Gardening With Free-range Chickens for Dummies

by Manion, Bonnie Jo; Ludlow, Robert T.

• ISBN13: 9781118547540
• ISBN10: 1118547543
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-07-01
• Publisher: For Dummies

Summary

Maintain a beautiful garden with chickens? Easy. Chickens are great gardening assistants, with lots of benefits for a home garden and landscape-from soil-building to managing pests and weeds. Home gardens can be great chicken habitats if designed well, and Gardening with Free-Range Chickens For Dummies provides a plain-English guide with step-by-step guidance for creating a gorgeous chicken-friendly landscape that helps the chickens and the garden thrive. Gardening with Free-Range Chicken For Dummies offers guidance and step-by-step instructions for designing and implementing a host of different chicken garden plans. Plus, you'll get detailed information on the best plants and landscaping materials for your chicken garden (and the ones to avoid), seasonal considerations, attractive fencing options, predator and pest control, and much more. An excellent supplement to Raising Chickens For Dummies and Building Chicken Coops For Dummies A plain-English guide with step-by-step guidance for creating a chicken garden Advice on how to manage chickens while maintaining a beautiful garden If you're looking for step-by-step advice on building a chicken garden, Gardening with Free-Range Chickens For Dummies has you covered.

Author Biography

Bonnie Jo Manion has been featured in national garden magazines with her gardens, organic practices, chickens, and designs. Follow Bonnie at VintageGardenGal.com. Rob Ludlow is the owner of BackYardChickens.com, a top source on chicken raising, and the coauthor of Raising Chickens For Dummies.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I: Getting Started with Gardening and Chickens 7

Chapter 1: Joining Forces: Companion Gardening with Chickens 9

Chapter 2: Preparing Your Garden for Chickens 33

Chapter 3: Preparing Yourself and Your Family for Chickens 63

Chapter 4: Creating Your Space for Free-Range Chickens 83

Part II: Designing a Chicken-Friendly Garden  101

Chapter 5: Creating a Safe and Smart Garden Space: Landscape Material Ideas 103

Chapter 6: From Garden to Pasture: Perfect Plantings for All Your Needs 125

Chapter 7: Growing Good Eats for Chickens and People 147

Chapter 8: From Lawns to Poisonous Plants: Other Landscape Considerations 165

Part III: Chicken Care: Tending to Your Flock 181

Chapter 9: Know Thy Flock: Understanding Chicken Behaviors 183

Chapter 10: Caring for Chickens: Predators, Sickness, Injury, and Death 199

Part IV: The Part of Tens  221

Chapter 11: Ten Common Chicken Problems Solved 223

Chapter 12: Ten Benefi cial Tools and Aids to Have 229

Chapter 13: Ten Ways to Get Really Fancy 237

Index 245