Good Book?

[shadegrow]

Can anyone recommend a good encyclopediac type chicken book? Most seem to cover the same ground, how to pick a breed, house types etc.. We have the chook's & house. What we want is a reference type book on ailments, warning signs etc. Might save us pestering this forum all the time

[MaureenHall]

But we like being pestered It's a big learning curve for all of us, we learn something new every day.

Sorry I can't help with the book though

[Glutton4...]

I was recommended one called 'Avoid the Vet' or something similar, but I have to confess I haven't read it yet, as it's easier to search or ask on here!

[RichmondHens]

Diseases of Free Range Poultry by Victoria Roberts (she's the resident vet for Country Smallholding Magazine.

For an interesting read, try Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps by Claude Goodchild and Alan Thompson Written in 1941 (!!!) it's obviously rather dated and obviously Defra would frown upon the scraps part, but for general husbandry and flock observation it's actually very informative and still relevant today. I was recently given it as a present and have enjoyed looking through it.

[frias]

I borrowed loads of books from the library but find the best advice here on the vine as there's nothing like experience.

[Suechooks]

"Avoid the vet" is similar to the other chicken books. It just advocates good husbandry.

[RichmondHens]

Well, good husbandry helps to avoid disease! A good sensible diet, avoiding overcrowding, keeping hen houses clean and birds parasite free all goes a long way to having happy healthy chooks. Prevention is always better than cure. It's always tempting to skip tasks like mucking out in bad weather, louse checking late at night when you're tired and hungry etc but we owe it to our birds to keep them in the best possible state of health. Then they can provide us with the best eggs!

[Suechooks]

Well, good husbandry helps to avoid disease! A good sensible diet, avoiding overcrowding, keeping hen houses clean and birds parasite free all goes a long way to having happy healthy chooks. Prevention is always better than cure. It's always tempting to skip tasks like mucking out in bad weather, louse checking late at night when you're tired and hungry etc but we owe it to our birds to keep them in the best possible state of health. Then they can provide us with the best eggs!

I wasn't criticising the book for it's content but the original question was for a book which had something extra over and above the general run of chicken books which all rightly advocate good husbandry.
I'm guessing the one you recommended about diseases of Free range poultry is what they're looking for. I'll certainly be having a look at it.