The Complete Chicken Owner's Guide

Your comprehensive veterinary guide to raising healthy, happy backyard chickens. Written by Dr. Rosemary Stolzer-Bolton, DVM, this 92-page guide covers everything from choosing the right breed for your climate and lifestyle to recognizing the earliest signs of illness before they become emergencies. What's inside: • Breed selection — heritage, bantam, dual-purpose, and egg-laying champions • Anatomy & biology — understanding your flock from comb to claw • Coop design — ventilation, predator-proofing, and nesting box best practices • Nutrition — commercial feed, supplements, treats, and toxic foods to avoid • Egg production — maximizing lay rates, egg quality, and safe handling • Health & preventive care — vaccination schedules, biosecurity, and wellness checks • Common diseases — respiratory, digestive, reproductive, and neurological conditions • Parasites — identification, treatment, and prevention of internal and external parasites • Chicks & brooding — incubation, brooder setup, and the critical first 8 weeks • Seasonal care — winter preparation, summer heat management, and molting support • Emergency first aid — wound care, egg binding, crop impaction, and when to call the vet • Record keeping — flock logs, production tracking, and health documentation Evidence-based. Veterinarian-written. No fluff — just the clinical knowledge you need to keep your flock thriving.