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Paperback - 157 pages (September 1976)
Rodale Press;
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 2,794
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Average Customer Review:

SharonC@Maturewell.com from Tucson, Arizona, September 24, 1998
Great! Lots of great information
If you don't know anything about raising chickens for food and/or pleasure, but would like to learn, this is the book for you. It is filled with lots of good information and written with a bit of wit. Excellent book.

Kristin L. Summerlin (weaver@mosquitonet.com) from North Pole, near Fairbanks, Alaska, May 17, 1998
I'm heading to the feed store to buy my chicks...
Just moved to a two-acre home in Alaska, and the dirt yard reminded me of the old folks -- and their chickens -- back home. Memories are great; it all seemed easy to a child back there. But could I really do it: Raise my own little flock in North Pole, Alaska, where it's dry dry dry and the temperatures can dip to -50 and stay there in the winter?

The answer is yes, and thank goodness for this book and for those who reviewed it before me. I now have enough information to know how to talk to poultry folk in their lingo, what questions to ask, how to build a proper coop, which breeds are better for eggs and which for fryers, what to do about vermin and predators... In short, everything I needed to convince me that I can do it. And that I want to do it. No wonder this book is a classic.Got my biddy box ready... Goin' to the feed store.

vecuronium@yahoo.com from Vermont, May 8, 1998
The epitome of chicken books for the beginner!
This book is a must for those new to the world of backyard chicken raising.It presupposes no prior knowledge, is written in an entertaining and step-by-step style, and will have you laying eggs in days! Everything is here: From building coops to chicken behavior, it's all here. If your wondering where to start then read on....

A reader, November 20, 1996
Being a poultry fancier for many years, and having read everything on the subject that I could get my hands on, I have to rate this as the BEST book for beginners in poultry that I have ever encountered. The writing style is enjoyable, the information is correct, and the subject is thoroughly covered.

A reader, August 6, 1996
Great book for any beginer who wants to raise chickens
Last year I ordered this book from Amazon, and I was very pleased. If you have any interest in having a few chickens for eggs or for meat, this book is for you. Being a city boy for most of my life, this book helped me to understand the basics. Before I read "Chickens in your Backyard" I did'nt know a pullet from a rooster. Even though this book is 20 years old the information provided is timeless.

• Raising Rabbits the Modern Way; Bob BENNETT
• Raising Milk Goats the Modern Way; Jerry BELANGER
• Goat Cheese: {Delectable Recipes for All Occasions}; Ethel BRENNAN
• New Goat Handbook: Housing, Care, Feeding, Sickness, & Breeding With a Special Chapter on Using the Milk, Meat, & Hair; JAUDAS
• Lost Arts: A Cook's Guide to Making Vinegar, Curing Olives, Crafting Fresh Goat Cheese & Simple Mustards, Baking Bread & Growing Herbs; Lynn ALLEY
• Cheesemaking Made Easy; Ricki CARROLL
• Goat Husbandry; David MacKENZIE
• Raising Pigs Successfully; Kathy and Bob KELLOGG
• Keeping Livestock Healthy: A Veterinary Guide to Horses, Cattle, Pigs, Goats & Sheep; N. Bruce HAYNES
• Raising Milk Goats Successfully; Gail LUTTMAN
• Backyard Livestock: Raising Good Natural Food for Your Family; Steven THOMAS
• Veterinary Guide for Animal Owners: Cattle, Goats, Sheep, Horses, Pigs, Poultry, Rabbits, Dogs, Cats; C. E. SPAULDING
• The Family Cow; Dirk VAN LOON
• A Guide to Raising Beef Cattle; Heather Smith THOMAS
• Raising a Calf for BeefPhyllis HOBSON
• Salad Bar Beef; Joel SALATIN

