[taz4711]

Hi. Am pretty new to using this site so I apologise if this question has been asked lots of times. I keep 3 - 4 ex battery hens at any one time. I wondered if anyone could recommend a good book on basic hen ailments please.
(I say that I keep hens and my firiend says that she keeps chickens......not sure when a hen becomes a chicken or visa versa     )

[joyfull]

a lot of people on here recommend the Haynes chicken manual for basic ailments (I don't have it myself so can't say how good it is)

[joyfull]

according to Wiki (which isn't always right  ) hens are used for reproduction and chickens are for food.

[ehs284]

Yes, Haynes is good. In addition I'd suggest trawling through web sites (now, whilst you have no problems) and book marking the most useful. These often have good pictures.

[joyfull]

the most important thing to do before you have any problems is ring around your area to find a local vet that will treat chickens.

[taz4711]

Thanks for the prompt replies. Much appreciated. I do have a good vet about 8 miles away who took the time to scan one of my hens and find 4 pockets of fluid. This hen has puffed up, not walking very easily, is eating and drinking but not a great deal and has laid a few strange looking things recently. I would think I would go to the vets and they would give me some antibiotics? Is she egg bound, perotonitis........

[mrs.ploppy]

The best book I have seen and bought over 10 odd years for this is 'Diseases if free range poultry' by Victoria Roberts BVSc.MRCVS.

Totally brill book with in depth pictures and descriptions of all problems both common and not so common.  Totally reccomend this book.

[hillfooter]

The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow Paperback 4.0 out of 5 stars (11) £ 8.75. Amazon.
Many books tend to be more aimed at vets and contain copious detail on lab testing methods to diagnose illnesses.  The one the poulrysite sells is like this.

Gail Damerow's book is very good for the none technical person but takes a bit of getting used to using to find your way around.  It has some excellent diagnosis charts and one of the best indexes I've seen which many books fall down on.  It's written for the US reader though is still relevant for the UK but reflects US practise.  A lot of information for a good price whereas the Poultrysite book which is written by a vet for vets is much thinner has no diagnosis tables and costs nearer £20 and definitely not for beginners.

HF