Genetics in Practice

The Classic Guide to Chicken Genetics and Poultry Breeding

Buy on Amazon.
Compare Prices.

by F. B. Hutt
Norton Creek Press, 94 pages. ISBN 9781938099076.

Genetics in Practice was the final chapter of F. B. Hutt’s monumental Genetics of the Fowl, covering the practical aspects of successful breeding projects as opposed to genetic theory and a detailed discussion of all known chicken genes at the time.

By breaking it out as a slim, 94-page volume, we get straight to the “How to Do It” part and dispense with five hundred pages of genetics. But to cover the gap, we kept the extensive glossary and tables listing the commonly referred to genes.

First published in 1948, Genetics of the Fowl has been an industry reference ever since, and is still used in university classes.

Table of Contents

  • Genetics in Practice
  • Objectives and Methods
  • Mass Selection
    • For Unifactorial Characters
    • Multifactorial Characters
    • Special Value of Mass Selection in Grading
    • The Multiplying Million
  • Progeny Testing
    • The Unreliability of Pedigrees
    • The Unreliability of Phenotypes
    • Records for Progeny Testing
    • The Use of Such Records
    • Complications and Limitations
    • Double Shifts, Triple Shifts, and Diallel Crosses
    • Importance of the Environment
    • The Use of Proven Sires
    • Selection of Females
  • Inbreeding
    • Rates and Measures
    • Effects of Inbreeding in the Fowl
    • Prepotent Sires
  • The Utilization of Hybrid Vigor
    • Crosses of Inbred Lines of One Breed
    • Double Crosses of Four Inbred Lines
    • Top-crosses on Outbred Stock
    • Crosses of Strains not Inbred
    • Crosses Between Two Breeds
    • Crosses among Three Breeds
    • Interspecies Hybrids
    • Intergeneric Hybrids
      • With Pheasants
      • With the Guinea Hen
      • With the Peafowl
      • With the Turkey
  • Literature Cited
  • Symbols for the Genes of the Fowl
  • Glossary

How to Order

Buy on Amazon.comRead more ...

Fresh Air Poultry Houses Sample Chapter

Fresh-Air Poultry Houses: The Classic Guide to Open-Front Chicken Coops For Healthier Poultry
by Prince T. Woods, M.D.

Introduction and Sample Chapter

Publisher’s Introduction

To stay healthy, your chickens need plenty of ventilation–probably more than they’re getting today. This was discovered over 100 years ago, but has been largely forgotten. Today’s small-flock housing tends to be dank, dark, and smelly. Chickens, like miners’ canaries, are easily harmed by poor air quality. Wet litter breeds disease. Darkness forces chickens, like parrots, to be artificially inactive. “Dank, dark, and smelly” is a deadly combination!

tolman_fresh_air_coop_wall_knocked_out
A closed chicken house converted to an open-front coop by knocking out the south wall and covering it only with chicken wire.

Closed chicken houses are so harmful that knocking out a wall can cause an immediate improvement, even in winter. Chickens, after all, have a thick coat of feathers to keep them warm, but are vulnerable to poor air quality and pathogens in the litter; and their unwillingness to eat in the dark means they can starve in the midst of plenty. Fresh-Air Poultry Houses was written by Dr. Prince T. Woods, a noted poultry health expert. Dr. Woods describes not only his own poultry houses, but those of many of his clients, giving the book a breadth of experience that makes it a unique resource.… Read more ...

Turkey Management

Everything About Turkeys, Free-Range and Otherwise

Buy Now. Other Options.

Sixth Edition
by J. Holmes Martin and Stanley J. Marsden.
Illustrated. 1008 pages. ISBN 1938099052.

Marsden and Martin’s massive Turkey Management was an instant hit when it first came out, and it rapidly went through six editions. The sixth edition is the one we’ve reprinted.

This Sixth Edition of Turkey Management is by far the most detailed and practical book on turkeys ever written. Weighing in at 1,008 pages and containing hundreds of tables, photos, and illustrations, it has everything you need. It’s written with the full range of turkey raisers in mind.

This book is from the Golden Age of American poultrykeeping (roughly 1910-1960), when there were millions of family farms and practically all of them raised poultry, using simple, effective methods.

This was also the Golden Age of American Poultry Science, with close cooperation between farmers, fanciers, and scientists. One happy result of this is that many books written by eminent poultry researchers could be understood by ordinary farmers, fanciers, backyarders, or 4-H’ers.

Though published in 1955, the fundamentals haven’t changed. The biggest change is the amazing increase in the rate of growth of modern hybrid turkeys. The other breeds are much the same as ever.… Read more ...

Poultry Breeding and Management

100th Anniversary Edition

dryden_poultry_breeding_and_management_300
Buy on Amazon.
Compare Prices.

by James Dryden

Norton Creek Press. 416 pages.ISBN 1938099036.

The Origin of the 300-Egg Hen

Where other chicken breeders failed, Professor James Dryden in Oregon succeeded, when “Lady MacDuff” laid 303 eggs in 365 days in 1912-1913.

