My Favorite Chicken Reads
I like chickens. You’re probably not falling off your chair in shock when I reveal that truth about myself. I also like books a lot. So, unsurprisingly, I think chicken books are pretty great—the perfect marriage of two of my favorite things. The books I’ve listed below are all books that not only reside on my shelves, but spend a lot of time off the shelves in my hands.
If you’re interested in buying any of these books for a gift, or for your own library, the pictures here are linked—click on one and you’ll go right to the appropriate Amazon page.
Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?
The Epic Saga of the Bird That Powers Civilization
Andrew Lawler
Atria Books
2014
Best-selling author and journalist Andrew Lawler is a contributing writer for Science and a contributing editor for Archaeology. His article about the amazing discoveries by archeologists in Jerusalem is the December 2019 National Geographic cover story. He has also written the definitive history of chickens—the sort of book I’d been hoping somebody would write long before this book’s publication in 2014. Why Did the Chicken Cross the World tells the story of the domestication of chickens, their spread throughout the world, their impact on civilization, and civilization’s impact on them. The story stretches from the domestication of the chicken out of elusive Asian jungle fowl ten thousand years ago to today—where over twenty billion chickens, three for every human, live in dismal, overcrowded, anonymous buildings around the world—captive providers of protein for the human race. While I value this book for the story it tells about the domestication and dispersal of chickens, I also appreciate it for telling the story of the sins of modern industrial chicken farming. Telling that story, over and over, ultimately, will be the best way to get the poultry industry to change. (Read my full review here.)
The Chicken Encyclopedia
An Illustrated Guide
Gail Damerow
Storey Publishing
2012
Back when I first got the notion that I should get a few chickens, I decided I needed a good book to help me figure out what I was getting myself into. Luckily, the first book I picked up was The Chicken Encyclopedia by the phenomenal Gail Damerow who has authored numerous books on chickens as well as books on goats, pumpkins, and other sustainable living topics. The thing that jumped out at me when I first cracked this book open was all the great chicken pictures. My wife, Kathy, found those pictures useful as well. Her main stipulation when we talked about what breeds of chickens to get was this: “I don’t care what kinds you get, but they have to be pretty.” So, I handed her this book with all the great pictures of the various breeds. And she paged through and put Post-Its on all the pages with pictures of chickens that passed her “prettiness” test. Then, my follow-up was to actually read the text next to those pictures and decide if the pretty hens she marked would be good and practical choices for us. And then we went out and procured the very first Hipster Hens.
In addition to all those great chicken pictures and descriptions, the book is a good resource for information on chicken health problems, coops, equipment, feed, eggs, and pretty much every other chicken-related topic you could imagine, all laid out alphabetically for easy reference. If you own only one chicken book, this should be it. And if you’re like me, when you get it, you’ll be so captivated and entertained that you’ll read it cover to cover; from A to Z. Then you’ll keep it close at hand for easy reference. (Read my full review here.)
Locally Laid
How We Built A Plucky, Industry-Changing Egg Farm—From Scratch
Lucie B. Amundsen
Avery
2016
We Minnesotans are really lucky to have Locally Laid Egg Company right here. Jason and Lucie Amundsen, who founded Locally Laid back in 2012 have proven that it is possible to successfully produce sustainable, humane, pasture-raised eggs up here in the Northland. We’re also really lucky that Lucy Amundsen is such a fine author and was able to capture the sometimes-painful process of getting this enterprise up and running. In this warm, humorous, and honest book Lucy tells a very personal story about her family and herself. And in the process, she explains how modern farming practices have gone off the rails and how people like the Amundsens have rolled up their sleeves and gotten to work in an attempt to set things right. Perhaps only novices such as the Amundsens would have attempted to pasture raise chickens in Minnesota, where pastureland turns into godforsaken tundra for a big chunk of the year. Nevertheless, they persisted—and they succeeded. As a lover of chickens and as a former farm kid, I am in awe of this seemingly impossible undertaking and was elated by the Amundsens’ success. Thanks to their heroic efforts, egg lovers in this region have access to pasture-raised eggs that are locally laid. And we’ve also gotten this wonderful book. (Read my full review here.)
