Apart from being our main writer, Nora also works for a number of gardening-related sites and magazines, sharing her experience as an owner of a small farm in North Carolina.
Bruce owns a small farm and loves to grill since his early childhood. He’s a professional cook, but hiking and enjoying the great outdoors is his no less favorite part of life.
Last updated: February 18, 2022
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Raising chickens is pretty easy, right? Well, although chickens are an excellent investment for sustainable living, without the right knowledge, you might end up with an unsuccessful chicken farm. Whether you are going big or just raising a couple of chickens, you certainly need all the help you can get. One way of acquiring the necessary knowledge to succeed in this endeavor is to get the right books. However, since there are several books on the market, it can be hard finding that right one. We have made our research to come up with the best books for raising chickens.
When choosing the best books on chicken rearing or raising chickens, you have to consider some important factors. These include the author and their experience, the content itself, your level of knowledge, which format you prefer: paperback or e-book, and illustrations. All of these factors are crucial in choosing the right book.
"This book is written by a farmer with plenty of experience, contains topics that are essential to caring for your chicken, and will prove a handy guide in most situations.Available in Paperback, Hardcover, and Kindle.424 pages."
"This book is made for those that are looking for value for their money: it is simple and full of illustrations and systematic instructions that will help you make a success of raising chickens.Available in Paperback and Kindle.180Â pages."
"This is a 192-page book that is illustrated, affordable, and rich in strategies to make your chicken rearing successful.Available in Paperback and Kindle.192Â pages."
"This is the best book for farmers: it is written in a style that those familiar with farming will understand, and also gives lots of information on how to treat ailments in chickens.Available in Paperback and Kindle.240Â pages."
"This book details close-up interactions of the author and chickens. It contains interviews with chicken enthusiasts and is an excellent book for anyone looking to know how chickens behave.Available in Paperback and Kindle.144Â pages."
"This 114-page book is targeted at kids and will help them have all the important knowledge required to take care of chickens.Available in Paperback, Hardcover, Kindle.144Â pages."
"This is a comprehensive 432-page book that explains almost everything you need to know about chickens in an easy language.Available in Paperback and Kindle.432Â words."
"This is a 123-page book written by an author with extensive knowledge of raising chickens. It covers several topics and answers questions not answered elsewhere.Available in Paperback and Kindle.123Â words."
Content: up-to-date details on shelter, food, health care, eggs, chicks, and meat; recent research into chicken behavior and communication; plenty of illustrations
This book from Storey Publishing is one of the best books that anyone interested in raising chickens should read. It has been massively helpful to many in the past and still continues to help new farmers. The guide is extensive, and it covers up to 450Â pages with a wide variety of topics. In this book, you can read about stuff like how to build coops and to care for the chickens, and behavioral issues of chickens.
Written by Gail Damerow, this book is full of her experiences as a farmer in Tennessee.
Overall, this book comes with almost everything that you require to raise chickens.
Why did it make our list? This book is written by a farmer with plenty of experience. It contains topics that are essential to caring for your chicken and will prove a handy guide in most situations.
What is not ideal about it? The book is written from the point of view of a small-scale operation. Therefore, if you are looking to go big, you might not find all the advice useful.
Content: down-to-earth approach to raising chicken with abundant illustrations and easy-to-follow steps
At 180Â pages, this is a small book. However, if this is your first foray into raising chickens, you will find this book to be very helpful. It is primarily written for beginners and helps the starter gain the necessary information to make a success of chicken raising.
It is written by Kathy Shea Mormino who has quite plenty of experience in this aspect of agriculture. There is so much to like about this little book. The contents are superb and written in a language that almost everyone would understand. It is down to earth and simple. To aid with understanding, the book is also designed with illustrations.
What are our favorite features? This book is made for those that are looking for value for their money. It is simple and full of illustrations and systematic instructions that will help you make a success of raising chickens.
What could be better? The book is relatively small and doesn’t cover all the topics.