How did he do it? Through the methods described in this book, which can be divided into two parts: his successful breeding techniques and his simple yet effective management techniques.

Dryden’s breeding techniques were so successful that he created not one, but three record-breaking strains of chicken at the same time. This book describes these efforts in detail.

Dryden’s management techniques were equally successful and endeared him to farmers across the country.

Poultry Breeding and Management, first published a century ago, was an immediate hit with farmers and breeders alike, and remained in print for nearly thirty years. It was the best, most popular, and most influential poultry book of its time, and remains well worth reading today.

Table of Contents

  1. Historical Aspect.
  2. Evolution of Modern Fowl.
  3. Modern Development of Industry.
  4. Classification of Breeds.
  5. Origin and Description of Breeds.
  6. Principles of Poultry Breeding.
  7. Problem of Higher Fecundity.
  8. Systems of Poultry Farming.
  9. Housing of Poultry.
  10. Kinds of House to Build.
Read more ...

Poultry Production

The Practice and Science of Chickens

Buy on Amazon.
Other Options.

by Leslie E. Card

414 pages.198 illustrations. ISBN 1938099028.

Scientifically based books for raising modest numbers of chickens became as rare as hen’s teeth. There are plenty of rule-of-thumb books for backyarders and massive tomes for poultry scientists, but little in the way of sound, reliable works for serious poultrykeepers. Fortunately, we can find what we need by turning back the clock a bit.

This book, the 9th edition of Poultry Production, is just what we need. It’s from 1961: new enough that all the basic scientific principles had been discovered, but old enough that small- and medium-sized flocks have not been forgotten. Leslie Card’s application of carefully tested methods to practical poultrykeeping problems allows you  to move forward with your own flock.

Poultry Production is lavishly illustrated, with 55 tables and nearly 200 photographs, drawing, charts, and graphs to clarify the details of every aspect of keeping chickens successfully. (For example, a graph showing how a concrete floor affects the air temperature at floor level, warming it by more than 5 °F in cold weather and cooling it by more than 15 °F in hot weather). This kind of detail means there’s a place for Poultry Production on every chicken owner’s shelf.… Read more ...

Success With Baby Chicks

A Complete Guide to Hatchery Selection, Mail-Order Chicks, Day-Old Chick Care, Brooding, Brooder Plans, Feeding, and Housing

Buy on Amazon.
Compare Prices.

by Robert Plamondon
Norton Creek Press, ISBN 0972177000. 155 pages.
Available in paperback and Kindle formats.

Your Baby Chicks are Helpless—But You Aren’t!

For any creature, the first few days and weeks of life are crucial. Give your chicks the care they deserve by reading the only book devoted solely to baby chicks. Other books cover the brooding period in just a few pages, but it is too important for that. Both your enjoyment and the welfare of your baby chicks depend on brooding them successfully, every time.

In Success With Baby Chicks, I cover everything you need to know about nurturing your baby chicks through the all-important brooding period, which starts when they hatch and ends, weeks later, when they no longer need supplemental heat. You will learn how to select a hatchery, choose a breed, set up the brooder area, and care for your adorable, helpless, fluffy little baby chicks. All this and more are covered in this easy-to-follow book.

A Testimonial


Since I got your book “Success with Baby Chicks” my mortality rate in brooding has improved dramatically.

Read more ...

A Complete Guide to Hatchery Selection, Mail-Order Chicks, Day-Old Chick Care, Brooding, Brooder Plans, Feeding, and Housing

Buy on Amazon.
Compare Prices.

by Robert Plamondon
Norton Creek Press, ISBN 0972177000. 155 pages.
Available in paperback and Kindle formats.

Your Baby Chicks are Helpless—But You Aren’t!

For any creature, the first few days and weeks of life are crucial. Give your chicks the care they deserve by reading the only book devoted solely to baby chicks. Other books cover the brooding period in just a few pages, but it is too important for that. Both your enjoyment and the welfare of your baby chicks depend on brooding them successfully, every time.

In Success With Baby Chicks, I cover everything you need to know about nurturing your baby chicks through the all-important brooding period, which starts when they hatch and ends, weeks later, when they no longer need supplemental heat. You will learn how to select a hatchery, choose a breed, set up the brooder area, and care for your adorable, helpless, fluffy little baby chicks. All this and more are covered in this easy-to-follow book.

A Testimonial


Since I got your book “Success with Baby Chicks” my mortality rate in brooding has improved dramatically.

Read more ...

The Dollar Hen

The Classic Guide to American Free-Range Egg Farming

Order Now.

by Milo Hastings, Edited by Robert Plamondon.
250 pages. ISBN 0972177019.

Robert Plamondon says: The Dollar Hen changed my life. It set me on the road to successful free-range egg farming, and helped me understand all aspects of the poultry industry. Not bad for a book written in 1909! Milo Hastings was a remarkable man. He was a poultry scientist, the author of a classic work of science fiction (City of Endless Night, 1919), an early health-food advocate, and the author of one of the first books on the danger of high blood pressure.

