Chickens and Poultry

• Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow

  Quite technical and informative. A bit overwhelming to a beginner. Focused quite a bit on commercial operations. Covered some poultry techniques I consider inhumane (debeaking for one).

• Starting Right With Poultry by G.T. Klein

  An updated (1970's) version of a 1940's book. Very nicely written. Gives the beginner some basic info, such as how much you can expect a backyard flock--12 chickens--to eat. This has been difficult information to come by in the research of how much it will REALLY cost to raise chickens.

• Chicken Tractor by Andy Lee and Pat Foreman

  Cute illustrations do not add much to this book. I find it very repetative, though the information is wonderful. The concept of keeping chickens in small moveable coops has many advantages.

• Your Chickens, A Kid's Guide to Raising and Showing by Gail Damerow

  By the same author as the Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens. Covered much of the same material but boiled it down to a more step by step operation, which as a begginer I appreciated. Included a section on how much chickens eat (about 2lbs per week for a medium size layer).

Rabbits

• Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett

  A great overview of raising rabbits for food or profit. Covers hutches, sanitary conditions, feeding, breeding, showing, butchering and recipes and the business aspect of rabbit husbandry. While I don't agree with every aspect he covers, such as raising rabbits for the laboratory industry or constant medication as disease prevention, enough detials are included to make me feel confident that I can give this a try. Recommends New Zealand (good conversion and fine bones), Califronian, Champagne D'Argent (very find bones), Rex (meat and fur too, prone to foot troubles) and Satin (meat and nice pelts, larger than Rex).

• Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks by Dave Holderread

  A fantastic book with nice details on many varieties. An expanded section on genetics. Details on feeding housing, hatching and raising, butchering and showing. Great reference section on supliers. I found that Appleyards and Saxony are good dual purpose breeds (eggs and meat), Campbells are great for eggs and Pekin is a rapid growth meat duck (though fatty).

• Raising the Home Duck Flock by Dave Holderread

  An earlier version of the above book. Includes additional charts comparing various types of poultry's eggs, meat nutrition as well as feed converision values.

Gardening

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Permaculture

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Eco Friendly

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