Storey’s guide to raising poultry: chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, game birds PDF
Preview Storey’s guide to raising poultry: chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, game birds
storey’s guide to raising poultry This page intentionally left blank FOURTH EDITION Storey’s Guide to RAISING POULTRY · · · Chickens Turkeys Ducks Geese · Guineas Game Birds Glenn Drowns ß Storey Publishing The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment. Edited by Deborah Burns and Rebekah Boyd-Owens Art direction and book design by Cynthia N. McFarland Cover design by Kent Lew Text production by Theresa Wiscovitch Front cover photograph by © David Chapman/Alamy Illustrations by © Elayne Sears Indexed by Samantha Miller Special thanks to Ed Hart for reviewing the text © 2012 by Glenn Drowns All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other — without written per- mission from the publisher. The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher dis- claim any liability in connection with the use of this information. Storey books are available for special premium and promotional uses and for customized editions. For further information, please call 1-800-793-9396. Storey Publishing 210 MASS MoCA Way North Adams, MA 01247 www.storey.com Printed in the United States by Versa Press 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress CataLoging-in-PubLiCation Data Drowns, Glenn. Storey’s guide to raising poultry / by Glenn Drowns. — 4th ed. p. cm. Guide to raising poultry Raising poultry Previous editions entered under: Mercia, Leonard S. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-61212-000-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-61212-001-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Poultry. I. Title. II. Title: Guide to raising poultry. III. Title: Raising poultry. SF487.D76 2012 636.5—dc23 2012004611 To my wife, Linda Drowns, for all of her support in my many endeavors, and my parents, Willard and Doris Drowns, for allowing me to get those first four ducklings that started it all. acknowledgments THERE ARE MANY who deserve recognition, and I wish to thank all who contributed ideas and suggestions for this book. Your ideas and thoughts helped to create it all. Special thanks to Melanie Slattery for doing some of the typ- ing; to Annalisa Reganfuss for reading the first draft and provid- ing me with ideas for topics to address; and to Ed Hart for reading the final draft. Contents PART 1 Getting Started 1 Should I Raise Poultry? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2 Housing and Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3 Poultry Biology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4 Baby Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 5 Feeds and Feeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 6 Heritage Breeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 PART 2 Choosing the Right Chickens 7 Laying Chickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 8 Meat Chickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 9 Dual-Purpose Chickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 10 Bantams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 11 Ornamental Chickens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 PART 3 Turkeys, Waterfowl, Guineas, and More 12 Turkeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 13 Waterfowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 14 Guineas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 15 Coturnix Quail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 16 Game Birds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 17 The “Uncommon” Poultry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 vii PART 4 Fowl Practices 18 Incubation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 19 Home Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 20 So, You Want to Be a Breeder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 21 Marketing and Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 22 Showing Poultry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 23 Poultry as Pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 PART 5 The Bigger Picture 24 Growing Your Own Feed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 25 Flock Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 26 Dealing with Predators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399 27 Government Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 28 Calendar Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 Appendix A Poultry Feed Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425 B Characteristics Indicating High and Low Egg Production Characteristics of Layers and Nonlayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426 C U .S . Weight Classes for Shell Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 D U .S . Standards for Quality of Individual Shell Eggs . . . . . . . . . . 427 E Incubation Troubleshooting Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428 F Poultry Ailments Checklist and Diagnostic Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430 G Using a Wet-Bulb System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 H Types of Rodenticides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 I Poultry Manure Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445 viii PAR T 1 Getting Started 1
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