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About
Christine Heinrichs is the author of How to Raise Chickens and How to Raise Poultry (both Voyageur Press, 2013) and has won many awards over the course of her 30-year writing career. She holds a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Northern California Science Writers Association, and Ten Spurs, the honorary society of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. She is also a member of the American Poultry Association, where she serves on the Heritage Breeds Committee, the American Bantam Association, and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy. She lives with her husband, chickens, and cat in Cambria, California.
In her own words:
“Voyageur Press offered me a contract to write a book on raising chickens in small flocks. How to Raise Chickens was published in 2007. It was warmly greeted by readers, and a revised edition was published in 2013. How to Raise Poultry, published in 2009, a revised edition in 2014. It covers ducks, geese, swans, and turkeys, guineafowl, game birds, and ostriches—and, of course, chickens.
My work has tracked the growing interest in food issues, including food safety, additives, and concerns about chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. Chickens are the mascot of the local food movement.
Food issues pervade our lives, health and well-being, and resonate in economic justice. Just Food, a New York-based sustainable food organization, works with community gardens to add poultry operations in the city. Suburban backyard chickens are more popular than ever.”
Books
Whether you want to raise 5 chickens or 50, whether you have a 40-foot city lot or a 40-acre farm, the expert advice in How to Raise Chickens makes it easy for young readers and beginners to get started raising a healthy flock. Whichever comes first for you, the chicken or the egg, this FFA-licensed guide shows what to do next with the help of longtime chicken breeder Christine Heinrichs, who explains all the helpful dos and important don’ts.
Easy-to-follow advice helps readers:
- Choose breeds and obtain stock
- House and feed chickens
- Manage your flock and keep it healthy
- Select and cull for breeding programs
- Incubate eggs and care for chicks
- Raise chickens in the country, suburbs, or city
How to Raise Chickens provides information on breed types, obtaining stock, housing, feeding, flock management, breeding programs, incubation and care of chicks, selection and culling, showing, health care, and the legal aspects of raising chickens. Reviewed and approved by Dr. Clint Rusk (Purdue University Associate Professor in the Youth Development and Agriculture Education Department), this book will give you the tools you need to succeed in a challenging but rewarding business.
Beautifully designed and authoritatively written, How to Raise Chickens is a trusted source of information to new chickenkeepers of all ages, sure to inspire further investigation of the hobby.
Every common breed of chicken, organized into one information-packed guide.
Fueled by the local and organic food movements, as well as a sea change in local ordinances, backyard chicken keeping is booming. Anyone who’s decided to join the new wave of chicken keepers knows that the poultry breeds available are dizzying in their variety. Calm your anxiety with this book–a guide for backyard chicken keepers in search of chickens that best fit their needs.
Each breed of chicken listed in the field guide is thoroughly described and is illustrated by color photos. The book tells you all about the bird, detailing each breed’s particular usefulness, adaptation to climate, coloration, number of eggs typically laid, foraging ability, temperament, and unique qualities. There are fun facts about varieties of chickens, as well as information about color and comb varieties, rare breeds, classification, and hybrids.
Articles
A Decade of Change at Backyard Poultry magazine, January 2016
- Traditional Breeds, on 5M’s Poultry Site in England, June 2015
- Poultry Art Collection, Backyard Poultry, August/September 2014
- Heritage Breeds, Backyard Poultry, 2014
- Buckeyes: All-America Chickens Backyard Poultry Magazine
- Rapanui Fowl Aviculture Europe 2013
- American Treasures Award: Frank Reese 2012 Backyard Poultry magazine
Other
Good Shepherd Conservancy, Lindsborg, KA
Right before our eyes, dozens of our foundational poultry breeds are on the brink of extinction. These strains’ importance to America’s culture, food safety, and biodiversity is incalculable. Their loss would spell disaster for the future of the sustainable food system and serve as a lasting victory for an industrial poultry industry gone haywire.
While most remain unaware of the looming extinction of Standardbred poultry breeds in the United States, there is a small community working to combat this crisis. One man on the plains of the Kansas Prairie stands out as their greatest champion. Frank Reese, in his seventies, is the sole remaining commercial breeder of Certified Standardbred poultry in the United States.
