There is a BUNCH of helpful information out there for rookies and hall-of-famer chicken keepers, but it can be hard to find if you don't know where to look.
This article brings all of the best eBooks and articles together in one handy guide so you can make the best decisions regarding your fluffy-butted ladies in your backyard.
From nutrition, egg-collection, health & wellness, coops, feeders, waterers, organic feed and more, everything in this guide will make you the best chicken keeper in the land!
If you know of an eBook or guide that isn't listed here, let us know!
Quick Jump
Free eBooks
1. The Beginner's Guide to Raising Backyard Chickens
Description: Shamelessly, we do think we're number one! This complete guide from Mile Four takes you through everything you need to know about raising chickens including laws and permits, breeds, coops, feed, feeders, waterers and so much more! This is a must-have in your back pocket if you're new to raising chickens or you're a veteran.
Cost: FREE
Rating: 4.9/5
2. The Working Chicken
Description: Learn everything you need to know to get started on your poultry adventure with these quick answers to your frequently asked questions. The Working Chicken begins by helping you choose the perfect flock for your family, then explains how to feed and house your new pets. Finally, the book's permaculture twist ensures that your chickens will not only be happy and healthy, they'll also keep your family healthy too.
Cost: FREE
Rating: 4.3/5
3. Baby Steps To Backyard Chickens
Description: Are you tired of buying eggs from the grocery store? Want to save some money and get the best quality eggs available? Are you considering raising your own backyard chickens? Kathryn Robles has raised chickens in the city and has some words of wisdom to help you decide if chickens are a good fit for you.
Cost: FREE
Rating: 4.2/5
Paid eBooks
4. The Backyard Chicken Book: A Beginner's Guide
Description: The Backyard Chicken Book contains all the essential information for the hatching, brooding, rearing, and managing family-sized poultry flocks.
Cost: $11.99
Rating: 3.6/5
5. The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens
Description: The Chicken Chick's Guide to Backyard Chickens takes readers through all aspects of small flock care, including feeding, housing, chicken health, and so much more!
Cost: $9.99
Rating: 4.9/5
6. Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics
Description: A must-have for every backyard chicken keeper, Backyard Chickens Beyond the Basics goes beyond introductory lessons and explores the realities of raising a flock for eggs -- and entertainment, of course! From odd eggs and molting, to feeding and preparing for the seasons, this book covers the subjects beginner books don't adequately address and re-examines common knowledge that may not actually hold true. It's a resource to turn to time and again.
Cost: $10.99
Rating: 4.5/5
7. 101 Chicken Keeping Hacks from Fresh Eggs Daily
Description: 101 Chicken Keeping Hacks from Fresh Eggs Daily includes simple ideas for re-using and upcycling old items, as well as detailed information on using natural ingredients to enhance and improve your chickens' lives without breaking the bank.
Cost: $12.99
Rating: 4.8/5
8. Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens
Description: Serious poultry farmers and backyard bird raisers have relied on this best-selling reference for more than 20 years. The fourth edition of Gail Damerow’s comprehensive handbook is now completely revised and redesigned, making it more accessible and informative than ever. You’ll get the most up-to-date details on shelter, food, health care, eggs, chicks, and meat, and recent research into chicken behavior and communication makes the sections on flock management truly authoritative. New color photos and illustrations provide more specificity and information about chicken breeds, anatomy, and health.
Cost: $9.99
Rating: 4.8/5
9. How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say
Description: Best-selling author Melissa Caughey knows that backyard chickens are like any favorite pet — fun to spend time with and fascinating to observe. Her hours among the flock have resulted in this quirky, irresistible guide packed with firsthand insights into how chickens communicate and interact, use their senses to understand the world around them, and establish pecking order and roles within the flock. Combining her up-close observations with scientific findings and interviews with other chicken enthusiasts, Caughey answers unexpected questions such as Do chickens have names for each other? How do their eyes work? and How do chickens learn?
Cost: $9.99
Rating: 4.8/5
10. Self-Sufficiency Hen Keeping: Raising Chickens at Home
Description: Self-sufficiency and organic living have never been more prominent and hen keeping is becoming increasingly popular. This authoritative book provides an introduction to the key aspects of acquiring a self-sufficient lifestyle by keeping your own chickens and benefiting from the produce.
Cost: $7.99
Rating: 4.4/5
11. Backyard Chickens: A Practical Handbook to Raising Chickens
Description: This handbook covers: selecting the perfect chicken breed, feeding your hens, healthy egg laying, chicken behavior (including bullying) and how-to treat common chicken health issues. The handbook is suited to both first time keepers and veterans by providing varying degrees of detail to keep both readers engaged. Full color photos and illustrations throughout provide specific examples of chicken anatomy, health and behavior.
Cost: $8.99
Rating: 4.6/5
12. Backyard Chickens for Beginners
Description: In this must-have book for anyone who takes his health and well-being seriously, you will learn how you can raise chickens at your backyard, enjoy fresh eggs daily, and improve your health by HUNDREDS of PERCENTAGES.
