A draft under the door. A chick that never learned to eat. A lamp hung an inch too low. A quiet hen nobody picked up in time. The Hatchery Man's Flock Book shows you what to do, in the order you'll need it.
Most backyard losses come from a handful of small, everyday things that are easy to fix if somebody tells you about them in time. Here are three this book walks you through.
Chicks live on their yolk for two or three days, so the one that never started eating looks fine until day three. One ten-second check on the first night catches it while there's still time.
A brooder can read 95°F on the thermometer while a cold draft runs along the floor where the chicks actually live. You'll learn to read the chicks, not the gauge.
Hens hide illness until it's late. A two-minute morning check and a five-minute look after dark tell you who's off before she looks sick.
Plain words, large type and US measurements. Every chapter ends with a short Do This Tonight list, so you're not just reading, you're doing.
The short version of everything, for the brooder wall, the feed room door and by the phone. When a hen's in trouble at midnight, you won't want to go hunting through chapters.
This is the most important thing in the whole book. The first evening, after dark, pick up each chick and gently feel the front of its chest, a little to the right side. That's the crop, where food goes first. In a chick that's been eating it feels like a small, soft bean bag. A chick with an empty crop the first evening needs help tonight, not in the morning.
Dip its beak again. Make a little softened starter with warm water and put it in front of the chick. Set it next to a chick that's eating so it learns by copying. Check it again before bed. By day two, every chick's crop should be filling.
The Hatchery Man's Flock Book · Chapter 3, The First Week, Day by Day
Mark started at a commercial chick hatchery in 1968, sixteen years old, with a scrub brush and a stack of trays taller than he was. He stayed forty-two years: the candling booth, the setter and hatcher rooms, the incubator floor and the shipping line. In spring they set about a hundred and twenty thousand eggs a week.
Now he keeps fourteen mixed hens on the edge of a small Iowa town with his wife, June, who names every one of them. This book is everything he'd tell you over the fence, written down in order.
Mark is not a vet, and he says so whenever it matters. This book helps you notice trouble early, do the right first things, and know when to pick up the phone.
Read it, use it, and if it isn't for you, ask for a refund within 30 days through your Gumroad receipt. No fuss.
Right after you pay, Gumroad emails you a download link, and you can download it on the page straight away too. It's a PDF, so it opens on any phone, tablet or computer.
If you can open an email, you can open this book. Tap the download link and it opens like a photo would. The type is large and easy to read, and you can print it if you prefer paper.
Yes. The eight Toolbox pages are made to be printed and taped up in the garage, the feed room or by the phone. You're welcome to print the whole book for your own use.
Plenty of it will feel familiar. Where it earns its keep is the hatchery side: why chicks fail on day three, how to read a brooder, the night checks, and the vet-or-wait list. Most experienced keepers find a few things they wish they'd known sooner.
No. It starts before your chicks arrive and goes one step at a time, in plain words.
No, and it says so. It helps you spot trouble early, do the right first things, and know when it's time to call. The Phone Card has spaces for your vet, your extension office and the USDA sick bird hotline.
Temperatures, feeding, health signs and safety guidance were checked against university extension services, the USDA, the CDC and veterinary references, which are all listed at the back of the book.
No. You pay once and the book is yours.
Request a refund within 30 days of buying through your Gumroad receipt and you'll get your money back in full.
"Keep them warm, keep them dry, and keep an eye on the quiet one." · Mark
Get the book · $29.99