The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers

I love this book. As a new "flockster" (as the author refers to us), I've read several poultry and chicken books and I love this one best by far. . It's intelligently written and organized and the author, leaning on years of experience, offers a natural path to raising chickens efficiently while keeping to the birds' natural instincts and requirements. While I'm not a homesteader, my chickens are more pets than sustenance, this book should be on everyone's bookshelf.Although many of the books cover the same subjects such as the basics of raising chicks, building coops, etc., I've not been disappointed covering the same subject matter with this book as the author's perspectives offer greater insight into the needs of the flock. Had this been the first book I read on the subject, I might have stopped there. This may be the last book on the subject (other than "The Chicken Health Handbook) I'll read.

If you are a homesteader, this is the only book you need imho. You name it, it covers it. However, won't go into detail about various ailments and diseases, or how to bathe a chicken or how to do shows. It is an excellent book for homesteaders, covering what to look for in breeds, raising chickens, broodies, fences, tractors and how to build, deep littler method, vegetable gardening with chickens, soldier fly growing, worm bins, carcass use for maggots, chicken coop building, nest box trapping, predator proofing, killing and dressing a bird. What to breed in your flock and how.

I have spent four summers with laying hens. I can't bring them to my winter quarters, or believe me, I would!!! It has been challenging getting laying hens each spring, but I've managed, and it has been so worth it. So, I'm not a novice, but no expert. I absolutely LOVE this book. I read books about chickens and gardening all winter, then go at it again with new information in the spring. This book has taught me more than any other, and I just can't wait to get going again. If you are considering chickens, books like this one are absolutely mandatory to read. The thing you won't understand until you actually have them, though, is how much fun they are. I'm talking about smaller flocks where you get to know each chicken. I had nine last summer, and that was the absolute top for me. At that number, you start losing that individual feel for the personality of each chicken. Seven was better. But, you keep thinking if I had more, I'd have more eggs to give away and have more fun. This book will help you enormously whether you want more chickens or just a few. Regardless, you will have the best eggs imaginable! I wish we could raise broilers, but that's not going to happen. No one in my household is eating our chickens, who all get names. I wish I had friends that raised chickens and we could trade. 8-) We give the chickens to someone who cares for them in the winter, and get back the survivors (really cold here). I am sad every day that there aren't chickens in my life. Plus, it makes me feel so good that our chickies have such a good life, the way nature intended. Makes the eggs taste doubly good.

If you are looking for a book on poultry READ THIS BOOK FIRST. It has made me completely rethink how we are going to manage our small flocks. This book is the real deal. You know it's got to be good when Joel Salatin writes your intro. These are the men I respect when it comes to natural, sustainable agriculture and livestock husbandry. I'm thrilled they are teaching the new wave of farmers that are adopting their practices. This is the exact information we need to start the long road of ending, or at least reducing, the factory farm conglomerates that are detrimental to our health (as well as the animals), and our food supply chain. Long live small, independent, natural farming the way it was intended to be!I have read many books on backyard flocks but nothing compares to Harvey's book. I love Harvey's stories in Backyard poultry, Mother Earth News and Countryside magazines and was always hoping he would write a book. I have been anxiously awaiting for this to be published. I preordered immediately when it became available and waited paitently. It has by far passed all my expectations. The book chock full of pictures is simply amazing in it's depth and scope of knowledge for the small homesteader/farmsteader. From general poultry health, natural feed, promoting small farm sustainability and production, to using your chicks as a farming partner as composters and tillers, Harvey covers it all in depth and humour. Old wisdom with today's advancements thrown in makes the THE book to have in your livestock library.I cannot state enough how good this book really is. Flock management used to be commonplace when we grew most of our food, but has been a dying art. Thanks to guys like Harvey and Joel a new wave of flock owners will have that knowledge passed on to them. I received it three days ago and it has become one of my favorites. Who would have thought I would be so excited over a book about poultry? I have been looking for a book like this for years. It will be revisited many times as we gear up for next Spring's hatching and gardening adventures. Follow our adventures online at Drowning Creek Homestead. Just google it..Now, just click that button and add it to your cart. I guarantee you will be extremely happy you did!

I appreciate Mr. Ussery's common sense approach to poultry raising. I read a number of well-known guides (storey's, the poultry health handbook, etc.) before starting with my first flock. I checked them out of the library before i determined which books were needed on my shelf for reference.breed choice, feeding, setting up breeding pens, and all the way through to slaughter for your own meat are covered in here. I am not even a 'small' flock, i'm a MICRO flock but Ussery's thoughts and information on deep bedding, local feeding, and bird behavior are incredibly helpful. I buy commercial feed because with 15 birds that's more economical for me than purchasing a grinder and all the individual grains, but I am really glad to have the info on nutritional needs and how to make my own if I should need to. I recommend this to anyone starting out with a flock.

I have to agree with the other 5 star reviews here. This is a man who writes well, and seems to well understand both the theory and the practice of chicken keeping. He makes it clear when his information is based on personal experience or hearsay, and he is brave enough to sometimes contradict common practice and explain why that practise is wrong (for example: there is no need to clean out the coop very often, and sterilization of brooders is /not/ necessary). In other words he doesn't just retransmit received wisdom, which unfortunately is the case with most other chicken-keeping books I've read.I also feel that we are of like mind when it comes to the morality of keeping animals for meat. In my opinion - and I believe his - there is nothing wrong with eating meat provided the animal concerned was well cared for, including being protected from predators, treated with respect, and - when the time comes - dispatched as quickly and painlessly as we know how. That's a much better life than it could expect in the wild!

This is a very, very informative book. It's not just a great book about small-scale, natural chicken keeping (and ducks and geese too, and to a smaller extent turkeys). It's above all about how to live with them and integrating their life into yours, and make them work for you - literally.It's a great book both for beginners and long-time poultry keepers, very clearly written. It's actually strange how light and humourous his writing felt, and at the same time so packed with useful information! (Note - the book was written in the USA, so some specific details are not applicable to the UK, but he's really teaching you how to think about things, not just giving you a ready recipe)The author has had a LOT of experience with his birds, and he hasn't been afraid to try unusual approaches. He tells you about growing all kinds of natural food for them: earthworms, soldier fly larvae, cover crops... And each of these processes not only benefits his chickens, but also his soil, his vegetable garden, his trees, and his dinner! Speaking of which, he also has a chapter on killing and butchering, and a couple of recipes. And yes, he also addresses the ethical issues of killing an animal for eating.In sum, I have never before seen such a broad spectrum of poultry-related subjects dealt with so clearly and so thoroughly. I couldn't begin to describe how much is in here.If you have some space around your house, get this book and then some chickens. If you already have chickens, great! Just get this book! Unless you hate the USA, you'll love it!

What a great book for anyone wanting to research sustainable, more-self-sufficient living. Harvey shows you how chickens can contribute to a virtuous circle of give and take with the flora and fauna on your land; be it a big piece of land or a small piece of land. He calls it an integrated flock. I love the way he refers to other peoples work in an easy readable style , but mostly he uses his own personal experiences. I believe this is the best book i have encountered for chicken keeping on a 'guerilla homestead'. WARNING! Don't buy this book if you want to learn about showing chickens.

Fantastic book. Really interesting section on how to feed your poultry without buying commercial feeds.

It is nice to read a book on poultry keeping the natural way proving that you do not have to depend on processed food to keep your hens happy and healthy, and written by someone who has a real understanding of poultry.