Content: detailed coop construction plans, feeding guidelines, chick rearing strategies, safety tips and more
Looking for value for your money? Then this book from Anne Kuo offers just that. It is a recent book that highlights some tested and trusted techniques used in rearing chickens, and combines that with modern knowledge that will make your venture successful.
The content here is rich and comprehensive. Just like our top choice, this book contains plenty of information about stuff like building a coop, how to rear chicks, how to keep the animals safe, and so on. Additionally, it is illustrated for your benefit.
What makes it special? This is a 192-page book that is illustrated, affordable, and rich in strategies to make your chicken rearing successful.
What cons did we find? The book suffers from some organizational issues as it can be tough finding the topics that you want.
Content: detailed instructions on creating your own poultry or egg business, from purchasing chickens to preventing and treating ailments; also included are recipes with eggs and poultry
If you are a farmer looking to make the best from the business of raising chickens, then you should certainly consider this book. It is a comprehensive guide that shows you some very important information on stuff related to your endeavor.
For one, it offers you information on how you can start your business – right from the formation stage to the stage of selling the animals.
You also have plenty of information on the major ailments and issues that arise when raising these animals.
What are our favorite features? This is the best book for farmers. It is written in a style that those familiar with farming will understand. It also gives lots of information on how to treat ailments in chickens.
What could be better? The language might be a tad too complicated for a beginner.
Content: tips on how to understand chicken communications, information on chicken anatomy and intelligence, personal experience of the author
Can you talk to chickens? Well, this book claims that you can! If you are looking for a book that comprehensively details chicken behavior and communication, then this is the one for you. This book from a best-selling author helps you to know how to have fun with your chicken – just like any other pet. She has loads of experience dealing with chickens, which gives her firsthand insight into their behavior and communication.
It is written in a simple, laid-back style that you will enjoy reading.
Why are we impressed? This book details close-up interactions of the author and chickens. It contains interviews with chicken enthusiasts and is an excellent book for anyone looking to know how chickens behave.
What negatives must you be aware of? The book is focused on the chicken behavior and not much on the practical ways of raising them.
Content: everything about caring for chicken, feeding, housing, and collecting eggs, simply explained for kids
If you have kids, this is the definite book for them to read. It is primarily targeted at children and contains information that they can really understand. The language is very simple, and the content is kid-centric.
Part of what it contains includes all that children need to know about raising chickens, collecting eggs, hygiene, housing, and more.
It is also an illustrated book, which makes it easy for kids to understand and appeals to all their cognitive functions.
What makes it special? This 114-page book is targeted at kids and will help them have all the important knowledge required to take care of chickens.
What cons did we find? It is for kids, so the language might be too simple, as well as the content.
Publisher: For Dummies; 2nd edition (December 5, 2019)
Content: everything about basic chicken biology and behavior, feed and supplements, recognizing and treating diseases, safety tips, latest urban farming trends
The For Dummies series are known for their simplistic approach, and that is what you get with this book. It offers readers the most relevant and recent information on how to raise chickens. It is a manual for chicken rearing and all instructions are easy to understand.
Part of what you’ll learn here includes how to build a coop, how to feed and keep hygiene, and so much more.
It is for beginners and is a wonderful resource for raising chickens regardless of your experience levels.
What do we love it for? This is a comprehensive 432-page book that explains almost everything you need to know about chickens.
What were we disappointed with? This reads like a textbook and lacks the fun factor of other books on this roundup.
Publisher: Independently published (August 31, 2018)
Content: a guide from a fourth-generation chicken keeper explaining all aspects of raising healthy chickens
The last book on our list is from an author that is a fourth-generation chicken raiser. Therefore, it offers practical instructions to ensure your birds are happy and healthy. It contains information that helps right at the onset. For example, it teaches you how to select the best breed for you.
It also contains information on chicken behavior and health. Whether you are a starter or an expert reader, you will find this book helpful. It is illustrated too.