amoseley@csac.com from Austin Moseley, Caddo Mills, Texas, December 25, 1997
Good How-to on raising beef on shoestring for direct market
Joel Salatin brings optimism and energy to this series of essays on how he raises beef (and other livestock ) on grass for direct market to urban consumers. He reveals his tricks in great detail, such as the egg-mobile, the pig-aerator, electric fencing, the warm winter hay shed, and how to promote the meat. A must for anyone looking for new ideas on raising livestock.

~~~~000~~~~

Joel SALATIN has written another book that isn't YET available from Amazon.com, titled "You Can Farm". It's subtitled 'The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed In a Farming Enterprise'. "You Can Farm" is his newest book. Quit You Like Men Magazine reviews it: "The opportunities for a farm family business have never been greater. The aging farm population is creating cavernous niches begging to be filled by creative visionaries who will go in dynamic new directions. As the industrial agriculture complex crumbles (and pollutes) and our culture clambers for clean food, the countryside beckons anew with profitable farming opportunities. While this book can be helpful to all farmers, it especially targets the folks who actually entertain notions of living, loving and learning on a piece of land. BURSTING with tried and proven advice. A must-have to start farming!" Soft cover edition, 480 pages, 67 pictures, advertised elsewhere for $29.00. Look for it at your library, bookdealer, or keep checking back here as I bug Amazon.com to make it available to you! Joel is a great motivational writer.

• Small-Scale Pig Raising; Dirk VAN LOON
  Explains why raising a feeder pig is the best bet for someone with little land who wants to produce the most meat for the smallest investment of time and money. Besides caring for the animal, VAN LOON offers extensive tips on home butchering, with step-by-step instructions and many photos covering the process--from slaughtering to portioning meat for the freezer or canner.

• Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game; John METTLER, Jr.
• Cottage Water Systems: An Out-Of-The City Guide to Pumps, Plumbing, Water Purification, & Privies; Max BURNS
  A reader from Houston, TX , August 25, 1998
  Beautifully illustrated, easy to read, humorous, educational I posted this review on an internet forum discussing rural retreats...This book is like a "Time-Life" series... it has many colorful and well-drawn illustrations about water systems. Maybe that's why the publisher's name is "Cottage Life Books." This is a very informative and easy to read book... particularly given the unusually narrow focus of this book. If you are about to build a cottage out in the woods (maybe for Y2K)... then this is the very first book you should read to understand how to obtain a water supply and how to handle the sewage/septic systems. The explanations could not be clearer. The author even shows you several beautiful designs for outhouses. He also discusses and illustrates such alternative toilets as: electric, self-contained composting toilets. His clear diagrams show how leaching systems work. Same with pumping water in from lakes or up from wells. This is an EXCELLENT book... and if you are interested in the subject matter, I would rate it a MUST READ. The author is Canadian, I believe... and he refers to the bathrooms as "loos". I would imagine they would say... "Hey Joe... Let's pull over so I can hit the loo." Here's a sample discussing water quality: "...The nutrients of primary concern to cottagers are phosphorus, because of its effect on aquatic life in our waterways, and nitrogen, because of its potential health effect on humans. They also tend to travel together. Most fresh-water ecosystems, like lakes, are phosphorus limited in their natural state, meaning that phosphorus is in relatively short supply in that system. So aquatic plant life is also limited. But as phosphorus is introduced into the water - the process being greatly accele rated by faulty septic and municipal sewages sytesm, continued use of phosphate-based soaps... (and he goes on to discuss blue-green algae)... Other than affecting taste, phosphorus doesn't directly degrade the quality of water for drinking purposes. Nitrogen, however , is another matter. High levels of nitrates have been linked to methaemoglobinemia, a disease causing oxygen deficiencies in blood... (and he continues on about the negative side of nitrogen)..." OK, this was just a short passage on the nutrients and contamination of water supplies that would affect a cottager. He spends most of his time discussing the practical/how to side of getting your water supply ready. But without the ability to show the beautiful illustrations, you would not appreciate the clarity of his explanations. Again, I think it is a great read, and good luck on your cottage water system.John www.dunbarco.com
  

  topgun10@aol.com from USA, December 18, 1997 This ones a keeper. Mr. Burns does a good job in this book telling you how to; for me as a youth camp site manager this book has been a big help, but Max also tells you the why. Any one who has a camp of any kind would find this book helpful. Thanks Mr. Burns.

• Handy Farm Devices & How to Make Them; Rolfe COBLEIGH
  Dave Lilligren (dave@lilligren.com) from Minnesota, August 11, 1998
  This book will save you both time and money.
  This reprint of the 1909 classic should be on the shelf of every serious homesteader. Farming is hard work, and this book will teach you how to save both time and money to get the job done. In this little gem you’ll learn how to make your own tools for your workshop, how to build things for around the house, for the barns, and for your livestock, in addition to other devices for your garden and orchard, including a section that discusses fence-making and gate-making. Several pages are devoted to building a farmhouse (including the floor plan for my wife’s “dream house”), barns, and other outbuildings. This book also makes for very entertaining reading. Peppered throughout are worthwhile quotes from famous (and not-so-famous) farmers from the past. I’m glad I found this book. I hope you will be, too!
• All About Growing Fruits, Berries, and NutsBarbara Ferguson STREMPLE
• Beekeeping: A Practical Guide for the Novice Beekeeper Buying Bees, Management, Rearing, Honey Production/Special Section: The Beekeeper's Yearly; Werner MELZER
• Backyard Composting: Your Complete Guide to Recycling Yard Clippings; John ROULAC
• The Backyard Orchardist: A Complete Guide to Growing Fruit Trees in the Home Garden; Stella OTTO
• Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape; Robert A. De J. HART

From Booklist, October 15, 1996
...union of modern technological methods and machines with ecologically sound practices. Interplanting edible crops is utmost: herbs and fruiting shrubs, "fodder-bearing" trees, and a variety of perennial plants. Highlights include mention of other communities that have achieved great degrees of self-sufficiency, where a sacred view of man's connectedness to nature appears inextricably linked to low-maintenance symbiotic plantings, appreciation of handcrafted objects, a vegan diet, and independent lifestyle. Alice JOYCE
Copyright© 1996, American Library Association. All rights reserved


maslow3@earthlink.net from Seattle, Washington, June 23, 1998
A panoramic view of an ecologically based farm/food system.
...talks about plants, vegetables, herbs, nuts, animals, and trees. He offers practical ways in dealing with "natural" problems associated with farming. Best part of the book is his Appendixes where he lists drought resistant plants, wetland plants, sun loving herbs, shade loving herbs, etc. He provides an excellent bibliography.

• The Homestead Builder: Practical Hints for Handy-Men; Charles P. DWYER
• Moving to a Small Town: A Guidebook for Moving from Urban to Rural America; Wanda URBANSKA
• Country Careers: Successful Way to Live and Work in the Country; Jerry GERMER
• How to Find Your Ideal Country Home: Ruralize Your Dreams; Gene GeRUE
• Country Bound!: Trade Your Business Suit Blues for Blue Jean Dreams; Tom and Marilyn ROSS