I read this book before I got my chooks and it was the one that cemented my desire to have chickens of my own. The practical advice contained in the book is really helpful and made the idea of having chooks more appealing as it didn't seem like a hard thing to do.
You will find advice about everything from housing and feeding, to caring for young chicks and looking after sick and injured birds. Highly recommended to anyone who has chickens or is considering getting some!
Another really great source of information for anyone who is interested in keeping chickens and learning how to make the best use of a home/backyard flock of chickens for everything from composting, pest and weed control in the garden, to providing meat, eggs and entertainment for the entire family. I loved the anecdotes the author includes about individual hens from her flock and how one of them has become an ambassador for backyard chicken flocks in the United States. It's a great book. Highly recommended!
Another highly recommended book for the beginner chook keeper, or just anyone who has, and loves chooks. Lots of good advice in this one, particularly suited to the Australian market.
One woman's slightly obsessed search for the history and meaning of compost. Say the word 'compost' at any social gathering and chances are you'll get a lively discussion. There might be a couple of faintly apologetic people who can't compost due to domestic circumstances, or a few who feign compliance out of political correctness, but there are always the true believers who compost with a passion. For them, composting gives a practical connection to the earth, it transforms the worthless into the useful, it is a spiritual phenomenon concerned with life and death...it is 'resurrection in a bucket'. This book is not so much a 'how to' as a social history of compost. Interspersed with interviews from obsessed composters who offer their secrets to success, it's a humourous and entertaining read with a serious undertone - after all, the history of The Heap is the history of modern humanity, as you've never seen it before, through its waste.
