Harvey Ussery's "The Small-Scale Poultry Flock - An All Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers" is a book jam-packed with information on every aspect of natural poultry care.
It's a worthwhile investment for new poultry people and seasoned growers alike. This is not a “pet chicken” book, but a practical manual grounded in decades of experience.
The part of the book that I found most intriguing was Harvey's commitment to quality - flock quality of life, quality of food produced, and quality of the environment influenced by the flock. No more chicken yards that look like dead lunar landscapes. Instead of "coop decor," you'll receive practical flock information.
There's no squeamishness about culling birds as needed to ensure a healthy, productive flock. The Small-Scale Poultry Flock takes your chickens from egg to table with care and attention to detail.
What Does The Small-Scale Poultry Flock Include?
The Small-Scale Poultry Flock is divided into seven sections:
● Starting Over
● Primary Care
● Collaboration Partners
● Small-Scale Flock Feeding
● Other Management Concerns
● Small-Scale Flock Breeding
● Poultry for the Dinner Table
There are full-colour images, charts, schematics and even spreadsheets with feed calculation algorithms. Poop from chickens (and other birds) is handled as a resource rather than a waste, boosting soil fertility. (Our hens adore their deep litter. It's far superior to the poop-matted straw I recall from my mother's chicken coop.)
Harvey also suggests more resources for learning more about obtaining chicken breeds, soil health, food and sustainability.
One of the most useful elements of the material is the section on common errors. So many internet materials are authored by people who have never done what they are writing about.
Harvey has experimented with a variety of poultry and gardening ways over the years, making his fair share of mistakes.
He discusses the pros and cons of poultry keeping so that you can learn from his experience.
One of the most useful elements of the material is the section on typical mistakes. So many internet materials are authored by people who have never done what they are writing about.
Harvey has experimented with a variety of poultry and gardening ways over the years, making his fair share of mistakes.
He discusses the pros and cons of poultry keeping so that you can learn from his experience.
Why Raise Your Own Chickens and Eggs?
Each part addresses not only the "how," but also the "why." As many flocksters (Harvey's term for poultry owners) will tell you, your home-raised chicken or eggs are unlikely to be more expensive than what's on shop shelves. So why bother trying to raise your own?
I grew up on a small dairy farm and now reside in farming area. The changes in the agrarian scene around me have been horrifying. It was the end of the lives of tiny, diverse farms when I was a kid.
Earl Butz's 1973 exhortation for farmers to "get big or get out" was one of many reasons that, in my opinion, drastically transformed agriculture.
Farming is no longer farming; it is agribusiness. "Animal husbandry" has been replaced with "animal science." Manure spreading is now considered "nutrient management," and this "nutrient management" is poisoning the majority of my county's wells.
More than 60% of 4,896 private wells tested positive for faecal bacteria. It's because we're dealing with dairy CAFOs (confined animal feeding facilities) here, but I'm sure other places are dealing with pig and poultry wastes as well.
The article "This Meat Company Dumps More Pollution Into Waterways Than ExxonMobil" discusses how Tyson Foods discharges millions of pounds of animal faeces into waterways each year.
Human waste must be processed at a treatment facility. Animal waste, on the other hand, does not.
CAFOs are unavoidable, but I can support small local producers and keep a small poultry flock for meat and eggs.
This year we grew broiler chickens for meat and ducks for pest control. I'm confident that whatever animals we have will be well cared for and that their faeces will not harm the river.
Some of My Favorite Small-Scale Poultry Flock Bits
There are so many important bits of knowledge in this book that it's difficult to choose just a few, but here are a few of my favorites:
Inside and out, detailed chicken anatomy diagrams
I didn't pay much attention to individual chicken parts on the farm. Choices for chicken care and diet are now informed by a greater understanding of the creature itself.
Complete glossary
It helps to know the appropriate terminology to use while talking about chicken.
Photos in full colour
Baby chicks are wonderful, but viewing coop alternatives in pictorial format rather than just descriptions makes it much easier to come up with new poultry house ideas for our property.
Making your own feeds and increasing them
This is one area I'd like to concentrate on as our flock grows. Because organic poultry feed is in little supply in my area, I had difficulty finding it. Even when I purchased special feed, it didn't always arrive on time.
Some of the techniques used by Harvey will not work in our colder environment, but there are still plenty of opportunities for experimenting.
Working in the Garden with the Flock
We utilized the ducks to manage garden pests this year. In the future, I hope to do more with hens and cover crops.
In a nutshell
Poultry on a Small Scale Done Right
Find the The Small-Scale Poultry Flock Reading Harvey's work is like catching up with an old buddy who knows far more about chicken than I do.
I'm hoping he publishes an updated version or a follow-up piece, as I've heard on online forums that he's now rearing Icelandic hens for their superior survival features.
You don't have to do everything, as I've said many times, but I encourage everyone to do something to strengthen their self-reliance. If poultry is your "something," The Small-Scale Poultry Flock is a great place to start.
