Chickens in Five Minutes a Day - Book Review and Giveaway!

Murray McMurray Hatchery's Chickens in Five Minutes a Day: Raising, Tending and Getting Eggs from a Small Backyard Flock Made Easy

by Farmers at Murray McMurray Hatchery

176 pages

I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy of Chickens in Five Minutes a Day to review and giveaway.  I've been raising chickens for seven years and I still love to read about chickens and how to care for them.

This book is meant for those getting ready to start raising chickens for egg production.  The idea is to set things up in such a way that in general the chicken chores can be cared for in five minutes a day.  However, as the book points out you'll probably spend quite a bit more time enjoying watching them.

Too cute!

I found the book to be easy to read.  It wasn't dry or boring.  The illustrations are both cute and informative. I was impressed with how thorough the book was and I wish I had it before I started raising chickens!   There were many important points that I thought the book needed to make and they hit on all of them (e.g., what NOT to feed chickens, checking for pasting up, etc).

I also learned some interesting facts about hatcheries and the history of Murray McMurray Hatchery in particular.

I found that in the few cases where I disagreed with the book it was simply a difference of opinion rather than any lack in the book.  For example, the book suggests to add sugar to the chicks water and I chose not to.  

I like the use of safety gear!

I was glad to see the book recommend the use of diatomaceous earth as a natural way to reduce parasites in the flock.  However, I would have liked to see them warn against using the kind that is sold for pool filters.

I highly recommend this book for those who are looking into or planning on raising chickens for egg production.  It's an excellent place to start.  

The book is being released on 5/14/13 and it's available for preorder at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.  I noticed that the e-reader copies are currently being sold at about 50% off of the listed price of $19.99!

The Giveaway:

One of my readers will receive a copy of this excellent book!  The giveaway is limited to readers in the US and Canada.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book to provide a review. No compensation was received for this post. My opinions are my own and may differ from yours. This giveaway is NOT affiliated with Facebook or any other social media networks. City Girl Bought the Farm is not responsible for shipment/prize fulfillment. There will be no monetary value given instead of products.

Fluffy Chicken Pics and an Update

Chicken pics!  The chickens have weathered this Winter quite well.  Because of the mild weather we've been able to let them outside to play more often then we normally would.  They love to get out of the coop (insert "cooped up" joke here) and my husband scatters some grain in the snow and grass to give them something to do.

After an egg strike of about 6 weeks, they began laying again in mid-January.  Farm fresh eggs are delicious!

The Obligatory Giant Egg Post

Check out this enormous egg!  My first thought was "Ow" and then "oh, that poor hen!"  Everybody is doing quite well though.  We haven't cracked it open yet but I imagine it will be a double yolker.

I don't have small hands and it pretty much covers my palm.  

Meyer Hatchery Catalog Came Today!

I'm excited to have received my 2012 Meyer catalog today!  I pore over it for hours putting little stars next to types of chickens, ducks, turkeys and more that I would like to have strutting around my farm yard.  I'm not yet sure what I'll be getting but I'll have fun dreaming.

They have some exotic birds that I know that I won't be getting.  A sebastopol goose is a white bird with long curly feathers. They're lovely but fairly expensive. They aren't cold hardy though so they wouldn't enjoy our freezing winters.  I also won't be getting  a pair of White Mute Swans.  At $780 for the pair plus $320 shipping and handling they're outside of my price range! They also have pheasants, partridges, and peacocks.

There are also dozens of chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to peruse.  The price for chicks varies but in general it's in the neighborhood of $2 to $4 each plus shipping.

Well, I'm off to dream of my colorful flock additions.  In the meantime I'll leave you with a few pictures of my current chickens.  Here you'll see them in their favorite hangout.  There's about 4 feet of weeds growing between our garden and our yard.  The chickens LOVE to hang out in this little jungle.

Seen These Flowers Before?

We have these lovely yellow flowers grow around our grape vines each year.  They're about 7 or 8 feet tall, perennial, and they bloom in early Fall.  I haven't seen them anywhere else.  I'm curious about what they are.

And some gratuitous chicken cuteness provided by Teeny the bantam hen

Chick Pics - Just for Fun

Ducky the Light Brown Leghorn

Patty (who turned out to be Patrick)

Mr. McFloofyhead (hen) a silver laced Polish

Rhode Island Red

Gratuitous Chicken Cuteness

The first three pictures are of the same little bantam rooster.  The 2nd and 3rd pic show him with his feathers all poofed up to stay warm.  Funny little guy!

I posted an article at Community Cluckers about where we got the plan for our nest box.

View from the top

Chicky Wordless Wednesday

Linking up at Miller Racing

There's not many thing cuter then chicks in a box.  Well, maybe puppies in a box. : )  This is how baby chicks are sent from the hatchery.  They arrive within one to two days.  This takes advantage of the fact that they can live without food and water for several days after hatching because of their yolk sac. 

These are my first chickens. They arrived in the Spring of 2008. 

Schoolwork and bad roosters

I started college on 8/23 (only 20 years after high school).  I'm taking English 101 and Psychology 101. My first grade has finally been posted.  It was in Psych and I got a 50 out of 50.  Woohoo!  I was very nervous when I turned it in. I feel much better about my ability to pass these classes now.

We currently have 4 newbie roosters and 1 older bantam rooster.  My poor hens!  We need to get rid of some of these guys.  They're rough with the girls since they don't really know what they're doing.  That's the last time I buy straight run chicks.  I don't want to kill and eat them... well I wouldn't mind eating them I guess, but I don't want to get them ready to be eaten.  I'd be happy to give them away but how do you find someone that wants a couple of dumb roosters?  I just like to have plenty of eggs.

Kids go back to school tomorrow!  I'm going to print out some lunch labels from Mariah Demarco Designs.  They're so cute!  3 notes for 3 kids. I'm thrilled they're going back since I'm mighty tired of the bickering but I'll miss them too. I love the little monsters.  Hmmm one just said "fore!" and the other yelled "you coulda broke your window!"  Time to go...