What's Killing My Chickens?: The Poultry Predator Detective Manual

by Gail Damerow

This visual guide helps readers assess predator risk to poultry species, evaluate the scene of the crime after a predator intrusion, interpret clues such as tracks, trails, and signs, and understand predator habits in order to determine “likely suspects.” It then offers preventive strategies to protect poultry from future predation, including eliminating points of entry to the coop and yard, removing attractants, using poultry guardians and lighting, and installing the most effective fencing for each particular threat. The book concludes with a mini-encyclopedia of possible culprits, ranging from birds, canines, and felines to rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and more.

• ISBN13: 9781612129099
• Publish Date: 10 December 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 8 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Storey Publishing LLC
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 271
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog Nonstop Reader.

What's Killing My Chickens? is a useful tutorial and advice guide for smallholders and poultry-keepers by Gail Damerow. Due out 10th Dec 2019 from Storey, it's 272 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

There are an absolute plethora of smallholder books out and nearly all of them have something to say about keeping poultry. Additionally, there are poultry specific books and all of them show happy, healthy, trouble free chickens running around being entertaining and not being killed and/or eaten by everything from hawks to human neighbors. This is an in-depth troubleshooting guide for figuring out what has gone wrong and how to avoid it in future.

This is from the author's introduction:

This book will help you determine which predators are likely to appear in your area (and, just as important, which are not), give you insights into their behavior, and use the information to devise effective ways to keep your poultry safe.

The book is arranged in two main sections. First is a list of criteria to figure out what conditions led to the loss of stock and how to avoid losses in future. The second half of the book is a chapter by chapter list of common (and less common) poultry predators by families (weasels, raptors, cats, dogs, bears, rodents, corvids and others) along with their ranges, habits, tracks, scat, and more.

This is an extremely useful book, full of illustrations and photographs. The typeface is easy to read and with good contrast. It's aimed at readers in North America, but will be at least partially applicable to species with a larger range.

This would be a good selection for a smallholder's personal reference library, a cooperative extension lending library, public library, or the like. It could be potentially useful as a support text for a number of other vocational/agriculture classes such as animal husbandry, veterinary subjects, or similar.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.