Your hands-on guide to modern chicken-raising methods Thinking about raising chickens? You've come to the right place! This new edition of Raising Chickens For Dummies provides the most up-to-date, thorough information on the many aspects of keeping chickens in your backyard. Inside, you'll find hands-on, easy-to-follow instructions on choosing and purchasing chickens, constructing housing for your birds, feeding your chickens for optimal health, combating laying issues, controlling pests and predators, optimizing egg production, and much more. Raising chickens on a small scale is a popular―and growing―pastime. If you're interested in keeping chickens as pets or as a source for eggs, Raising Chickens For Dummies gives you plain-English explanations of everything you need to know to about caring for chickens. Inside, you'll learn about basic chicken biology, breeds, and behavior, which chicken breed is best for you, how many you need, ways to spot healthy chickens, how to build a chicken coop, best practices for mating your chickens, how to incubate eggs, how to hatch and nurture chicks, manage laying hens, collect and store eggs, and butcher meat birds. Offers practical advice on choosing and purchasing chickens - Helps you construct the right housing for your chickens - Provides tips on feeding and caring for your chickens - Includes top tips for raising healthy chickens Whether you're a first-time poulterer or you've been raising chickens for years, this comprehensive guide provides practical how-to advice for keeping chickens in virtually any backyard. Raising Chickens For Dummies (9781119675921) was previously published as Raising Chickens For Dummies (9781118982785). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product. Choose and purchase healthy chickens - Construct the right housing for your flock - Feed and care for your chickens Your trusted resource for keeping chickens This hands-on guide offers complete coverage on chicken care, from feeding your birds for optimal health to controlling pests and predators—and everything in between. Learn what you need to know about the stages of growth, from chick to adult, and discover the best way to collect, clean, and store eggs. Whether you're a first-time poulterer or you've been raising chickens for years, you'll find fast, authoritative advice for keeping chickens in virtually any backyard. Inside... Understand basic chicken biology and behavior - Supplement feed with grit - Recognize and deal with disease - Safely mate your chickens - Get tips on the latest urban farming trends - Package and store home- butchered poultry Choose and purchase healthy chickens - Construct the right housing for your flock - Feed and care for your chickens Your trusted resource for keeping chickens This hands-on guide offers complete coverage on chicken care, from feeding your birds for optimal health to controlling pests and predators and everything in between. Learn what you need to know about the stages of growth, from chick to adult, and discover the best way to collect, clean, and store eggs. Whether you're a first-time poulterer or you've been raising chickens for years, you'll find fast, authoritative advice for keeping chickens in virtually any backyard. Inside... Understand basic chicken biology and behavior - Supplement feed with grit - Recognize and deal with disease - Safely mate your chickens - Get tips on the latest urban farming trends - Package and store home- butchered poultry Kimberley Willis has raised numerous breeds of chickens and other poultry for eggs, meat, and showing for more than 40 years. Robert T. Ludlow owns and manages BackYardChickens.com, the largest and fastest-growing community of chicken enthusiasts in the world.