A very engaging way to help homesteader wannabe's get started with keeping chickens in an urban environment.

I've been awakened by chickens for a good percentage of my life, most of the adult portion spent in urban areas, and my assumption has been that many of these have been kept for eggs and meat. The ones I grew up with during my childhood on a farm certainly were. But at age 6, my husband received a fluffy chick that grew up to be the neighborhood watch chicken, raising a ruckus whenever cars pulled into any drive in his territory. Monterroso describes keeping small flocks of chickens, usually fewer than 10 birds, primarily as pets. They do live in the back yard in nicely constructed hutches in urban, suburban, small town, and rural areas, but her chickens are used to frequent handling and appear to be affectionate.. While the book is filled with anecdotes about keeping chickens, it also contains a lot of valuable information. She spends plenty of time describing personalities of particular breeds, not just their egg laying value. There is also information about which breeds are best for various environments and weather conditions. With lovely illustrations, this is a terrific read for anyone who is contemplating adding a chicken or two to the family..

I couldn't possibly resist this book once I saw the title and the adorable cover! Thankfully the content lived up to my expectations!

As a disclaimer, I do not own chickens. I love chickens and have many friends that have chickens, but I am certainly a beginner in terms of understanding all of the ins and outs of chickens ownership. One day I would love some, but we currently have many small children taking up my time, so in the meantime, chickens books will have to suffice. That being said, this book is extremely approachable for a beginner with no experience. Dalia manages to include a vast amount of information in a fun and entertaining narrative. This is not your typical dry how to book. She beautifully weaves in her stories between informative chicken care and many lovely pictures abound for both. Her writing is both approachable and enjoyable to read. She is realistic and identifies both the joys and hardships of chicken ownership as well as including feeds recipes and so many other tips for keeping chickens happy and healthy. If you are considering jumping into owning chickens or if you already have a flock or even if you just love chickens and would like to be informed for a future or dream flock, this book is for you!

Storey Publishing's books have been so on point lately and I'm happy to add this one to my collection! I definitely will be keeping an eye on Dalia for potential future books!

Thank you to Storey Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

An easy to understand and gentle introduction to the world of raising chickens at home. Despite being raised by humans for thousands of years, the world of chicken keeping is fraught with multiple opinions on everything from how a coop should be built to what chickens should be fed. Monterroso provides a good mix of explanation and opinion, often listing the various ways certain aspects are performed and then offering her own insight into what works best.

The only part where this book fails is in its advocation for homeopathic medicine, which the author spends a fair amount of time on despite its pseudoscientific nature. Because of this, the author loses some credibility for her statements, but the rest of the advice in the book seems sound and based on actual fact.

A good introduction to chicken keeping if one can ignore one problematic section.

Having previously kept chckens years ago, I saw this book and thought that I didnt need it - I had kept the chickens happy & alive so why would I read this? How wrong was I! There was so much to learn from this book - and even some recipes thrown in at the end (not chicken recipes I hasten to add!!) There is a really homely feel to the writing, so it doesnt feel like you are just having facts thrown at you. The author lives in America so there are a few things that relate to America only, but this is minimal.

As a long term chicken owner I’m always on the look out for practical help with my girls but perhaps because it’s written from an American perspective I just didn’t find the advice very practical and far too homeopathic based for my hens