Why is it special? This is a 123-page book written by an author with extensive knowledge of raising chickens. It covers several topics and answers questions not answered elsewhere.
What are the flaws? Organization is quite poor, and it can be hard looking up some topics.
Things to Consider
In the section above, we considered eight of the best books for raising chickens right now. There are so many books on the market about how you can handle your animals and agriculture, including chickens. Therefore, if you are thinking of raising chickens, there are a ton of books out there. The eight that we have reviewed are the best in their category. By considering these, you will find it easier to choose the right book. How did we choose the eight books? And why should you read about chickens before you decide to rear them? Well, in this buying guide section, we will answer each of these questions and more.
Why you should read before raising chickens
Why should you read books about chickens before you head over to start raising them? Well, it is so that you can be successful.
Imagine sitting for an exam without reading the course material. Your chance of success, you will agree, would be very slim indeed. Well, the same goes for books about rearing chickens. The best books on this subject are written by people that have reared these animals and have plenty of experience about the subject.
These books are to assist you to know the right way to successfully raise these delicate creatures. Without proper care and supervision, you might buy chickens and lose all of them to different factors. By considering these books, you will have all the necessary information that you need.
Although experience will teach you, it is good to be able to learn from the mistakes of others so that you also do not fall into the same errors.
Therefore, read a high-quality book on raising chickens before you take the step of raising them one your own.
Another benefit of these books is that they are always available to you. Thus, you can always refer to them whenever you run into any challenges.
Things to consider before you buy a chicken raising book
As there are so many books on the market that concern chicken raising, it can be a challenge finding the right book for your requirements. You certainly cannot expect success if you choose the first book that comes your way without knowing the important things to consider. In this section, we consider the important features to consider when choosing a book on raising chickens. This will certainly help you to choose a right book even if it is not from any of the books that we have provided on this list.
Author
Before you choose a book on raising chickens, the very first thing that you must consider is the author or authors of the book.
You should look at the experience that these have and any form of proof that they know what they are doing. Are they knowledgeable in the field, or have they run successful ventures? It is important to consider these things because it will determine whether the information written would help you. After all, the author cannot give what they do not have.
Content
What exactly will the book teach you? You have to ascertain the veracity of the content of the book. How can you do this without reading the whole book? Well, one way to know whether the content of the book is what you require is by checking out reviews from those that have read the book. Their opinions indicate the level of quality of the book’s content.
There are advantages and disadvantages of both formats. Paperback books are easy to note, annotate, and reference, especially if you have read it before.
E-books on the other hand, are easy to take around with you wherever you go. You can easily search for terms, and stuff like that.
The good thing is that all the books that we have provided on our list come in both formats: paperback and e-book.
The best book for beginners should be one that has simple directions and is written in a very simple format. That way, it would be easier to understand. It might also come with illustrations that aid understanding. The Chicken Chick’s Guide to Backyard Chickens is the best book for beginners that we recommend.
If your kids are looking to raise chickens, then you certainly can get them a chicken raising book. It should be a beginner level book, or higher based on the child’s level of comprehension. It will be a tutor that will assist your child raise chickens safely and successfully.
Our Verdict
The best book for raising chickens is Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens. This book is written by a farmer with plenty of experience. It contains topics that are essential to caring for your chicken and will prove a handy guide in most situations. If you are a beginner, The Chicken Chick’s Guide to Backyard Chickens is the best option. It is simple and full of illustrations and systematic instructions that will help you make a success of raising chickens. The value choice is The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens. This book is a 192 paged book that is illustrated, affordable, and rich in strategies to make your chicken rearing successful.
These, along with the other five we have considered are the best books for raising chickens.
Why should you read books about chickens before you head over to start raising them? Well, it is so that you can be successful.
What exactly will the book teach you? You have to ascertain the veracity of the content of the book. How can you do this without reading the whole book? Well, one way to know whether the content of the book is what you require is by checking out reviews from those that have read the book. Their opinions indicate the level of quality of the book’s content.
