Raising Chickens: The Essential Guide to Choosing and Keeping Happy, Healthy Hens - Paperback

by Suzie Baldwin (Author), Joely Richardson (Foreword by)

A practical guide to raising chickens, suitable for beginners and experts

In Raising Chickens, poultry breeder Suzie Baldwin offers a practical guide to everything both the beginner and more experienced hen owner needs to know, from whether to buy chicks or hens, what varieties to chose, how to tell if you're buying a healthy chicken and how to ensure it stays that way, to how many chickens you should keep, and what kind of coop is best. She also answers all the questions commonly posed by first-time owners, from whether you need to have a cockerel, whether chickens ever fly away and how quickly they will start laying, to how to prevent them being attacked by foxes and what to do when they become unwell.

"For the beginner it has all that is required to make a good start, and for the experienced keeper it covers a lot [...] that will add to their hobby."
- Mark Elliott BVSc VetMFHom MRCVS

"It's a great book for any first-time hen-keeper."
- YOU magazine

Author Biography

Suzie Baldwin grew up on a farm in Devon and has kept chickens for more than 20 years. Her interest is in promoting the positive welfare of chickens, particularly now that they are increasingly part of the urban and semi-urban landscape. She now runs Hollywater Hens, a smallholding in Hampshire with over 300 hens, including a variety of organically reared hybrid and pure breed chickens. Suzie also holds regular courses on chicken keeping, many of which are for disadvantaged children, whose lives, research suggests, are enriched by looking after hens.