Cost: $5.99
Rating: 3.7/5
13. Backyard Chickens: How to Keep Happy Hens
Description: Keeping a few hens was once only for rural dwellers with big yards - or inner-city hippies. Now it's mainstream and an attractive proposition wherever you live. Fluffy little recycling units that eat weeds, bugs and scraps and turn them into organic eggs - what's not to love? Chickens are great backyard pets for young and old - they're a natural extension for everyone with a vegie patch, and for those who like eggs but are concerned about the welfare of commercial hens. This book is the perfect reference, whether you're already keeping chickens or an absolute beginner thinking about getting a couple of chooks. Dave Ingham offers compulsively readable advice on how to start, housing and feeding, settling chickens in with other pets, troubleshooting, and the (minimal) commitment required to keep your backyard hens healthy and happy.
Cost: $16.20
Rating: 4.7/5
14. Backyard Chickens: Raising Chickens, Feeding Chickens and Health Care
Description: It might sound like a complicated thing to do, but with this book, you’ll enjoy organic, healthy chicken meat and eggs in no time! Don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of space, this book will show you how to grow quality chickens in even the smallest backyards.
Cost: $3.99
Rating: 4.8/5
15. The Chicken Health Handbook
Description: Healthy chickens are happy chickens. This one-of-a-kind reference book covers the health problems that plague chickens of all breeds and ages. Practical charts identify common symptoms and causes of infection, while an alphabetic listing of diseases provides advice on treatment. You’ll find helpful descriptions of troublesome ailments of all types, from poor egg production to crooked toe syndrome. Practical remedies and gentle preventative care measures will help your beloved flock stay happy, healthy, and safe.
Cost: $9.99
Rating: 4.8/5
16. The Backyard Chicken Bible
Description: Whether you want two chickens or two hundred, this manual will guide you along your journey to successfully raising chickens. Growing a backyard chicken flock is an investment, and one of the most important factors in cultivating a happy, healthy poultry society is taking the time to learn everything you can about your birds.
Cost: $10.99
Rating: 4.6/5
17. How To Raise Strong & Healthy Chickens
Description: If you are thinking that it is impossible to rear chicken even in the tiniest of places, then think again. Rearing chicken is a lot easier than you have been thinking if you’ve never tried it. If you don’t know what to do, then this book will offer all the help you need. It will help you to decide whether to keep layers or broilers, prepare the chicken coop, bring the chicks home, feed them and protect them from environmental hazards and diseases and feed them until they are fully grown and ready to lay eggs or ready for slaughter.
Cost: $0.99
Rating: 5/5
18. Chicken Coops: 10 Best Chicken Coop Plans and Tips to Feeding and Raising Your Chickens
Description: Rather than being given large amounts of land like other farm animals, chickens only need a coop for them to get comfortable and start bringing in the money. Other than this though, chickens are also one of the most usable animals in terms of how much they can provide to the dinner table. Imagine how much you would save on feasts when all it takes is a trip to the back. So I’m going to tell you a little something. Now would you like to know how straightforward it is to have your own hatchery with a near endless amount of chickens running around waiting for your intentions to develop?
Cost: $2.99
Rating: 5/5
19. Chicken Diseases Help - A Quick Guidebook on Chicken in Sickness and Health
Description: Farming chickens for fresh eggs and meat has been a way of life for people all over the world, for thousands of years. As economic problems have increased over time, more of us are seeking ways to supplement our food provisions with healthy and affordable alternatives, like raising small flocks of chickens in our backyards.
Cost: $2.99
Rating: 4.4/5
20. From Egg to Chicken. This is the ultimate eBook designed to help you raise your own chickens.
Description: 44 page guide to raising chickens - and it’s free! Starting, breed, chicks, feed, coop, eggs, health, recipes, checklists & more!
Cost: Free
Rating: 4.6/5
Honorable Mentions
The following guides aren't currently available in eBook form, but they are great resources to have that you can save to your internet browser and refer back to when you need to!
1. Raising Backyard Chickens for Dummies - Modern Farmer
2. Raising Chickens 101 - The Old Farmer's Almanac
3. Beginner’s Guide to Raising Backyard Chickens - The Happy Chicken Coop
4. Beginner's Guide to Keeping Chickens - Poultry Keeper
5. How to Keep Chickens - Keeping Chickens
6. 10 Tips For Raising Backyard Chickens For Beginners - Rural Living Today
7. How to Keep Chickens in the Garden - The Guardian
8. Daily and Monthly Chicken Care Tasks - The Spruce
9. A Practical Guide to Keeping Chickens - Oh Lardy
10. Guide to Chicken Care - My Pet Chicken
So we're assuming you've read every single one of these without stopping, right? You're likely now the best chicken keeper in the world!
Be sure to bookmark this page so you can come back to it whenever you want or if you have any questions.
If you want other blogs from Mile Four, check out our list of articles here, and download our other eBooks here!
If you know of an eBook or article that isn't listed here, let us know by commenting below or emailing us at milefour@milefour.com and we'll add it!
