Rating: 
Summary: Owlbeards, Polish Frizzles, and Buff Orpingtons
Review: Polish chickens (as displayed on the cover and interior of this book) are a strikingly unusual breed. According to the author, they may actually be Italian chickens, originating near the River Po. They are the avian equivalent of Old English Sheepdogs. Ice can form in their topknots in cold weather, and their crest feathers restrict vision, which causes them to be easily frightened. However, they see very well downward, which after all is the food direction for chickens.I'm not precisely a poultry romantic, having once helped a friend clean out a chicken coop. But Stephen Green-Armytage's book, and yearly visits to the Poultry exhibit at the Michigan State Fair have convinced me that I am going to raise chickens some day. Just the thought of a flock of Owlbeards, Polish Frizzles, or Buff Orpingtons bobbing through my garden and gobbling up the cutworms and grasshoppers is enough to make me smile. I can always hire someone else to clean out the coop. "Extraordinary Chickens" is not a how-to poultry manual. It is a book of beautiful photographs that grew out of an assignment the author undertook for "LIFE Magazine." There is also some explanatory text on a small but striking selection of the more than five hundred poultry breeds that have been recorded by poultry photographers such as Josef Wolters and Rudiger Wandelt. It certainly stands testament to the breeders'desire to develop chickens with an amazing variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. There are photographs of chickens with combs like red sea coral (Hamburgs) and Moose antlers (Sicilian Buttercups); chickens with tails that are twenty feet long (the Phoenix or Onagadori); and chickens that look like pheasants (Sumatras) or Bulldogs (Cornish game birds---at least from the front). The author suggests attending a poultry show, if you find yourself intrigued by the photographs in this book---"In 1995, a show in Nuremberg, Germany, boasted a total of more than seventy thousand birds, a record that will probably be beaten before this book appears." California seems to be the hotbed of ornamental poultry in this country, although I can testify to the fact that Michigan has at least one yearly show. If you think you might actually want to raise your own poultry, first read Chapter Nine of the totally fascinating "Encyclopedia of Country Living" by Carla Emery. It's got everything from "Good Recipes for Old Hens" to a section on roosters divided into "Crowing," "Fighting," and "Making Capons."
Rating:
Summary: Owlbeards, Polish Frizzles, and Buff Orpingtons
Review: Polish chickens (as displayed on the cover and interior of this book) are a strikingly unusual breed. According to the author, they may actually be Italian chickens, originating near the River Po. They are the avian equivalent of Old English Sheepdogs. Ice can form in their topknots in cold weather, and their crest feathers restrict vision, which causes them to be easily frightened. However, they see very well downward, which after all is the food direction for chickens. I'm not precisely a poultry romantic, having once helped a friend clean out a chicken coop. But Stephen Green-Armytage's book, and yearly visits to the Poultry exhibit at the Michigan State Fair have convinced me that I am going to raise chickens some day. Just the thought of a flock of Owlbeards, Polish Frizzles, or Buff Orpingtons bobbing through my garden and gobbling up the cutworms and grasshoppers is enough to make me smile. I can always hire someone else to clean out the coop. "Extraordinary Chickens" is not a how-to poultry manual. It is a book of beautiful photographs that grew out of an assignment the author undertook for "LIFE Magazine." There is also some explanatory text on a small but striking selection of the more than five hundred poultry breeds that have been recorded by poultry photographers such as Josef Wolters and Rudiger Wandelt. It certainly stands testament to the breeders'desire to develop chickens with an amazing variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. There are photographs of chickens with combs like red sea coral (Hamburgs) and Moose antlers (Sicilian Buttercups); chickens with tails that are twenty feet long (the Phoenix or Onagadori); and chickens that look like pheasants (Sumatras) or Bulldogs (Cornish game birds---at least from the front). The author suggests attending a poultry show, if you find yourself intrigued by the photographs in this book---"In 1995, a show in Nuremberg, Germany, boasted a total of more than seventy thousand birds, a record that will probably be beaten before this book appears." California seems to be the hotbed of ornamental poultry in this country, although I can testify to the fact that Michigan has at least one yearly show. If you think you might actually want to raise your own poultry, first read Chapter Nine of the totally fascinating "Encyclopedia of Country Living" by Carla Emery. It's got everything from "Good Recipes for Old Hens" to a section on roosters divided into "Crowing," "Fighting," and "Making Capons."
Rating:
Summary: More than Extraordinary, it is brilliant!
Review: The book teaches, it enlightens and it delights. The photographs are truly extraordinary and not just for the aficionado of rare poultry. The entire book is simply a feast for the eye and with very useful text. A perfect gift for the chicken lover in your life.
Rating:
Summary: Lively discourse on Avian Aesthetics
Review: This book has changed my life, literally. I used to look at a chicken and think KFC, or egg-maker. I now see that this was a bigoted perspective as there is more to chickenry than cuisine. (Don't get me wrong, just writing this review is making me hungry.)
Dozens of exquisite images, opening your mind to the world of chickenhood. Dare I even say, sexy? Well, maybe not.
I will keep this book on my night table for the foreseeable future.
Rating:
Summary: bock bock beautiful, wierd and wonderful
Review: This book is 112 pages of fantastic photos portraying poultry, exotic and domestic,in the most grandios fashion. You'll never look at a chicken the same way again! (excepy,maybe,if your'e having mashed potatos and gravy) Incredulous crests! Striking split combs! Magnificent beards,muffs,whiskers! Exciting and unusual feather patterns and colors are included in this wonderful collection. You will also enjoy the infusion of interesting information about the assorted breeds.
Rating:
Summary: bock bock beautiful, wierd and wonderful
Review: This book is 112 pages of fantastic photos portraying poultry, exotic and domestic,in the most grandios fashion. You'll never look at a chicken the same way again! (excepy,maybe,if your'e having mashed potatos and gravy) Incredulous crests! Striking split combs! Magnificent beards,muffs,whiskers! Exciting and unusual feather patterns and colors are included in this wonderful collection. You will also enjoy the infusion of interesting information about the assorted breeds.
Rating:
Summary: Lisa and Jenna's Review
Review: This book really gives you a feel of what Chickens are really about and made of! This writter has extrodanary pictures to explain the life of a chicken! We recomend this book to all who love chickens and everything about chickens!
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional
Review: Truly an exceptional compilation of photographs that will fascinate and entertain anyone. I've enjoyed showing this book to folks who just cannot fathom my interest in chickens..as it grabs their immediate attention!
Rating: 
Summary: note card size
Review: What's not to like? This book contains many lovely photographs of chickens. Chickens can be beautiful, too, you know. They are not just senseless creatures pecking in the dirt until their lives are one day summarily ended on the chopping block. They like to dress it up and step out on occasion, just like everybody else. Now, this tome should not be read as some type of argument for a chicken eugenics, whereby the beautiful and unique are spared, while the homely, the overly-wattled, and the splay-footed are consigned to the workhouse, laying eggs for your McMuffin in silence and disgrace. Far from it. This book is a celebration of all chickens, for all chickens. Vive la chicken.
Rating:
Summary: all the pretty chickens
Review: What's not to like? This book contains many lovely photographs of chickens. Chickens can be beautiful, too, you know. They are not just senseless creatures pecking in the dirt until their lives are one day summarily ended on the chopping block. They like to dress it up and step out on occasion, just like everybody else. Now, this tome should not be read as some type of argument for a chicken eugenics, whereby the beautiful and unique are spared, while the homely, the overly-wattled, and the splay-footed are consigned to the workhouse, laying eggs for your McMuffin in silence and disgrace. Far from it. This book is a celebration of all chickens, for all chickens. Vive la chicken.
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