Keeping Chickens

Keeping Poultry And Rabbits On Scraps

Keeping poultry and rabbits on scraps has been republished by Penguin Books due to public demand!

Keeping Poultry And Rabbits On Scraps according to the paper today was a ‘war time’ best selling handbook, that’s making a come back due to the ‘credit - crunch’.

The book was first published in 1941 as Nazi Germany was attempting to starve Britain into submission.

Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps taught people how to raise chickens and other animals for eggs and meat, by feeding them on left-overs from the kitchen.

The book - which originally cost one shilling and sixpence when first published by Penguin Books, is apparantly being republished by Penguin Books due to demand.

I haven’t yet seen a copy of this book, although I have just bought one via amazon - for the link to the book, click Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on scaps.

This post was a while back and my copy has arrived… To see the review page click - Keeping Chickens On A Budget.

At the time of writing, new copies of Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on scaps are available for £4.89, or second hand copies can be purchased for as little as £2.36. Although the publisher said that their decision to republish the Keeping Chickens on a budget book, was partly taken due to the prices of the original on some websites!

According to the paper, the chicken keeping on scraps book makes ‘gruesome’ reading for those of us more used to living a 21st century lifestyle…

The keeping chickens on scraps book is 170 pages and apparently contains many images and illustrastions and is full of valuable advice for those who have now started keeping their own animals in an attempt to save money and stave off the credit crunch.

According to the Penguin Books website, Keeping Poultry And Rabbits On Scraps was issued in 1941, when the national crisis made it essential for every scrap of kitchen waste and spare time to be used for increasing the nation’s food resources, this book enabled the meagre official wartime rations to be supplemented in thousands of homes by a regular supply of eggs and meat, at a minimum of trouble and expense.

It now reappears, in response to many requests, to play its part in the hardly less urgent food-production drive of peacetime. Everything that the small-scale raiser of rabbits or of poultry, whether for egg-production or for table use, needs to know is here: buying, housing, feeding, breeding, diseases, are all fully dealt with by experts, the instructions being given in simple and practical language for the beginner.

Keeping Poultry and Rabbits on Scraps was originally reissued after the war, in 1949. Here it is once again, a facsimilie edition with all the delightful original illustrations and advice to keep your chickens and rabbits happy, whether they be in a city garden or roaming in a farm yard.

The paper goes on to describe various sections of the book using quotes from the authors Claude Goodchild and Alan Thompson; ‘In fact there is no known waste from human edible food which is harmful in moderation. Do not be content with using your own scraps; get others to save for you. There are plenty of people too busily occupied, or maybe some too lazy and unpatriotic to exert themselves and undertake any work of national importance…’

Ironically my purchase of Keeping Poultry And Rabbits On Scraps co-incides with my purchase of ‘Keeping Hens on a Budget‘, via the Wikaniko (We-Can-Eco) shopping site ‘garden’ section… Oh well, I suppose I’ll have two books to review in a few days when they arrive!