy comparing the photos with the wonderful and descriptive names given to these birds, some of which have incredibly comical appearances - look no further than the 'Poland' or the 'Sultan' breeds! --Pet Focus Magazine

About the Author
Frances Bassom has had a fascination with all things poultry related from a very early age. Eventually, an interest in rare and exhibition breeds led to the purchase of a trio of Sebrights, rapidly followed by many other breeds, with an emphasis on those classed as rare, such as Lakenveldersand Vorwerks. In 1981, Frances became one of the earliest members of the Surrey Poultry Society, of which she is currently chairman. She is a member of the Rare Poultry Society and prefers to describe herself as a breeder of poultry rather than an exhibitor. She has developed a new variant of the Vorwerk Bantam and is currently endeavouring to preserve and promote a chocolate gene found in the Minorca Bantam.

Customer Reviews

Not just for first timer chicken keepers.
I am likely to be a little biased as some of my birds are photographed in this book but I do think that this is the best guide to starting out with chickens available at the moment. All of the essential information is laid out in clear, plain English with all potentially confusing terms fully explained. The breed encyclopedia section gives full page articles on most of the common and rare breeds you are likely to find, giving a tempting hint of the wide range of poultry available to choose from. Because the breed section includes several rare and unusual types and includes enough information about them it will be useful to those who already keep chickens as well as those just starting out.

Eggsactly
This book is exactly what a beginner at poultry keeping needs. It is a reasonable price for such a mine of information. My husband has just purchased Pekin bantams and has used this book to build a run and house for them. It is full of common sense advice and colour pictures of a wide range of breeds. Worth every penny.

Chicken Breeds and Care Mini Encyclopedia
What a great little book. All the information you need to know about keeping chickens, types of breeds and how to look after and diagnose early health problems.
If you wanted just one book I would recommend this as it is a first class read for those just starting out and is a great source of reference for the more experienced keeper.