Beautiful Chickens: Portraits of Champion Breeds (edition 2011)

Beautiful Chickens. Really, the name says it all. This book is for those who love chickens (of the live type, not of the take-away food variety). It contains exquisitely styled chickens (yes, they did get washed and blow-dried) posing for the camera. It’s not just your average garden variety chickens and the more popular breeds (such as the Rhode Island Red) but the more exotic and rare chickens. This includes chickens with top knots, chickens with feathers on their feet, speckled chickens, bantam chickens, big chickens, gorgeous feathers, proud roosters, cute hens…the list goes on.
Beside the full page picture of each chicken is details about its breed and habitat. While this is not the kind of exhaustive list that you’d use to buy some chickens, it is a good starting point as it discusses eggs and breeding. The majority of chickens featured are from the UK and USA, but there are some chickens I’ve spotted in Australia as well.

Does this book have any negatives? Not really if you’re a chicken fan. The photographs by Andrew Perris are gorgeous. The information is concise and interesting. This book is for a niche market though; only chicken lovers (or their mothers) would buy it. It is definitely worth borrowing from the library too. I do believe that there are other Beautiful animals in the series, including pigs, cows, sheep and ducks. These would suit admirers of these animals down to the ground!

A fun book with some gorgeous birds!

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