A charming guide to keeping beautiful chicken breeds, both common and rare, by one of Britain's best-selling garden writers. Gardener, artist, and writer Parkinson has kept flocks of happy chickens since childhood. In this wonderful collection, he distills everything he has learned about his feathered friends into one charmingly illustrated, bite-sized volume featuring his own watercolor portraits of nearly sixty breeds. Spotlighting both common and rare chicken breeds from around the world, Parkinson describes the personalities, behaviors, egg-laying abilities, and other characteristics of each type of hen. Along the way, he also covers practical skills to help each kind of chicken thrive. Inspiring, delightful, and adorned with Parkinson's own portraits of his "ladies," this charming book is a delight for chicken aficionados and budding gardeners alike--as well as simply anyone dreaming of a balanced, sustainable life on the land.