Poultry resources for small farms

"Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide" by Rick and Gail Luttmann, 1976, Rodale, ISBN 0878571256
Perfect for beginners, steers you round all the traps. Presupposes no prior knowledge, step-by-step style, and it's written with wit. This was our first chicken book and we found we could rely on it -- though it's not quite as effective as one reviewer claimed: "It will have you laying eggs in days!" The chickens did, but not us! From Powell's Books:
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-0878571256-0

"Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow, 1995, Storey Books, ISBN 1-58017-325-X
How to chose the right breed, care for chicks, feed the growing flock, build feeders and shelters, collect and store eggs, prevent health problems, raise broilers for meat. Everything from starting your own backyard flock to putting eggs on the table. Gail Damerow's been raising chickens for 30 years. She's the editor of Rural Heritage magazine and the author of eight books, including Chickens in Your Backyard and Ducks and Geese in Your Backyard. 352 pages, 6 x 9 trim size, photographs and illustrations throughout. From Powell's Books:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9781580173254-2

"Raising the Home Duck Flock" by Dave Holderreadd, 1978, 1983, Storey Books, ISBN 0882661698
The "Duck Owner's Bible", used by beginners and experienced duck producers alike. From eggs to ducklings to adults, health, feeding, butchering (with recipes), and using the feathers and down. Holderreadd has raised ducks all his life, owns a duck preservation centre dealing with rare breeds, and has taught duck raising and management. "Ducks are the easiest domestic birds to raise. They'll forage for much of their food, and they don't need to be pampered with expensive housing." Well-written, clear and thorough. From Powell's Books:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780882661698-0

"The Book of Geese -- A Complete Guide to Raising the Home Flock" by Dave Holderread, 1981, Hen House Publishing, ISBN 0931342023
Like his book on ducks, Dave Holderreadd's "goose bible" is used by beginning amateurs and professionals both. Well-illustrated, well-written book comprehensively covers the subject of these useful, quirky and very likeable birds. "The first full-length English language book devoted solely to geese". Download at the Small Farms Library (60Mb pdf).

"Profitable Poultry Production" by M. G. Kains, Orange Judd Company, 1910. "Poultry production is commonly practiced on every farm, but profitable poultry production so far as the farm is concerned, is rare indeed. No one, as a rule, has better natural conditions for poultry raising than has the farmer. It is only a matter of embracing opportunities that is wanting." Kains tells you how -- how-to's, plans, studies, and sound common-sense from long before confinement systems. The plans and drawings of coops and housing systems are a treasure in themselves. Kains was Poultry Editor of the American Agriculturist Weeklies, and author of the classic "Five acres and independence: a practical guide to the selection and management of the small farm", published in 1935 and still in print. Full text online at the Small farms library.

"The Chicken Health Handbook" by Gail Damerow, 1994, Storey Publishing, ISBN10: 0882666118
Must-have reference for the small flock owner, covers the problems and diseases common to chickens of all breeds and all ages. Hatching healthy chicks, nutrition, spot diseases and infections in the early stages, parasites, predators, safe houses and yards. Practical charts and an alphabetic listing of diseases provides quick access to treatments and remedies. From Powell's Books:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780882666112-2

"Quail: An Egg & Meat Production System" by Dr. Franklin W. Martin, Alison G. Martin-Davis & Annabelle Maffioli, ECHO Technical Note. "The eggs and meat production system explained in this publication is so small that it could fit into almost any home. It is a unique plan for use of a unique animal." The system produces about half a kilo of high-protein food per day at US$1 per kg -- or a fraction of that price if the family can produce its own high-quality feed.
http://www.echotech.org/mambo/images/DocMan/QuailEgg.PDF

"Raising Poultry Successfully" by Will Graves, 1985, Williamson, ISBN 0913589098
Practical how-to book for small home flocks of chickens, ducks, geese. How to have high-quality meat and eggs cheaply and easily. Factual, clear, readable style. All the basics and more: Meat only, eggs only, or both? Home-grown or commercial feeds? Housing and watering, Butchering and dressing. With plans for portable and permanent chicken coops, publications, equipment sources. From Powell's Books:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780913589090-0

"Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game" by John J. Mettler, Jr., DVM, 1986
This is the book for anyone who hunts, farms, or buys large quantities of meat. Takes the mystery out of slaughtering and butchering everything from beef and veal, to venison, pork, lamb, poultry, rabbits and small game. Also processing and preserving. Clear and easy-to-follow, with 130 detailed illustrations, complete, step-by-step instructions. From Powell's Books:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780882663913-4

Raising Poultry -- Useful FAQ at The Small Farm Resource, good, practical stuff as usual on this site, emphasis on chickens.
http://www.farminfo.org/livestock/chickens.htm

"Fences for Pasture and Garden", Gail Damerow, 1992, Storey Books, ISBN 088266753x
A good fence is essential for protecting your livestock. "'Build all your fences horse high, pig tight, and bull strong,' the old saying goes," writes Gail Damerow, the editor of Rural Heritage magazine. But "no-one else's fencing needs are exactly like yours." A well-made fence brings peace of mind. Practical, easy-to-use guide to selecting, planning, and building fences that work. Pros and cons of various fence systems, complete and well-illustrated directions on how to build all types of fences, and also gates. The focus is on fencing livestock in and predators out, not a book for "pretty" suburban fences. From Powell's Books:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780882667539-0

For a treasurehouse of useful how-to's and information on housing poultry and much else see "Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them" by Rolfe Cobleigh, Orange Judd Company, 1910 -- Cobleigh's devices and techniques were good answers to common farm problems and they're just as functional and useful now as they were then. See Chapters 4 Barns and Stock, 5 Poultry and Bees, 8 Gates and Doors, 9 When We Build. Full text online at the Small farms library.

