What do you think?
Rate this book
Extra Extraordinary Chickens
The striking images in Extraordinary Chickens showed that "the world of chickens is a world of wonders" (New York Times Book Review). Now, in a follow-up to the extraordinarily successful first book from Stephen Green-Armytage, the photographer presents 61 breeds and 5 species, including 14 breeds not previously included in the first book, a new series of chicken couples, and virtually all new images. Capturing with his camera chickens of all sizes, shapes, and colors, he illuminates gorgeous feather patterns worthy of French fabric designers, as well as elaborate wattles, elegant crests, and many other details. Through his exquisite photographs, he captures the surprising and expressive personality of these amazing creatures. Included are breeds developed in Japan, Malaysia, Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Poland, Australia, South America, Canada, the United States, and elsewhere. For breeders and enthusiasts, this volume will be a treasure they must own; for others it will be a revelation, worth having for the sheer enjoyment of the beautiful photographs and the wonderful birds they portray.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2005
50 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 20, 2017
A flamboyant profile of the world of ornamental show chickens. Yep, this is actually a real thing :)
Cool facts :
---------
"In Holland alone, for example, about 600 shows are staged by 450 different clubs."
"In 1995, a show in Nuremberg, Germany boasted a total of more than 70,000 birds."
"Birds that are not domesticated seem to be very particular about their mating partners ... Chickens lack these prejudices, although there are some exceptions. For example, crested birds shun noncrested varieties, and the more ancient breeds will not mate with modern utility birds."
"The Red Jungle Fowl (Sri Lanka) is the genetic ancestor of all domestic chickens... suspected some time ago by Charles Darwin."
"Most shows take place between October and January. In the summer most birds are molting and don't look their best."
"Wild pheasants nest on the ground; naturally the hens are safer sitting on eggs or tending chicks when their coloring is like camouflage to predators."
"Exhibiting exotic breeds of chickens is fairly recent, dating from the middle of the 19th century."
"We can go back to around 3000 B.C. for evidence of domesticated chickens in China. It is thought that these breeds may have originated in India, where ironically hard archeological evidence of chickens dates back to only 2000 B.C."
.
Cool facts :
---------
"In Holland alone, for example, about 600 shows are staged by 450 different clubs."
"In 1995, a show in Nuremberg, Germany boasted a total of more than 70,000 birds."
"Birds that are not domesticated seem to be very particular about their mating partners ... Chickens lack these prejudices, although there are some exceptions. For example, crested birds shun noncrested varieties, and the more ancient breeds will not mate with modern utility birds."
"The Red Jungle Fowl (Sri Lanka) is the genetic ancestor of all domestic chickens... suspected some time ago by Charles Darwin."
"Most shows take place between October and January. In the summer most birds are molting and don't look their best."
"Wild pheasants nest on the ground; naturally the hens are safer sitting on eggs or tending chicks when their coloring is like camouflage to predators."
"Exhibiting exotic breeds of chickens is fairly recent, dating from the middle of the 19th century."
"We can go back to around 3000 B.C. for evidence of domesticated chickens in China. It is thought that these breeds may have originated in India, where ironically hard archeological evidence of chickens dates back to only 2000 B.C."
.
August 3, 2008
Received as a gift b/c everyone knows I LOVE chickens. Immediately I found the chicken that represents me and the chicken that represents who I'd like to be... The most marked difference was in amount of head fluff. Yep, I have lost of my ever-chicken-lovin' mind.
January 27, 2018
While I was sitting in the waiting room of my doctor's office waiting for an appointment about my cellulitis problem [1], I managed to read an entire book about chickens. Now, I do not mean to imply that my wait was by any means long. The book itself was a bit more than 100 pages but is mainly a book of photography, so I was able to read the book very quickly. That said, one might wonder why I decided to read such a book. After all, a photography book about chickens does not make for particularly demanding reading. That said, I was not in a position to want a demanding read--since I only had a few minutes to spend. It should also be noted that I am extremely fond of chickens [2]. I am, of course, very fond of eating them, but I also find them to be genuinely quirky and interesting animals in their own right. My predatory instincts toward them include a fair amount of fondness and curiosity in them as beings apart from my desire to eat them at nearly every meal. Perhaps your own feelings may be a bit different.
