10 May: The new chicks I acquired at the Ventura Poultry Show are growing up. See them on my blog. Click the Shows button for information on other upcoming shows and poultry events.

How to Raise Poultry grew out of my involvement with heritage poultry. My first book, How to Raise Chickens, focused entirely on these traditional breed domestic fowl. Heritage poultry goes beyond chickens, however. Waterfowl, including ducks, geese and swans, turkeys and guineafowl also have historic breeds. Pigeons and other game birds, such as quail, peacocks and partridges have also accompanied humans through history.

So it was a continuation of my work with heritage poultry to write a book that includes all those breeds. Along the way, ratites – ostriches, emus and rheas – naturally came along.

Writing the book gave me a wonderful opportunity to focus on these birds, one at a time. Being immersed in ducks, then geese, then turkeys and the rest was a pleasure. The book includes photos of many historic poultry breeds, from actual Red Junglefowl in the wild to fighting Blue Steinbacher geese, Blue Slate turkeys and Lavender Guineafowl. The ostriches, emus and rheas were new to me. I learned so much from so many wonderful people who helped me! Male rheas incubate their yellow eggs.

In addition to specific details about the history, description, husbandry and marketable products for each species, How to Raise Poultry includes an Overview of modern small flock poultry raising, extensive information on poultry management and a conclusion comprising agricultural tourism, poultry in art and community life and a look forward into the future.

How to Raise Chickens was published in 2007. It focuses on raising traditional breeds in small flocks. That was a novelty then, an idea whose time was arriving. Since then, backyard chickens have become popular in suburban neighborhoods and urban gardens. The idea for the book gtrew out of my work as publicity director for the Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities. As I searched for informtion about the old breeds, I found it was scattered in many books, difficult to find. The advent of more Internet search engines has improved the situation, but it's still difficult to find reliable information about old breeds. I was able to include substantial information in this book, along with husbandry methods suited to them. Traditional breeds grow more slowly than commercial hybrids but are often more resilient and disease-resistant.

May 10, 2013 The Shows page is updated. Attend a show to acquire new birds for your flock! Poultry Show Central also lists shows and offers other information and services. Attend a show near you to see some great birds. Enter your birds and be recognized. Join your local poultry club. Send me information about your poultry event and I'll add it to the list. This is becoming the most popular page on this site. Attend a poultry event near you!