Raise Backyard Chickens: The Definitive Guide From Egg To Plate

Whether you live on 1,000 acres or 1,000 square feet, there’s plenty of room in your backyard for a flock of chickens. Join the chicken revolution today and be prepared to reap a lifetime of benefits far beyond the enjoyment and the eggs.

In the following pages, we help get you started with everything from incubating fertile eggs to receiving and raising day-old chicks, building a chicken coop, and keeping your birds safe and healthy. We’ve even outlined a 9-step process to help you promote the legalization of backyard bird-keeping in your city or town. You’ll find top-notch advice on protecting your flock from predators, producing the healthiest eggs, and much more. And if your interest is in cooking with eggs and/or chicken, we have you covered.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to join the revolution!

"In 2010, Grit magazine launched its Country Skills Series with the Guide to Backyard Chickens. Thanks to your enthusiastic response, and Grit magazine’s readers requesting even more poultry pages, we recently completed the ninth edition of that special issue. Since that first edition launch, I am happy to report that the backyard chicken movement has only grown stronger. And as more folks take back the right to produce clean food for their families and roll back municipal laws that would limit their ability to do so, they also reconnect with the land, their agrarian ancestors, and a more sustainable American dream. I am proud that Grit has effectively fanned the flames associated with all aspects of the chicken revolution. Still, mostly I am tickled beyond belief that so many of you are embracing domesticated animals of the feathered kind." - Oscar H. Will