The Urban Hen : A Practical Guide to Keeping Poultry in a Town or City

Thousands of backyard poultry keepers are signing up all over the country, experiencing afresh the joys of their first hen, their first egg, their happy chuckle in the morning garden. Keeping poultry in the city brings with it not only joys but responsibilities. "The Urban Hen" is the perfect companion for the city poultry keeper and shows you how to maintain a happy, healthy garden or backyard flock in towns and cities everywhere. In this book you'll discover how to: find the best poultry for the small garden - and how to house them properly; feed your birds, tune in to their daily needs and enjoy your own eggs; avoid annoying the neighbours by showing that it is possible to keep poultry without attracting unwelcome pests; recognise healthy happy birds and learn their daily routine; recognise poorly hens; treat them or get help; and, incubate and care for fertilised eggs and raise chicks. www.gardenaction.co.uk The Urban Hen takes you step by step through everything you will ever need to know about keeping hens. We thoroughly recommend this book to any one thinking about keeping chickens. It highlights the difficulties and the advantages in very clear terms. And if you decide to keep chickens then this book has everything you need to feed and care for them. Contents......Page 6 Free range or not?......Page 10 Regime......Page 11 Why keeps hens at all?......Page 12 Why keep hens in town?......Page 13 Check your deeds – are you allowed to keep poultry?......Page 16 You have to work harder to keep hens in the city......Page 17 A word about holidays......Page 18 Hens in the garden......Page 19 Predators......Page 21 Hen housing......Page 23 Criteria for a happy hen......Page 30 Notes on how to buy chickens......Page 31 Introducing hens to their new home......Page 34 Chickens and children......Page 37 Diseases......Page 39 Coping with horrid jobs......Page 40 How to kill a chicken......Page 41 Breeds......Page 44 So, should I keep hens?......Page 45 Simple creatures......Page 47 Externally......Page 48 Internally......Page 52 The egg factory......Page 55 Why are there so many different breeds of chickens?......Page 60 How to buy hens......Page 62 Pure breeds and hybrids......Page 65 Pure breeds for the garden......Page 66 Pure breeds unsuitable for the urban situation......Page 77 Hybrid birds......Page 78 Battery Hen Welfare Trust hens......Page 80 Breed checker......Page 82 No teeth......Page 84 The hen’s digestive system......Page 85 How to find a local supplier of hen feed......Page 87 Rations for laying hens......Page 88 Supplementing their diet......Page 90 The compost box......Page 92 Water......Page 93 Oyster shell......Page 94 Should I use a hopper?......Page 95 Cannibalism......Page 96 Points to remember......Page 97 5 Poultry Care......Page 98 Daily jobs......Page 99 Weekly jobs......Page 100 Monthly jobs......Page 101 Six monthly jobs......Page 102 6 Chicken Diseases......Page 103 External signs......Page 105 Poultry parasites......Page 106 Internal parasites......Page 111 Marek’s disease......Page 114 Coccidiosis......Page 116 Mycoplasma......Page 119 Pecking birds and cannibalism......Page 120 Avian flu......Page 123 Fighting damage......Page 124 Calcium deficiency......Page 125 Food supplements for healthy birds......Page 126 Chicken diseases at a glance......Page 128 Why fertilised eggs?......Page 130 When a hen goes broody......Page 131 What you need for a hen to incubate her eggs......Page 132 Hatching......Page 133 Sexing chicks......Page 134 Incubation by machine......Page 135 Hatching......Page 139 Moving chicks......Page 140 Daily routine......Page 141 Vaccination......Page 143 8 The Egg......Page 144 The egg’s construction......Page 145 How to collect eggs......Page 146 Storing and preserving eggs......Page 147 Cooking eggs......Page 149 9 Getting Help......Page 152 Bio-security......Page 153 Getting help with illness and finding a poultry vet......Page 154 Poultry clubs......Page 155 Help with hybrid hens......Page 160 Publications......Page 162 B......Page 164 D......Page 165 M......Page 166 R......Page 167 W......Page 168 C......Page 170 M......Page 171 Y......Page 172 "The Urban Hen" is the perfect companion for the city poultry keeper and shows you how to maintain a happy, healthy garden or backyard flock in towns and cities. Paul Peacock shows you how to: find the best poultry for the small garden and house them properly, feed your birds, tune in to their daily needs and enjoy your own eggs; avoid annoying the neighbours by showing that it is possible to keep poultry without attracting unwelcome pests; recognise healthy happy birds and learn their daily routine; recognise poorly hens; treat them or get help; and, incubate and care for fertilised eggs and raise chicks. Suitable for the city poultry keeper, this title shows you how to maintain a happy, healthy garden or backyard flock in towns and cities. It also shows you how to find the best poultry for the small garden and house them properly, feed your birds, tune in to their daily needs, and enjoy your own eggs. The urban Hen is the perfect companion to for the city poultry keeper and shows how to maintain a happy, healthy garden or backyard flock in towns and cities everywhere. 1. New to Chickens 2. Anatomy of the Chicken 3. Breeds 4. Feeding Your Chickens 5. Poultry Care 6. Chicken Diseases 7. Chicks Making Your Own 8. The Egg 9. Getting Help