Raising Backyard Chickens for Beginners: Choose Breeds, Build a Coop, and Raise a Healthy First Flock of Laying Hens (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798197921574)

Your first flock should not have to learn everything the hard way.

Ruth Pemberton started with three Tractor Supply chicks, a flimsy prefab run, and the kind of chicken-wire advice that sounds right until a hawk proves otherwise. Six years later, she keeps a mixed backyard flock outside Knoxville and helps first-year keepers sort out what actually matters before the birds arrive.

This beginner guide walks you through the decisions that make or break your first year:

• Whether chickens really fit your yard, budget, zoning, and daily schedule
• How to choose beginner-friendly breeds without getting talked into the wrong birds
• What a coop and run actually need for ventilation, cleaning, and predator protection
• How to brood chicks, transition pullets outside, feed layers, and handle the first egg
• What changes in summer heat, winter cold, molting season, and basic health scares

You will not find glossy homesteading promises here. You will find the practical first-flock advice Ruth wishes someone had handed her before she brought home Goldie, Penny, and the little one.