More plans and designs in Chapters 4 Poultry Quarters, and 5 Poultry Fixtures and Devices in "Profitable Poultry Production" by M. G. Kains, Orange Judd Company, 1910. Full text online at the Small farms library.

Small Chicken House -- Criteria for the "perfect" chicken coop, for 15-20 birds, with three diagrams and details.
http://www.piteraq.dk/gok/smallhouse.html

THE COOP -- poultry resource on raising, breeding and showing poultry: chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, wild waterfowl, gamebirds. Lots of user input. Good range of informative and useful articles at the Library, basics, background on breeds, how-to's, history, linked to categorized message boards. Directory of poultry people, breed clubs, new, used, rare and out of print poultry, pet and agriculture books at the Bookstore (online orders).
http://the-coop.org/index.html

The Poultry Connection is a large directory of poultry websites and resources, with forums, a bookstore and site search. Bantams, chickens and waterfowl, ducks and geese, peafowl and guineas, pheasant, quail, turkeys, chukar, pigeons and doves, emus, ostrich and rheas, rare breeds. Commercial production, diseases and disorders, farm sites, housing, incubation and brooding, equipment and supplies, nutrition and more.
http://www.poultryconnection.com/

The FeatherSite Poultry Page -- "This started out as a listing of the birds on my farm, but has evolved into an online poultry encyclopedia." An online zoo of domestic poultry, with photos, video and good information resources on chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, pigeons, turkeys, even swans and peacocks, and non-domestic species. Broodiness and broody hens, coop plans (links), baby chicks, raising chicks, raising ducklings and goslings, incubation & hatching, hatcheries, health, books on poultry, breed clubs, links, equipment, rare breeds, poultry glossary.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html

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Incubation at the FeatherSite Poultry Page -- links to online guides, plans and instructions for making homemade incubators, with FAQs on incubating and hatching.
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/
BRKIncubation.html

Cardboard box incubator -- Make an incubator out of two cardboard boxes or plywood -- this is an online schools biology project but useful for smallholders or backyard chicken raisers. Uses commercial heating elements or light bulbs in porcelain sockets. Expect about a 50% success rate with 3 dozen eggs (commercial incubators: about 80%).
http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/
resources/egg_to_chick/

Free-range poultry is a sustainable and profitable system. It was the norm in the US until it was superceded by industrial agriculture and confinement systems in the 1960s. Herman Beck-Chenoweth has updated and modernized the old techniques in his "Modern American Free-Range System" -- this really is free range, not just a mobile confinement system with grass underneath. Resources and links, along with the Back40Books online book catalog, featuring books on poultry, other livestock, farming, country skills, and much besides.
http://www.free-rangepoultry.com/
Free-Range Poultry & Back40Books mailing list:
http://www.free-rangepoultry.com/maillist.htm

"Free-Range Poultry Production and Marketing Range Poultry Production: A Complete Guide to Raising, Processing and Marketing Free-Range Chicken, Turkey and Eggs" by Herman Beck-Chenoweth.
The free-range system can produce healthier birds in larger quantities, more humanely, with much less labor. Complete with feed formulas, equipment plans, slaughter tips and marketing suggestions this is the one book you need to raise up to 20,000 birds per year with much less work than you thought was possible. Meat and egg chickens and turkeys. Companion video also available. From Back40Books:
http://www.back40books.com/store/prodinfo.asp?
number=0-918779-00-6&variation=&aitem=4&mitem=17
See also:
http://www.free-rangepoultry.com/
"Free-range in a nutshell", "Home Processing of Chickens" and more.

"Pastured Poultry Profits" by Joel Salatin, Allan Nation, Vicki H. Dunaway (Editor), reissue 1996, Chelsea Green, ISBN 0963810901

Joel Salatin advances one of his mobile broiler coops on his farm in Virginia (T.L. Gettings, Rodale Images)

Salatin says pastured poultry with mobile pens produces a safer, more environmentally sound and tastier bird. For the farmer, it's also a more satisfying, wholistic, economically beneficial and integrated system. Salatin sets out a workable guideline for starting your own operation: "A couple working 50 hours a week for six months a year on 20 acres can net $25,000-$30,000." Getting started, pasturing, processing, marketing, problems, and troubleshooting. Makes poultry a cottage industry once again. From Chelsea Green:
http://www.chelseagreen.com/1996/items/491

Plans for Building a Greenhouse-Style Pasture Broiler Pen. An interesting variation on Joel Salatin's poultry pasture pen by Maine grazier Chris Bailey, with a picture and construction details. "This structure will allow you to hang a 5 gallon waterer from the center purlin; didn't blow away in 50 mph winds; allows the degree of shade, wind, and rain protection to be easily modified by rolling up or down the plastic sides, or by covering one end in cool or windy weather; and allows easy entry and exit to feed, put in/take out birds. Not inexpensive, though," Maine says. Probably heavy too. It uses nine 10ft lengths of 3/4" electrical conduit. Why not try 1" PVC water pipe? Schedule 40 for strength.
http://www.bright.net/~fwo/sub10.html

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