How to Raise Chickens

How to Raise Chickens: Everything You Need to Know, Breeds, Housing, Health and Care, Hatching Chicks, Eggs and Meat by Christine Heinrichs

This book is thoroughly modern and comprehensive. It is highly recommended by Backyard Poultry Magazine. It's geared toward and supported by the FFA and with lots of color pictures, makes a nice introductory guide.

Whichever comes first for you, the chicken or the egg, this book shows you what to do next. In this hands-on, easy-to-use guidebook, longtime chicken breeder and poultry expert Christine Heinrichs tells you everything you need to know to raise chickens in your backyard--from laying out the yard and designing a coop, to choosing breeds, caring for chicks, egging, sexing, and butchering. Whether you're interested in rare breeds or the garden variety; whether you want to show your chickens or serve them, this brightly illustrated, clearly written guide will prove an indispensable resource.