Chickens in Your Backyard

CHICKENS IN YOUR BACKYARD
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE
Rick and Gail Luttmann

Your backyard can be the source of the best eggs and meat you've ever tasted. The answer is chickens-- endearing birds that require but a modest outlay of time, space and food.

As they learned to raise chickens, Gail and Rick Luttmann came to realize the need for a comprehensive but clear and nontechnical guide. Their book covers all the basics in a light and entertaining sytle, from housing and feeding through incubating, bringing up chicks, butchering, and raising chickens for show.

Througout the book, the Luttmanns express their wonder at the personalities of chickens-- the role of brash protector played by roosters, and the instinctive motherliness of the hens. Given some freedom and attention, these birds can become much more than the egg-and-meat machines of commercial hatcheries and broiler factories. Chickens provide backyard farmers with enjoyable pastime, as well as a supply of good food.

Gail Damerow and her husband operate a family farm in Tennessee where they keep poultry and dairy goats, tend a sizable garden, and maintain a small orchard. They grow and preserve much of their own food, make their own yogurt and ice cream, and bake their own bread. Gail has written extensively on raising livestock, growing fruits and vegetables, and related rural skills. She shares her experience and knowledge as a regular contributor to Backyard Poultry and Countryside magazines, as an occasional contributor to numerous other periodicals, and as the author or contributor to more than a dozen country skills how-to books.