Reasearching.. Need book advise Please..

[sassie]

Could anyone recommend a good book on chicken care, coops, breeds etc. Have been thinking about getting chickens for ages but have been put off as i have a den of foxes living underneath nextdoors shed. Worried that i will have to build some kind of alcatraz to keep the chickens safe...!!!

[poultrychat]

Hi sassie, umm, if you have foxes next door then you will need to be very careful and make sure any pen you build is 100% fox proof.

I can't find my copy at the moment but I would suggest - Hens in the Garden Eggs in the Kitchen, I believe it is by Katie Thear so have a look on Amazon

[yoanbob]

hi sassie fox's are cunning fellows so make sure you build it good and strong and a netting skirt to stop him digging his way in.
best book i found was in the library rearing chickens it was called t was a bit old but great advise on everything, including plans for houses

[Pumpkin Becki]

Katie Thear's books are excellent. I would suggest her 'Starting with Chickens', as it is full of useful advise but doesn't over complicate things! Plus it's only £6.95 - you can't go wrong!

Foxes are a problem, but if you provide good defences you should be okay. A moveable ark is better than a fixed run for two reasons:

1) if Mr Fox does visit, providing your ark is on firm/uncultivated ground, he won't make much of a scrape in one night. You come along the next morning and move the ark, and when foxy visits again, his scrape is now several feet away from your girls and he has to start over again.

2) your ark won't get 'fowl sick' if you move it regularly (daily in high summer), so it won't start to smell and your garden won't turn to mud as soon as it rains!

Also, if you go for an ark which has the perching/nesting part upstairs with a run on the bottom, the ramp that the girls use to go up and down will provide an extra defence against the fox should he get into the run area. But you do need to be good about drawing the ramp up at night.

I love the old saying 'you have to be lucky all the time - the fox only has to be lucky once!'

[Sue]

Hi
I've got Hens in the Garden, Eggs in the Kitchen, it's OK as a beginners guide but the recipe bit is very useful as the recipes nearly all use multiple eggs, good for when you've got loads.
Its by Charlotte Popescu, Cavalier Paperbacks, £7.99
I have yet to find a good chicken keeping guide inbetween the real beginners and the more technical ones but Katie Thear is good as well.
best wishes
Sue

[CountryFayre]

I would go with starting with chickens by Katie Thear

[heebiejeebie]

I was thinking of asking the same question, so thanks!

Chicken coop and run are arriving in a fortnight (Jim Vyse, the swiss chalet and 6' run) and the ex-battery girls are coming in September. Can't wait!

[witch-1]

I got 'Starting with Chickens' which as a beginners was good.

Now, I've progressed to 'Poultry - a guide to management' by Carol Twinch

Jan

[bubblewrap]

Not a book but a site about coops my sister has one and are reasonably fox proof

http://www.omlet.co.uk/homepage/homepage.php