Love Among the Chickens // Beginner Chicken-Keeping Books

In March of this year our family brought home fourteen baby chicks.

This is our first foray into the world of keeping poultry, and it probably goes without saying that these sweet chicks have charmed us!

Since we knew the chick stage was going to pass in a flash, Jonathan and Bridget couldn't resist having a tea party photo-shoot with the chicks when they were about 2 weeks old. . . You can see some of the girls' glamour shots down below. 😉🐔🐥

One lump . . .

or two?

I prefer three!

Since we've had chickens on the brain for awhile, I thought I'd share some of the literature that helped teach us the ropes of chicken-keeping.

Love Among the Chickens by P. G. Wodehouse

Okay, okay . . . this one might not exactly be educational.

However, this story, written in classic Wodehouse style, is chock full of highly entertaining chicken humor, and it had to make it on the list of favorite chick-lit. 😉

"Whenever I find myself fairly started on any business I am reluctant to give it up. I began to set an extravagant value on the capture of the small hen.

All the abstract desire for fame which had filled my mind five minutes before was concentrated now on that one feat. In a calmer moment I might have realized that one bird more or less would not make a great deal of difference to the fortunes of the chicken farm, but now my power of logical reasoning had left me.

All our fortunes seemed to me to center in the hen, now half a field in front of me."

- P. G. Wodehouse, Love Among the Chickens

Another favorite, fictional read about our fine, feathered-friends is Along Came a Dog by Meindert DeJong.

DeJong's animal stories never fail to warm our hearts, and this one is no exception! Told in his simple style, this book truly ignited an interest in chicken-keeping in our hearts and a desire to have our own little shoulder-chicken one day.

"The little hen gathered herself, peered eagerly toward the sound of his voice. "Not that, either!" the man warned her. "Don't you dare try to fly to my shoulder. It'll get them all started, and I've got to have more time with this floor. Golly, it's all ice! I didn't realize it could get cold enough in here to freeze ice under a foot of straw."
...
He began scraping at the ice with a spade. But as he stooped to reach under the roost to scrape at a stubborn patch of ice there, the little hen stepped off the roost and on to his shoulder. "Oh, you! You would think of that! Well, if that's where you've got to be, then hang on."

- Meindert DeJong, Along Came a Dog

In all seriousness, though, when we weren't doing research through various internet articles, here are some books we found to be quite helpful.

The First-Time Homesteader by Jessica Sowards

From bee-keeping to gardening, dairy to poultry - this book is a great introduction to homesteading.

The chapter on yard birds is a good overview on the chicken-keeping process and contains many tips; including what to look for when choosing breeds and how to troubleshoot common ailments.

The Joy of Keeping Chickens is definitely a deep-dive on chicken care!

This book has so. much. information.

Whether raising egg-layers, meat-birds, or show-birds (yes, apparently that is a thing!) this book covers housing, feeding and caring for your chicks.

It also has an exhaustive chart of different chicken breeds that documents: broodiness, egg-productivity, hardiness, and temperament which we found to be a very interesting resource.

Some other books we've also read through are:

How to Build Chicken Coops & Storey's Basic Country Skills