In this detective manual for the poultry owner, best-selling author and chicken expert Gail Damerow shows chicken keepers how to identify which predators are likely to be troubling their flock from the clues left behind, and offers proven strategies for protecting their poultry.
For backyard chicken keepers and large-scale farmers alike, the single greatest challenge is protecting poultry from predators. What’s Killing My Chickens? is the essential guide to identifying the culprit and ensuring safety for the flock. Often, by the time an attack is discovered, the predator has already left the scene. Best-selling author and chicken expert Gail Damerow uses the style of a detective manual to teach readers how to follow clues such as tracks, trails, scat, and other signs to identify the attacker. Predator profiles describe key habits of each one and best techniques for blocking their access to the coop and yard, including removing attractants, using poultry guardians and lighting, and installing the most effective type of fencing. This empowering book offers essential knowledge, and peace of mind, for every chicken keeper. AUTHOR: Gail Damerow has written extensively on raising chickens and other livestock, growing fruits and vegetables, and related rural know-how in more than a dozen books, including the best-selling Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens, The Chicken Encyclopedia, The Chicken Health Handbook, and Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks. Damerow is a contributor to Chickens and Hobby Farms magazines and a regular blogger for Cackle Hatchery. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, where they operate a family farm with poultry and dairy goats, a sizable garden, and a small orchard. SELLING POINTS: . Predators are a concern for all types of chicken keepers. According to a poll by Poultry Science, concerns about predators are the principal challenge faced by would-be chicken keepers. When people get backyard chickens for the first time, they usually do not even know what predators live around them. This book arms those readers with the information they need to protect their birds from tragedy. . Friendly, detective manual format. The book leads the reader through the analytical process of finding and interpreting clues.