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Mudchute Park & Farm, Pier Street, Isle of Dogs, London E14 3HP farm@mudchute.org
Our Farm is one of the largest inner City Farms anywhere in Europe. We pride ourselves on our wonderful collection of British rare breeds and currently have over 100 animals and fowl on our farm! We are proud to be London’s only Rare Breed Survival Trust‘s Approved Conservation Farm Park.
Throughout Mudchute Farm’s landscape and buildings you will be able to view our British rare breed animals, horses and ponies everywhere. The larger animals graze in the outer enclosures and fields, while the smaller and perhaps more cuddly, are kept just next to the main courtyard in ‘Pets Corner’. Please note that most of the animals go to bed at around 16:00hrs.
If you want to learn more about the Farm and the animals, please enquire about booking a Farm Tour. A member of the Farm Staff will take you around the Farm and explain more about our livestock and landscape. You will learn more about how the Farm works, get closer to some of the animals, and maybe even help feed some of them. Tours last about an hour. Please email farm@mudchute.org ahead of your visit to find out about availability and prices.
Animal encounter sessions can also be booked, in advance, as part of an event or party at Mudchute. Some of our friendliest small animals will be brought to your venue by Farm staff, who can explain more about them, while guests can get up close and stroke their fur or feathers. These sessions are very popular at children’s parties.
You can also keep up to date on the latest news and developments on the farm via the Mudchute Farm blog.
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The Livestock Conservancy
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/poultry-breeds
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If you like beautiful, responsive, animals, then the world of “Exhibition Poultry” may be what you have been looking for. Poultry comes in all sizes, shapes, colors and personalities. There are nearly 400 breeds and varieties of poultry that offer something for young and old alike
The term poultry includes large and small bantam chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and guinea fowl. These domestic birds are an important part of the world’s commerce and industry as well as exhibiting them in a showroom. There are so many diverse forms and colors that they catch the vocational interest of an increasing number of people. The interest of people from all walks of life has been served for over one hundred years by the American Poultry Association, the oldest livestock organization in the United States. The program of our association is to appreciate the excellence and the systematic classification of the many breeds and varieties of poultry. Gaining a greater appreciation for and the enjoyment of breeding, raising and exhibiting exhibition poultry is a worthwhile social goal.
The best way to understand this intriguing exhibition poultry hobby is to visit some of the more than 1000 shows held annually, spring and fall, across the United States and Canada. See many of the different breeds and varieties of birds, meet the people and even follow up by visiting their homes and chicken coops. You’ll certainly see some interesting birds and equipment. From these people you’ll get valuable ideas and suggestions of where to go to see and learn more with the bonus of enjoying the company of fascinating people.
Membership in the American Poultry Association is a way to keep abreast of what’s happening in the Exhibition poultry hobby. Later, after you have settled on the breed you wish to raise and perhaps even show, you may even want to join the breed club promoting your breed.
As a member of the American Poultry Association you will receive our quarterly newsletter, the annual Yearbook and will have the opportunity to attend our Annual, Semi-Annual or District Meets. You’ll learn of our sanctioned shows and other events you’ll want to attend. All these activities encourage whole family participation and many special features are available for the younger members of the family. The APA sponsors the Youth Exhibition Poultry Assn, an educational program that is geared to youth exhibitors, ages 5–18. Many breed specific clubs also feature special breed meets at shows, produce a newsletter and have swap meets and special programs featuring their breed.
For some people owning and reproducing some of these elegant creatures is enough reward. But for others, the showroom is the focal point, the true measure of the exhibition poultry hobby’s rewards. The thrill of a win and the recognition of the effort by friends and other competitors is a gratifying experience. Each day is a new experience. Mating your birds to achieve a perfect specimen, setting of eggs and watching those chicks hatch makes this hobby an exciting venture. Finally, the competition in the showroom, whether it is a youngster in 4-H, in the Youth Exhibition Poultry Association or an “oldster” in retirement and all those in between, raising ornamental exhibition poultry is a relaxing hobby and is within the economic limits of most of us.
To find out more and learn about our wonderful world of exhibition poultry visit a show and enjoy your day talking with poultry breeders and enthusiasts. Seeing all the different breeds and varieties, talking with exhibitors is a fun adventure and guaranteed to keep you occupied for a few hours.