The Dollar Hen describes the overriding concerns of being in the egg business. His method of free-range egg farming extracts a maximum amount of synergy between soil, crops, hens, farmer, climate, and invested capital. His goal is to make the farmer money — enough money to pay off the mortgage, put the kids through school, and retire. His methods are simple, and the equipment he recommends is even more so. For example, his preferred watering system is a brook. More than any other poultry writer, he emphasizes the value of a farmer’s time and deplores wasting it on unnecessary chores.… Read more ...

The Classic Guide to American Free-Range Egg Farming

Order Now.

by Milo Hastings, Edited by Robert Plamondon.
250 pages. ISBN 0972177019.

Robert Plamondon says: The Dollar Hen changed my life. It set me on the road to successful free-range egg farming, and helped me understand all aspects of the poultry industry. Not bad for a book written in 1909! Milo Hastings was a remarkable man. He was a poultry scientist, the author of a classic work of science fiction (City of Endless Night, 1919), an early health-food advocate, and the author of one of the first books on the danger of high blood pressure.

The Dollar Hen describes the overriding concerns of being in the egg business. His method of free-range egg farming extracts a maximum amount of synergy between soil, crops, hens, farmer, climate, and invested capital. His goal is to make the farmer money — enough money to pay off the mortgage, put the kids through school, and retire. His methods are simple, and the equipment he recommends is even more so. For example, his preferred watering system is a brook. More than any other poultry writer, he emphasizes the value of a farmer’s time and deplores wasting it on unnecessary chores.… Read more ...

Feeding Poultry

The Classic Guide to Poultry Nutrition for Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Gamebirds, and Pigeons

Buy on Amazon.
Compare Prices.

by G. F. Heuser
632 pages. ISBN 0972177027.

Are you still wasting money on the wrong kinds of poultry feed? Your poultry depend on you to make sound decisions about their health, but the feed industry and poultry nutrition are mysterious subjects. Let Feeding Poultry be your guide!

Pioneering poultry scientist G. F. Heuser of Cornell University wrote Feeding Poultry at just the right time: after poultry nutrition was thoroughly understood, but before small farm flocks were replaced by factory farms. It may not be the newest book available, but it’s the only one with a whole chapter devoted to free range and green feed, that’s focused on traditional poultrykeeping, and written for the intelligent layman rather than graduate students.

Feeding Poultry is the ideal reference for small farmers and serious hobbyists like you, covering chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, gamebirds, and pigeons.

As you read this book, you will see opportunities open up before you. You’ll learn the uses and quality standards of different ingredients, the value of free range and green feed, how poultry rations are formulated, how to use natural sources for all nutrients, the many different feeding strategies, and much more.… Read more ...

Poultry Books

We’ve written, edited, and republished our favorite chicken books. Our theme? Practical knowledge and techniques used by old-time farmers.

Our first foray into the chicken-book field was Success With Baby Chicks. Robert Plamondon wrote this book after realizing that people like you are having heartbreaking failures with baby chicks; problems we learned how to deal with by trial and error and extensive reading. Like us, you can have success every time! The book has received warm praise from farmers who tell us that it has made a big difference with their chick rearing and many favorable reviews on Amazon.com.

Our most popular poultry book is Fresh-Air Poultry Houses by Dr. Prince T. Woods. Keep your chickens healthy year-round! This book is the bible of the open-front poultry movement, an idea so old it’s new again. Most chicken coops are inadequately ventilated, making them dark, dank and smelly. Chickens, like miners’ canaries, are tough in most ways, but have weak lungs. They can take a lot of cold, but get sick if the air quality is poor! This 1924 book is a great classic, well worth reading.

The Dollar Hen had more influence on us than any other chicken book.… Read more ...

Fresh-Air Poultry Houses

The Classic Guide to Open-Front Chicken Coops for Healthier Poultry

 

fresh_air_poultry_houses_cover_250
Buy on Amazon.
Compare Prices.

by Prince T. Woods, M.D.
Norton Creek Press. 190 pages. ISBN 097217706X.

Open-Front Chicken Coops Are Healthier, Summer and Winter

To stay healthy, your chickens need plenty of ventilation–probably more than they’re getting today. This was discovered over 100 years ago, but has been largely forgotten. Today’s small-flock chicken coops tends to be dank, dark, and smelly. Chickens, like miners’ canaries, are easily harmed by poor air quality. Wet litter breeds disease. Darkness forces chickens, like parrots, to be artificially inactive. “Dank, dark, and smelly” is a deadly combination!

open_front_house_colorized_300
An open-front coop during a Canadian winter. Note the snow on the ground!

Closed chicken houses are so harmful that knocking out a wall can cause an immediate improvement, even in winter (there’s an interesting case study of this in Chapter 2). Chickens, after all, have a thick coat of feathers to keep them warm, but are vulnerable to poor air quality and pathogens in the litter; and their unwillingness to eat in the dark means they can starve in the midst of plenty.

And in summer! Poor air circulation and a thick coat of feathers is hard on the chickens.… Read more ...