A picture-heavy, fun and informative look at our feathered friends who provide us with breakfast. There are personal stories, scientific facts, and studies of behavior included. I thoroughly enjoyed it. ( )

I'll start by saying that I don't own chickens and am unlikely to ever own chickens. I read this primarily because animal communication interests me, and this looked like it would be a relatively quick and entertaining read.

This has lovely pictures and is certainly a quick read. It doesn't go into a lot of depth on anything - readers just get basic information on animal observation, chicken behavior and communication, and the emotional life of chickens. There are brief profiles of various backyard chicken keepers, and the author frequently mentions birds from her own flock. There's a tiny bit of info about egg development, but otherwise there's very little about chicken biology or development. This book is more about learning to connect with and appreciate chickens as individuals.

Although there's a brief mention that some people deal with aggressive roosters by "[adding them] to the soup pot" (65), it's pretty clear that this book is intended primarily for backyard chicken keepers who likely view their birds as pets. All mentions of specific aggressive birds end with them being rehomed.

One thing I wish the author had done in the backyard chicken keeper profiles was include labeled pictures of all the breeds mentioned as being in the keepers' flocks. True, I could look them up online, but this was otherwise such a well-illustrated book that the lack of breed photos was noticeable.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

This arrived today and I couldn't wait; I've been curious to read it since I first read about it pre-publication.

Sadly, it was not quite what I expected.

Almost though. The author does discuss what chickens are trying to communicate, and she covers a fair amount of anatomical/behavioural information about chooks (Aussie slang), but she's coming from an enthusiast's perspective, not a scientist's. This is totally ok, but I was hoping for something a tad more in-depth and research based; this is more a 'chickens are wonderful and grossly underestimated' tome. (She's right - they're hilarious individualists, and anyone who keeps one for more than 10 minutes will never underestimate them again.)

In spite of it not measuring up to my expectations, it's a lovely book overall and I did learn quite a bit more about chickens. Turns out, I have 3 of the closest living relatives to T. Rex living in my back garden. How cool is that? ( )

My neighbor found this book in a bag of books she bought at her church auction and knowing that I'll take up with anything "animal" she brought it to me. I don't know if she read it or not but she obviously thought that I was weird enough to appreciate it. My husband kept looking at me funny..funnier than usual...and shaking his head. But I learned that I might want to be careful what i say to the next chicken that I meet...outside of a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken that is. I learned in 144 pages that chickens are both amusing and practical as well as intelligent communicators ... if you are willing to learn their language. The author raises chickens so she probably has more insight into them than I ever could. Along with the host of animals that I grew up with as a kid was several dozen chickens ...complete with names. I believe that this author spends more time with her chickens that I did with mine since she diffidently has an understanding of the mind and brain of a chicken. She's studied their behavior both as an individual and a member of the flock and how they process the world around them as well as the emotions they show with one another. Interesting little book...not a best seller by any means but oddly attractive and will count in my 300 books that I said I would read this year on GoodReads. I didn't learn the answers to some of the questions that the description suggested might be offered but I was highly entertained... as was my husband. I'm finished with the book but he's still looking at me funny. ( )

How to Speak Chicken
Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say
by Melissa Caughey
What a joy of a book! This book has love just oozing out of it! There are lots of pictures, tons of great information on not only the communication of of feathered friends but so much more. These little guys are not bird brained after all. The wonderful and delightful stories are worth the money itself. The info, personal stories, the charming pictures, and so much more all stuffed into a big fluffy pile of love. It made me feel warm and happy all over reading this. I wanted to go make a coop and get chickens again. Thanks NetGalley and Storey Publishing for letting me read this awesome and caring book! ( )