The Extraordinary Chickens Calendar 2024: my review.

An ever popular chicken lover's gift: a one of a kind wall calendar!

It's that time of year again. You're looking for an inexpensive gift for someone who loves chickens. Something which will last all year through.

The Extraordinary Chickens Calendar: Pin for later.

Or perhaps you just love hens yourself and feel you deserve a treat (you know you do!).

Or you want to put a little something on a stocking filler wishlist, as a not-so-subtle hint for your family.

Whichever it is, this calendar is a truly fabulous idea. It's not just any old calendar.

It has the most stunning pictures of the most stunning chickens, ever.

I guarantee you'll love this calendar as much as I and hundreds of other chicken keepers do.

You'll love it because it will make you smile every day – and because your chickens are extraordinary, too!

I buy this extraordinary chicken calendar without fail, every year. Let me show you why.

If you purchase a product through links on this page I receive a small commission at no cost to you. I was not paid for writing this review, and I did not receive it as a freebie. I'm suggesting it for you because I own it and love it, and I think you would, too. For more information please see this policy.

A string of coloured lights - half width.

The Extraordinary Chickens Calendar: practical things.

Picture quality.

The calendar is well printed on a good quality, heavy gloss paper. It looks expensive – and to be honest, it's not cheap to buy. But that quality makes it resistant to tearing, so to my mind the cost is worth it.

The pictures are of such extraordinary clarity from a photographer's point of view. And from a chicken-lover's perspective, they capture the individuality, personality and charm (and sometimes the craziness!) of both hens and roosters.

After all, who wouldn't love a Silkie to look forward to during damp, dark days? A large, detailed image of a different breed is featured as each "chicken of the month".

They're always great fun to look at.

A large photograph of a grey splash Silkie chicken.

Click to buy from Amazon

The images are even good enough quality to frame after the year is over. A double bonus, when most calendars are thrown away!

A word of warning...

This calendar always, but always sells out long before Christmas. I order mine as soon as it comes out in Europe, normally as early as October.

That may seem ridiculously early for a Christmas gift, let alone for a New Year surprise. But if you don't buy at that point, the chances are it will be gone.

Make sure you don't miss out!

Important information.

The Extraordinary Chickens calendar gives the stages of the moon, plus all the major festivals and holidays for Australia, Canada, the UK and USA, important dates from other countries, and the occasional day most of us have no idea about.

Did you know, for example, that World Animal Day is 4 October? Well, you'll know next year!

And if you want to learn more about some very different types of chicken breed, this calendar is ideal.

As well as each month's large image, there's a smaller photo on the bottom of each month. Both breeds are named so you're never in doubt, and always learning to identify even the most obscure of breeds.

Description of each chicken breed at the bottom of the month's page.

Each month features a large and a small photo. Click to buy.

Any drawbacks of this particular chicken calendar?

It's stapled together, with a small hole at the top for hanging. I'd really prefer some kind of metal hanger, but it's a small point.

I've bought this calendar every year since I first discovered it ten years ago, and none of mine have torn when I hang them. You just have to be careful as you change each month.

My chicken calendar, hanging from a pin.

A small pin works fine! Click to buy.

It's a "month to view" calendar, so the daily squares are quite small. If you're looking for a family calendar where you can keep track of lots of appointments, this isn't the one for you.

I use it as a quick "at a glance" calendar.

Click to buy from Amazon.

But mostly I use it to look at the pictures and wonder where I could get this month's featured breed...

What do I love most about this chicken calendar?

I buy the new one as soon as it's released!

It has to be the photos. Taken by a British-born photographer who has worked for Life and Good Housekeeping magazines (among many others), his preferred subjects are chickens – and it shows.

He manages to capture the character and personality of each breed he features, as well as all its physical quirkiness.

It's just delightful.

Can you tell how much I love this chicken calendar?

If you've seen any of my other reviews, you'll know I have a "golden egg" scoring system, where one egg means "don't even bother!" and five means "this is a must-have!".

I love it enough to award the 2024 Extraordinary Chickens calendar...

Five Golden Eggs!

Top marks! There's just nothing about this calendar that would make me score it any lower. It's always been popular when I've given it to chicken-loving friends as a gift.

Don't leave it too late though! As I said, this calendar always sells out long before Christmas, let alone the New Year. I've learned that from hard experience...

If it's too soon to think about Christmas yet, why not Pin it for later.

But if you want to buy it now, here's that link again.

String of coloured lights - divider. Full width.

Looking for other Christmas gifts for chicken lovers?

The reason I know about these is that I own most of them myself, so I can honestly recommend them.

If you click on the pics, you'll go to a review of each one with and explanation of where to buy too.

Ooooooh you MUST have a look especially at the Chicken Fairy-Tale book - I guarantee, any chicken lover (particularly if you have Silkies) will adore it!