Summer party treats (for chickens)!
The recipe is on page 3…and the fun and instruction continues right through the very last page –well, actually AFTER the last page, because there’s a bonus pullout poster just inside the back cover.
Looking for a wonderful way to share your love of chickens with your kids or grandchildren? Are you considering getting a few chicks this spring, but don’t quite know where to begin?
I’ve just finished reading Melissa Caughey’s book, A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens. This new book, by the creator of Tilly’s Nest, is easy to read, packed with solid information, bursting with color, and a terrific reference book for chicken lovers—first time chicken keeping youngsters or seasoned adults wishing to share their flock experiences with children and grandchildren.
There are so many things I really, really like about A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens.
The cover is vibrant, with a bright banner title and photos of chickens—and children. Over on the right side there are arrows pointing to some of the main topics—“Best Breeds”, “Creating A Home”, “Care and Handling”, “Outdoor Fun”, “Crafts and Treats”. I could hardly wait to follow the arrows to see what treasures were inside.
I wasn’t disappointed. The table of contents is nicely organized and easy to read. The pages are marked with the chapter titles, so if you are thumbing through looking for something in particular, it’s simple to find. Each chapter (and there are twelve) has Tilly the Chicken on the bright heading.
Le-A : Our own coop Announcer
I found out in Chapter 9, “Handling, Training, and Playing with Chickens”, that Tilly is the most talkative chicken in Ms Caughey’s flock—and so I appreciated why she would be the title Announcer. I found more tidbits about chicken talk in that same chapter, as well as instructions on how to hold little chicks and older hens, step-by-step directions for bathing a chicken, and information about poultry showmanship.
There are lots of sidebars –some with Quick Chick Facts (one details brooder temperatures, for example, another describes dust baths); others giving recipes for Treats For Your Flock ( that summer party treat!); and maybe my favorite, Chicken School, in which kids can observe chickens learning life lessons like how to be brave or working through a problem like bullying.
A Kid’s Guide To Keeping Chickens is written in easy to read prose, but introduces new vocabulary words while describing some of the best breeds of chicken for kids to have, various types of combs and feathers, basic first aid, and how to tell if your chicken is ready to lay eggs. A reader can learn how to gather eggs, cook those eggs, and use the eggshells. There’s a section on
“Handling New Chicks”
broody hens and incubators, and a section on dealing with the loss of a feathered friend.
If you’re at all familiar with me, you’ll know that summers bring “Granny Camps” to our homestead. Activities involving our flock of chickens are popular with our seven grandchildren –from gathering eggs, to quiet observation of broody hens and baby chicks, to yes—even weeding the garden to give greens to the flock. I can hardly wait to introduce them to A Kid’s Guide To Keeping Chickens and see what they choose to do first—will they spend time in the kitchen making treats? Will they look through the craft box for materials to make a chicken coin purse? Or, might they make a chicken fort or use some fresh eggs to make breakfast?
There are 144 delightful pages in Melissa Caughey’s first book, A Kid’s Guide To Keeping Chickens. You’ll want to have your own copy, and you could even win one!!
Want to win a copy of A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens? Enter for a chance to win, here!
SPECS:
A Kid’s Guide To Keeping Chickens
Melissa Caughey
Storey Publishing (March 2015)
144 pages
Paper with pullout poster
ISBN: 978-1-61212-418-6
Hardcover with pullout poster
ISBN: 978-1-61212-648-7
Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens for review, but the exuberance is all my own.
1 Comment
Look forward to reading this with my grand daughter…hope I win.