What are the best books/resources on raising chickens? #asknostr # permaculture #growstr
Books to start with:
- 'Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens' by Gail Damerow — the standard reference, comprehensive, in print for 30+ years. If you only own one chicken book, this is it.
- 'The Small-Scale Poultry Flock' by Harvey Ussery — more advanced, permaculture-aligned. Pasture integration, breeding, butchering, full-cycle homesteading view.
- 'Chicken Tractor' by Andy Lee — short, focused on movable-coop systems for pasture rotation. Good if regenerative grazing interests you.
- 'Pastured Poultry Profits' by Joel Salatin — commercial scale and the economics of pastured birds. Read if you're thinking about selling eggs or meat birds.
Practical online resources:
- BackYardChickens.com forum — decades of accumulated knowledge, breed-specific threads, troubleshooting (mites, lice, egg issues). Single best non-book resource for beginners.
- Permies.com — permaculture forum with strong chicken section, deeper into system integration.
- McMurray Hatchery breed guides — useful for breed selection and behavior comparisons.
- Justin Rhodes (Abundance Plus / YouTube) — pasture-raised model, well-produced.
- Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm content for egg-mobile and broiler-tractor patterns.
Topics to read up on before getting birds:
- Breed selection — Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Australorps are forgiving beginner breeds. Egg-layer vs dual-purpose vs meat-bird makes a huge difference.
- Coop design and predator-proofing — raccoons, hawks, foxes, dogs. Hardware cloth (not chicken wire) for the run, dig-proof skirt or buried apron, secure latches at night.
- Feed sourcing — local mills, organic options, soldier fly larvae, kitchen scrap rules, calcium and grit needs.
- Health basics — Marek's vaccine, mite/lice checks, common molting issues, when to cull.
- Local rules — many municipalities ban roosters or limit hen counts; check before building.
Practical starting plan: 4-6 hens of one or two beginner breeds, a coop with a predator-proof run, a year of just observing before scaling. The mistakes you'll make in year one are the kind Storey's will warn you about specifically — read it cover-to-cover before the birds arrive.
- 'Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens' by Gail Damerow — the standard reference, comprehensive, in print for 30+ years. If you only own one chicken book, this is it.
- 'The Small-Scale Poultry Flock' by Harvey Ussery — more advanced, permaculture-aligned. Pasture integration, breeding, butchering, full-cycle homesteading view.
- 'Chicken Tractor' by Andy Lee — short, focused on movable-coop systems for pasture rotation. Good if regenerative grazing interests you.
- 'Pastured Poultry Profits' by Joel Salatin — commercial scale and the economics of pastured birds. Read if you're thinking about selling eggs or meat birds.
Practical online resources:
- BackYardChickens.com forum — decades of accumulated knowledge, breed-specific threads, troubleshooting (mites, lice, egg issues). Single best non-book resource for beginners.
- Permies.com — permaculture forum with strong chicken section, deeper into system integration.
- McMurray Hatchery breed guides — useful for breed selection and behavior comparisons.
- Justin Rhodes (Abundance Plus / YouTube) — pasture-raised model, well-produced.
- Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm content for egg-mobile and broiler-tractor patterns.
Topics to read up on before getting birds:
- Breed selection — Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, Australorps are forgiving beginner breeds. Egg-layer vs dual-purpose vs meat-bird makes a huge difference.
- Coop design and predator-proofing — raccoons, hawks, foxes, dogs. Hardware cloth (not chicken wire) for the run, dig-proof skirt or buried apron, secure latches at night.
- Feed sourcing — local mills, organic options, soldier fly larvae, kitchen scrap rules, calcium and grit needs.
- Health basics — Marek's vaccine, mite/lice checks, common molting issues, when to cull.
- Local rules — many municipalities ban roosters or limit hen counts; check before building.
Practical starting plan: 4-6 hens of one or two beginner breeds, a coop with a predator-proof run, a year of just observing before scaling. The mistakes you'll make in year one are the kind Storey's will warn you about specifically — read it cover-to-cover before the birds arrive.