Chic!ken
Moreno Monti & Matteo Tranchelini
2018
Last Christmas, there was a large book-shaped package under the tree with my name on it. It was, indeed, a book—one of those large format coffee table books filled with opulent photographs. And when I opened it, I was ready to be done with opening presents, so I could concentrate on paging through this book with its lush, full-page eye candy. Two Italian photographers filled every page with stunning shots of beautiful models strutting or standing, staring frankly at the camera or coyly turning away. They are all gorgeous. And they are all chickens.
The photographers, not surprisingly, are chicken lovers. Matteo Tranchelini conceived of this photography project the very day he acquired his Cochin hen, Jessicah. The models are all exhibition birds and were shot by Mr. Tranchellini and Moreno Monti at the Milano Aviary Exhibition. Some of the exhibition breeders were concerned that the photographers were not posing the chickens according to the breed standards of perfection. But the pictures make it obvious that the chickens are posing exactly as they want to—and it is perfect. The photographers managed every step of the production of this book from conception to publication. They self-published with the assistance of a Kickstarter campaign.
It is amazing, really, that while chickens have been domesticated for thousands of years that it is only recently that we’ve discovered that they make great pets. And now, with the publication of this book, we have also learned that they make excellent models.
Cinders – A Chicken Cinderella
Jan Brett
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
2013
This is a wonderful book to read to children. I’ve read it to my grandkids more than a few times. But the truth is that I have this book because I love to read it to myself—I’m totally captivated by the story and the illustrations.
The story opens with a young girl, Tasha, struggling through a raging blizzard to get to her chicken coop so she can feed her chickens. The coop, we’re matter-of-factly shown, is an ornate and fanciful old tower. In the tower, Tasha pays special attention to her favorite hen, little Cinders, who is on the very bottom of the pecking order—and Cinders is especially abused by the old hen, Largessa, and her daughters, Pecky and Bossy. When Tasha’s chores are complete and she tries to leave, she finds that the blizzard has piled so much snow against the door that she’s trapped inside. So, Tasha curls up by the warm stove with sweet Cinders on her lap and falls asleep. Then she dreams the Cinderella story.
In Tasha’s dream version of the story, all the parts are played by chickens. Of course, Cinders is Cinderella. And the fairy godmother can only be a beautiful white Silkie hen. And in this version, when the fairy godmother waves her wand to transform pigeons into elegant footmen, mice into sleigh drivers, and ducks into draft animals to pull the sleigh to take Cinderella to the ball, the animals are still pigeons, mice, and ducks—but they are properly festooned with the appropriate costumes to carry out their new roles. And of course, Cinderella eventually marries Prince Cockerel and they live happily ever after. And then, when Tasha wakes from her dream, a second happy ending plays out. Your kids will love this book, and so will you!
Gwen the Rescue Hen
Leslie Crawford (Author), Sonja Stangl (Illustrator)
Stone Pier Press
2018
Once there was a nameless battery hen who lived in a cage packed with other hens in a factory farm warehouse filled with a bazillion other hens. You know this story, right? It is a story that could be told once for each of the 280 million laying hens alive in the US right now. There are a ton of kid’s books about chickens, and the chickens in almost all of those books live happy lives in charming coops. This is the only book that I’m aware of that tells kids the truth. I advocate for telling kids that the eggs most people have for breakfast come from hens that live tortured lives, but it’s a dreary truth to learn and it needs to be taught carefully and appropriately. Gwen the Rescue Hen handles the truth adeptly.
The little nameless battery hen in this story, gets miraculously rescued from the bleak life that millions of her sisters never escape, when a tornado rips into the building where she’s imprisoned and carries her cage far away. When the cage eventually comes to rest, it is so damaged that the little hen and her cellmates are able to escape into the great world. Then she gets to have some wonderful adventures including being adopted by a little boy who names her Gwen. It’s a charming story that kids love and it is enhanced by wonderful, whimsical illustrations. Hopefully, when you read this story to your kids it will prompt them to wonder why hens are being treated so badly that being blown away by a tornado is considered a rescue. And when they ask you about that, hopefully you’ll have some good answers. (Read my full review here.)
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