Free-Range Chicken Gardens How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard

by Bloom, Jessi; Baldwin, Kate

• ISBN13: 9781604692372
• ISBN10: 1604692375
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-01-03
• Publisher: Timber Press

Summary

Many gardeners fear chickens will peck away at their landscape, and chicken lovers often shy away from gardening for the same reason. But the truth is a beautiful chicken-friendly garden is within easy reach, and award-winning garden designer Jessi Bloom proves it with Free-Range Chicken Gardens. A well-designed chicken garden offers chickens a healthy habitat and organic diet. The chickens in turn fertilize and aerate the soil and act as natural pest control. In this win-win scenario, the gardener reaps the additional pleasures of farmfresh eggs, a beautiful, healthy garden, and a uniquely picturesque panorama. With useful information on introducing chickens to a garden, gardening around chickens, strategies to protect precious plants, and design elements that encourage healthy play for the chickens in the garden, here is everything a chicken-loving gardener needs to know.

Author Biography

Jessi Bloom is a best-selling author, award-winning ecological landscape designer, and speaker. She owns N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Services, based in the Pacific Northwest, which is known as an innovator and leader in the field of permaculture, sustainable landscape design, construction, and land management. Her work has been recognized by government agencies and industry organizations and makes headlines in national media. She lives near Seattle with her two sons on their permaculture homestead, which is full of functional gardens and rescue animals.

Kate Baldwin is a food and lifestyle photographer in Seattle, Washington, whose work appears frequently in advertisements, magazines, and books, and can be seen at www.katebaldwinphotography.com.

Table of Contents

introduction:	p. 6
chickens and gardens-working together:	p. 10
Incorporating Chickens into Your Garden
Chickens and Sustainability
Chickens and Your Lifestyle
Being a Good Neighbor
Seasonal Considerations
chickens in your garden: practical considerations:	p. 36
Benefits of Free-Range Chickens
Keeping Your Plants Safe
Keeping Your Chickens Safe
Chicken Training and Acclimation
designing a chicken-friendly garden:	p. 60
Creating a Plan
The Chicken Infrastructure
Other Permanent Elements
Choosing the Right Plants
Extra Elements for the Chickens
Sample Garden Plans
landscape materials for chicken gardens:	p. 92
Hardscape
Softscape
plants with purpose:	p. 112
Plants for Chicken Gardens
Food and Forage
Medicinal Plants
Poisonous Plants
Chicken-Resistant Plants
Colorful Seasonal Plants
Native Plants
Plants for Fragrance
Plants as Noise Barrier
innovative chicken housing:	p. 146
Space Requirements
Mobile, Modular, or Stationary Coop?
Coop Necessities
Interior Design
Optional Items - Chicken Coop Style
Materials
Greenhouse Chicken Coop
Tractors and Arks
Geodesic Chicken Dome
Broody Box or Sin Bin
friends and foes of hens in the garden:	p. 178
Predators and Pests
Predator Control and Deterrents
Other Garden Fowl
Livestock
Poultry Diseases and Parasites
Troubleshooting Common Chicken Problems
Injury in the Garden
When a Chicken Dies
afterword:	p. 203
conversions and hardiness zones:	p. 204
resources:	p. 206
acknowledgments:	p. 209
photo credits:	p. 211
index:	p. 212
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