My Pet Chicken Handbook: Advice and Answers for the Most Common Concerns and Questions About Backyard Chicken Care from the Experts at My Pet Chicken

“An informative insider’s guide . . . My Pet Chicken Handbook teaches just about everything you need to know to manage your own flock.”—Los Angeles Times

Backyard chickens are the new “it” pet—and with good reason! They’re personable, cheerful, beautiful, and (mostly!) low maintenance. But they’re not without their quirks and their sometimes puzzling behaviors that cause concern for chicken-keeping newbies and veterans alike. Let the experts at My Pet Chicken guide you to a successful chicken-keeping experience with their insightful advice, unique problem-solving approach, and sunny-side-up outlook.
 
My Pet Chicken Handbook helps you make “expert” choices from the beginning, including whether chickens are right for you and, if they are, how you can avoid the most common “oh-no” experiences. You’ll find detailed care instructions for chickens of all ages, from baby chicks to mature adults, to help ensure a friendly flock and a relaxing hobby. Becoming a responsible chicken parent is a breeze when you discover how to choose the best breed for your needs, understand what type of coop is right for your situation, plan a daily routine, learn about biosecurity practices, and recognize signs of distress. Once your pet chickens start laying, you’ll find more than 50 delicious recipes that feature freshly collected eggs and, as a bonus, you’ll have tons of fun making nutritious special treats for your favorite pet chickens.

Backyard chicken expert Lissa Lucas is the head writer and marketing communications specialist for My Pet Chicken. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Marietta College, Ohio, and has worked variously as a journalist, an English teacher at a private school in China, and the communications director for a small, private university, among other positions. However, teaching people about chickens—and being perhaps the world’s only chicken advice columnist—is her favorite job by far. She blogs from a tumbledown cottage on a rural ridge top in beautiful Ritchie County, West Virginia. In addition to keeping chickens, Lissa enjoys home brewing, nature photography, cooking, yoga, crocheting, writing, and gardening.
 
Traci Torres is the CEO and cofounder of My Pet Chicken. She has been passionate about chickens ever since “Goldie” peeped out of her shell during a third-grade classroom hatching experiment. She still considers herself a “wannabe” farmer and aims to one day steward a veritable Noah’s ark of creatures. For now, she contents herself with chickens of all varieties, sizes, and provenances. She lives in rural Connecticut, along with her husband and two children.