The book itself, as I said, is very straightforward. The opening section of the book discusses how the author had written a previous book chickens and then a host of books on other similar types of birds like turkeys and pheasants, only to have received so many requests and so much information about chickens that he had missed in his first volume that he decided to write a second one. That is as good a reason as any to write about chickens in another book as he did. Most of the book consists of various themed sets of photographs about chickens. There are different breeds of chickens like frizzles and so on. There are pictures of chicks with parents, of loving roosters and hens together in matrimonial (?) bliss, and the author shows himself to be a skilled photographer at getting the right kind of setup to make his photographs work. This is a gorgeous book to look at, and the chickens here show the right kind of personality. Chickens may not be very bright animals, to be sure, but they can mug for the camera and one can get a sense of them as beings in their own right.
What kind of audience is this book for? Well, if you are in the waiting room of a doctor's office like I am, this is certainly an enjoyable book to read. It is also a fine book to read if you like chickens or keep chickens of your own. I see the ideal place for this book as being something similar to the place I found it, as a waiting room or coffee table read. The reason for this, of course, is that the book has gorgeous pictures and is not too demanding of a read. These are qualities that are best enjoyed by people that are trying to pass the time in a place where they do not have much time to spend and also where there are likely other things that will be doing of great interest to them, such as eating chicken. Nevertheless, whether you keep chickens or simply love to eat them, this is a book that does a good job at showing the personality of chickens when their pictures are taken by a skilled photographer, and that is as good a reason as any to celebrate an animal that we make much use of in our contemporary world.
[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...
The book itself, as I said, is very straightforward. The opening section of the book discusses how the author had written a previous book chickens and then a host of books on other similar types of birds like turkeys and pheasants, only to have received so many requests and so much information about chickens that he had missed in his first volume that he decided to write a second one. That is as good a reason as any to write about chickens in another book as he did. Most of the book consists of various themed sets of photographs about chickens. There are different breeds of chickens like frizzles and so on. There are pictures of chicks with parents, of loving roosters and hens together in matrimonial (?) bliss, and the author shows himself to be a skilled photographer at getting the right kind of setup to make his photographs work. This is a gorgeous book to look at, and the chickens here show the right kind of personality. Chickens may not be very bright animals, to be sure, but they can mug for the camera and one can get a sense of them as beings in their own right.
What kind of audience is this book for? Well, if you are in the waiting room of a doctor's office like I am, this is certainly an enjoyable book to read. It is also a fine book to read if you like chickens or keep chickens of your own. I see the ideal place for this book as being something similar to the place I found it, as a waiting room or coffee table read. The reason for this, of course, is that the book has gorgeous pictures and is not too demanding of a read. These are qualities that are best enjoyed by people that are trying to pass the time in a place where they do not have much time to spend and also where there are likely other things that will be doing of great interest to them, such as eating chicken. Nevertheless, whether you keep chickens or simply love to eat them, this is a book that does a good job at showing the personality of chickens when their pictures are taken by a skilled photographer, and that is as good a reason as any to celebrate an animal that we make much use of in our contemporary world.
[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
[2] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2011...
March 31, 2021
Some more of the most raucous photos of chickens you'll ever see.
December 22, 2013
Some 70 different breeds of hens and roosters are presented in this lovely book full of great animal portraits. Some of these birds are incredible.
The book gives a bit of information on the development of the different breeds but it remains a photography book. The chapters are organized around themes (colours of the feathers, feet, spurs, crests...) and close-ups on breeds.
A book that will make you discover the beauty and variety of the chicken world! :-)
The book gives a bit of information on the development of the different breeds but it remains a photography book. The chapters are organized around themes (colours of the feathers, feet, spurs, crests...) and close-ups on breeds.
A book that will make you discover the beauty and variety of the chicken world! :-)
June 5, 2009
The only thing better than these chicken books is REAL CHICKENS!!
March 10, 2010
Can't read just one.
April 19, 2018
This is what a non-fiction book should look like! Excellent photography.
November 3, 2011
Fabulous photos - fancy show fowl. Not much info - mostly a coffee table book.
October 2, 2015
very interesting breeds depicted!!
March 29, 2016
This is a very fun picture book. Chickens can be really cool looking. This is the sequel. The first one is also full of great looking chickens.
September 5, 2008
Even more foo foo chickens...
October 6, 2008
YAY! the cutest chickens in da worrld!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews