I'm sorry, I was unable to read and review this book as it was only available on Adobe Digital Editions and I don't have that on my tablet, my Kindle or my phone.

I won't give a low-star review to a book I haven't even read, though.

Hentopia by Frank Hyman promises a hassle free habitat for happy chickens. This book is best for home with a few chickens. Living in the country I know there is a predator resistant pen but not a predator proof one. I also could not imagine leaving my chickens for an extended period of time. For people living in the city who want to keep a few hens, this is an informative book. The feeder and waterer designs are well done. Overall it is a good book for beginner chicken owners.

This book covers many considerations for raising chickens, from constructing coops to feeding to egg production. The author has developed clever, money-saving, custom designs for everything from making a feeder out of a bucket to building your own pagoda roof. I have nowhere to keep chickens, but after reading this book, I wish I did!

Finally, a down-to-earth chicken keeping and caring guide by someone who’s not a rich professional and cherishes their freedom and sleep. Most chicken guides I’ve read thus far require ways too much money and time, it really makes the eggs too expensive to enjoy as a hobby. This author, Frank Hyman, uses down-to-earth techniques, reuses materials and keeps it simple through all steps. He and his wife enjoy traveling, sleeping in if they want, and enjoying their freedom. Their entire chicken coop design is built around those parameters.
I loved the pictures of the process and the finished product; this created a clear and concise image in my mind of how I plan to construct my next chicken coop.
Thanks for a simple, down-to-earth guide to enjoying raising chickens for food and company.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Story Publishing for making it available.)

This is the jolliest poultry book I have read. Frank Hyman and his wife love chickens but they also love their free life. Their goal was to create a wonderful place for their chickens in their back garden. "Wonderful" here means wonderful for the chickens – a place where they are safe and happy – and also a setup that would allow the family to go away for weeks at a time without worry.

Before writing this book Mr. Hyman has undertaken a lot of research, idea hunting, and trial and error experimentation to determine the safest, cleanest, most odor free, and easiest way to manage a small flock (<10) of birds. If you have the space, these ideas can be scaled upward.

Mr. Hyman writes with a great deal of affection for his wife and his chickens. He discusses alternate ideas and then his solution to the problems of housing, feeding, watering, egg collection, cleanout, and fencing. He explains how each system works and has written carpentry and plumbing plans that show very clearly how to do what he has done – safely and at reasonable cost.

If you are at all interested in backyard chickens, I think this might be the best construction book you can buy.

Usually, I look for books to recommend to High School teachers. I looked at this one because my friend has hens. I shared a few key pages with her, and she's already pre-ordered.

#Hentopia #NetGalley #UrbanFarm

A very good guide to become chicken-keepers. This 101 practical handbook starting from theory and completing with step by step tutorials to create the infrastructure. Adaptable for urban context too.

<h1 id="bookTitle" class="bookTitle">Hentopia: Create a Hassle-Free Habitat for Happy Chickens; 21 Innovative Projects</h1>
We, who keep backyard chickens, for a few years, feel as though we know it all, and are more than willing to share that knowledge with anyone who wants to know it, or doesn't want to know it, as the case may be.

It is sometimes hard to think back to a time that I didn't have chickens, and had no idea where to begin. Hard to remember that when I first got my baby chicks, I kept them in my office with me, and when they were "coop ready" I moved them into the garage because I had not really thought through this whole "what-to-do-with-the-chickens" thing. I mean, yeah, I knew I had to get them a coop, and a yard, and all that, but hey.

My whole point is that everyone who is curious about chicken keeping needs to have a good resource, and while the local feed store is more than willing to sell you all bits you need for a chicken, they are not there every day to help you with the chickens. So a book like this one is such a good thing™.

The author is very straightforward, has a good wit on him, and explains all the ins and out of making a safe place for your chickens to live and lay. From building a run, to setting up a good laying box, to what to do with all the chicken droppings. (Hint: compost).

He even mentions why you would need a coop to begin with, as though we had gotten this far into the book and though, oh the heck with it, they can live in the trees.

The pictures a very clear, the projects are discussed and each step is shown, along the way. There is even a section on what tools you would need to build each of the projects in the book, which rang from things as simple as an automatic feeder, to a nesting box add on to the coop.

Highly, highly recommend this book to those who are just starting out, and perhaps to those who have had a coop and chickens for a while, for the next steps they want to make in the process.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-618" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-06-16-at-11.31.46-PM.png" alt="" width="627" height="784" /> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-617" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-06-16-at-11.37.02-PM.png" alt="" width="628" height="787" /> <img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-616" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-06-17-at-9.24.13-AM.png" alt="" width="798" height="608" />

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-619" src="http://www.reyes-sinclair.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Screen-Shot-2018-06-16-at-11.28.51-PM.png" alt="" width="623" height="785" />

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. #Hentopia #NetGalley