Healthy chickens are happy chickens. This one-of-a-kind reference book covers the health problems that plague chickens of all breeds and ages. Practical charts identify common symptoms and causes of infection, while an alphabetic listing of diseases provides advice on treatment. You'll find helpful descriptions of troublesome ailments of all types, from poor egg production to crooked toe syndrome. Practical remedies and gentle preventative care measures will help your beloved flock stay happy, healthy, and safe. A completely revised and updated second edition of the best-selling classic reference by America's leading chicken authority.
Gail Damerow has written extensively on raising chickens and other livestock, growing fruits and vegetables, and related rural know-how in more than a dozen books, including What's Killing My Chickens? and the best-selling Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens, The Chicken Encyclopedia, The Chicken Health Handbook, and Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks. Damerow is a contributor to Chickens and Hobby Farms magazines and a regular blogger for Cackle Hatchery. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, where they operate a family farm with poultry and dairy goats, a sizable garden, and a small orchard. Visit her online at gaildamerow.com.
Primary Care for a Thriving Flock
Gail Damerow, leading authority on all things chicken, provides a complete reference to answer the questions and resolve the problems of any chicken raiser from beginner to professional. This fully updated and expanded edition of a longtime classic offers expert guidance on nutrition, reproductive issues, and a full range of health problems, along with the latest information on:
- Practicing preventive healthcare
- Using natural approaches to enhance the immune system
- Treating and avoiding news-making diseases such as avian flu
- Raising healthy chickens in an urban environment
- Enhanced with full-color photographs and eye-opening illustrations, this is the essential guide to keeping your chickens healthy and productive.
Acknowledgments
Preface
Chapter 1: Keeping Chickens Healthy
Chapter 2: Good Nutrition Means Healthy Chickens
Chapter 3: The Inner Chicken
Chapter 4: Mysteries of Metabolism
Chapter 5: What's Bugging Your Birds
Chapter 6: When Chickens Get Wormy
Chapter 7: Diseases Caused by Protozoa
Chapter 8: Conditions Caused by Bacteria
Chapter 9: The Fungus Among Us
Chapter 10: Diseases Caused by Viruses
Chapter 11: Management Issues
Chapter 12: Diagnostic Guides
Chapter 13: What's Going on Inside
Chapter 14: Treatments and Therapies
Chapter 15: Your Chickens and Your Health
Quick Guide to Diseases and Disorders
Glossary
Index
"Twenty years ago, I got my first hen and turned to The Chicken Health Handbook for answers. Today, Damerow's work continues to provide sound counsel. This new edition - based in solid science, detailed and comprehensive - is an accessible and practical guide for anyone who has chickens."
- Terry Golson, founder, HenCam.com
"A wonderful reference book filled with practical advice that any new or experienced flock owner will find beneficial."
- Dr. Susan Watkins, Professor of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas
"A must-have book for all chicken lovers."
- Jeff Smith, Cackle Hatchery
"An outstanding book that needs to be in every poultry raiser's library. Accurate, valuable information that can be read with ease."
- Glenn Drowns, author of Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry
"When it comes to questions on chicken health, this is the book I turn to for quick reference. We have one on every desk at Stromberg's and recommend it to everyone from beginners to longtime fanciers. The extensive pictures, illustrations, and explanations in the new edition should make it required reading for anyone interested in keeping a
