I asked joyfull a few days ago how she gets to know so much about chickens and part of the answer was reading! Well, when I got my first ex-bats last year I bought Starting With Chickens but it didn't seem to cover very much so I bought the Chicken Health Handbook - which is great if you have a degree in veterinary science, but not so good for a beginner...
However, as I got so much practical information from my first Haynes manual (ironically for a BSA Bantam...) I decided to go ahead & order their latest offering, the Haynes Chicken Manual. Wow! It's so easy to read, full of information I wish I'd been able to get hold of last year, set out in typical Haynes fashion with clear photos and a logical order to its content. I've read a lot of it already and am sure I'll be able to put it to really good use - although I don't think I'll be stripping my girls down to mend them like I did all those years ago with my Bantam.....
Oh, if you check out Amazon it's just over 1/2 rrp at the moment, bargain!