Chicken Boy

Description

A captivating, beautifully illustrated memoir of a life in nature, and a testament to the mutual rewards and delights of keeping chickens, by the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Flower Yard

‘I am a toddler the first time I meet a chicken, and we are equal in size and height. The hen has tiny eyelashes, a strawberry-jam face and a voice of purring clucks. I sense a happy spirit of inquisitiveness and smile in fascination. From that moment on, I will always love the company of chickens. I have found my tribe’

Most of us want a dog, or a cat, or a pony when we are young – for Arthur Parkinson, it was always hens. Growing up in an ex-mining town in Nottinghamshire, the other kids in the playground called him ‘Chicken Boy’. But the quiet fulfilment of keeping hens became his sanctuary, a tonic for mental and physical health, a connection with his family and the natural world. From the local allotments and his nan’s back garden, to Chatsworth and an unlikely friendship with the late Duchess of Devonshire, a famous hen-keeper, Chicken Boy tells the story of the love and satisfaction to be found in caring for living things.

Illustrated with Arthur’s own characterful watercolours and photographs of his ‘girls’, and laden with practical hen-keeping tips, gardening advice and introductions to common, rare and pure breeds, Chicken Boy is a one-of-a-kind memoir of a life in nature.Poetic… Parkinson writes with great lyricism… His knowledgeable enthusiasm is infectious—Bee Wilson, Sunday Times

A joy from the very first page. Arthur’s beautiful, lively and accurate drawings of these enchanting feathery people are irresistible, and I just love the way he writes. I am now jealous of fox-free areas where chickens may be kept. The photographs are award-winning: the whole thing is bliss—Joanna Lumley

An author whose writing is as unashamedly ebullient as his dazzling displays—Gardens Illustrated

This hugely informative, joyful and amusing book has me desperately wondering and hoping that I could, after all, find space in my small garden for a few chickens. Maybe the rhubarb will have to go—John Wright, author of THE FORAGER’S CALENDARArthur Parkinson is the author of The Pottery Gardener and The Flower Yard, and the co-host, with Sarah Raven, of the popular Grow, Cook, Eat, Arrange podcast. His writing and photography are regularly featured in the Daily Telegraph, and have appeared in The Times, Country Life and Country Living, among other magazines and newspapers; he has also featured in BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World.GB

Additional information