Excellent book, written in the style of an old timer talking to you out by the barn about all things poultry. This is down home, practical advice about selecting, raising, feeding, and slaughtering birds. Mr Ussery has many years of experience raising birds and a great passion for doing so in a natural manner and his knowledge shines through on every page. He is like the old timer down the road who will spend hours talking about how to raise a healthy animal without need for a vet. This is one of my favorite books about raising poultry. Highly recommended.

I found this book to be very interesting, and full of usefull information. Although I do not think I will be making my own chicken feed long term I think it would be interesting to try it at least once. I have also been interested in supplementing their feed with insects and this book give lots of pointers including using your chicks in the garden.
The only thing I wish there was more information about is what do do when a chicken is sick. Fortunately my chickens are very healthy and have not yet had any illness or diseases. I would have like to have read more about using fresh herb to prevent/ cure illnesses, but with all the other information I received from this book I can't really hold the one random item against the book. I would and have recommend this book to someone wanted more information about caring for chickens, beyond the basics, they need feed, water and a coop! My husband who hates reading more than a pamphlet picked the book up and enjoyed the read and was just as shocked, interested and inspired as I was.

This book is awesome.
It's written by a guy who has been raising poultry for decades and has friends who have been doing the same. Lots of advice and personal experience on how to do it the natural, non-chemical way and trying to save as much money as you can by letting the poultry do what poultry does best.
I would recommend this book for a beginner farmer or homesteader considering that that's what I am and it helped tremendously.

I have spent four summers with laying hens. I can't bring them to my winter quarters, or believe me, I would!!! It has been challenging getting laying hens each spring, but I've managed, and it has been so worth it. So, I'm not a novice, but no expert. I absolutely LOVE this book. I read books about chickens and gardening all winter, then go at it again with new information in the spring. This book has taught me more than any other, and I just can't wait to get going again. If you are considering chickens, books like this one are absolutely mandatory to read. The thing you won't understand until you actually have them, though, is how much fun they are. I'm talking about smaller flocks where you get to know each chicken. I had nine last summer, and that was the absolute top for me. At that number, you start losing that individual feel for the personality of each chicken. Seven was better. But, you keep thinking if I had more, I'd have more eggs to give away and have more fun. This book will help you enormously whether you want more chickens or just a few. Regardless, you will have the best eggs imaginable! I wish we could raise broilers, but that's not going to happen. No one in my household is eating our chickens, who all get names. I wish I had friends that raised chickens and we could trade. 8-) We give the chickens to someone who cares for them in the winter, and get back the survivors (really cold here). I am sad every day that there aren't chickens in my life. Plus, it makes me feel so good that our chickies have such a good life, the way nature intended. Makes the eggs taste doubly good.

This is a great book for novice to advanced flocksters, especially if you also garden and care about sustainability and eating food that is good for you. Harvey Ussery is a very entertaining read (I would love to have him as a neighbor) and extremely experienced with several species. Instead of saying "This is how to do it." he explains how he approached various problems, what worked and what didn't, and suggests other things to try. He includes "guest columns" from other experienced poultry raisers, big and small, offering their perspectives on particular topics. His advice is suitable for flocks of a few backyard birds to small commercial operations. He has a creative curiosity that leads him to try some unconventional methods of feeding and caring for his flock, and getting them to do a lot of the gardening work for him in the process. His chapters on feeding and formulating feeds are most valuable, giving you permission to break your bondage to factory formulated feeds. This book should be required reading for every poultry owner, and a lot of gardeners, too.