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

I love to look through decorating books and magazines, gardening books and magazines, chicken books (yeah, I've even read a few chicken magazines too--for reals) and I tend to feel them "worth it" when I take away a few ideas. I expected the same from this having felt it a novel idea to have a beautiful chicken-friendly yard (seeing as how I'm nothing short of a chicken activist I'm so chicken friendly) I was wowed. I came away with SO much more than a few ideas. This is not about simply making a yard friendly for hens. This is about having a gorgeous yard, with plants hens don't eat (and many they can!) that give your yard beauty and them shelter, having a yard that is stunning with beautiful coops, having a yard that is charming rather than barren... This is not one family's ideas of how to combine free-range chickens, natural fertilizer, organic pest control, soil aeration, fresh eggs if ya want those too, and thriving gardens...this is actually pages and pages of photos and ideas of many homes, yards, and gardens that are easy to recreate and are truly a uptopia for both owner and the winged who share it. (And by "free range" I do not mean no coop. That would be cruel and the hens would likely not live a week. Night predators such as raccoons etc are no match for a sleeping hen and hens know this so at dusk each night they put themselves to bed in your coop and wait for you to lock the door. And they hate rain. Whether part-time free-range and safely tucked away at night, or free-range inside a pretty run full-time, this still means daytime only of course) It's not easy to have a yard you want to wander through in beauty and hens who love to nibble sharing it. My side yard proves it. They love to hide under and not eat the Texas sage but I have barren areas of things they found far more palatable. And this isn't about someone who wants their chickens to wander and not care for them...it shows beautiful chicken runs, it has truly valid advice on health and predators, and the very real danger of cedar few still know about that has been proven, and how to keep your hens protected in your yard whether truly free range all day and in a coop at night, or in a large run-- just thoroughly researched facts right along with hundreds of photos. And I must say, I was convinced I'd built the most gorgeous and spacious run on the planet earth until I realized some in this book had me totally beat! I literally searched the internet for months trying to find ideas for coops and runs that looked pretty in the yard and found NO runs that I liked so I designed my own and I never thought anyone could integrate chicken living in an urban area better, but they did--in both urban and suburban and country. These yards are simple to do but breathtaking, coops, runs, plants and all! While I thought I'd have a few good "takeaways" and ideas, I literally spent evenings combing through this and marking pages. I want a gorgeous yard but I want well protected hens, gorgeous coops that don't scream "farm", and the combo of the two that make anyone want to wander through a yard doubly charming by having all of the above (charming hens meet yard and garden and human utopia) This book was on my "suggested" page from Amazon based upon other books I'd bought and, with only one other review at the time I bought it, I simply did not expect a book so thorough and full of great READING in addition to photos that make me want to visit the garden center, plan out a design, mark off paths, and enjoy the fact that it tells me how to easily do it all--even with diagrams and proper plant species for your area. And yes, you can even have a veggie garden and hens that roam it! And, should you know nothing about chickens, it even tells you great ones to pick-- And where to find everything else in the book too as far as seeds, nurseries, coops, (many of these coops are personally designed but easy to copy) other shelters etc I especially loved one idea that was like an A-style frame on the ground with feeders on both sides (trough style, painted white) that the chickens could climb up but was perfect shelter from the sun and predators underneath yet attractive. I have two adirondack chairs that have horizontal slats that are painted bright colors the chickens adore and look cute in the yard...they climb up the foot rest base and sit all together on the chairs and arms and hide underneath...this was right along those lines. (I bought a kit for the chairs at Hobby Lobby in a box dirt cheap) Fortunately the silkies were listed as a good suggested home garden hen because I consider them the best little beings God ever put a beak on. Have kids and pets? It even suggests how to integrate them all...um, not meaning sharing the coop or anything... It should be noted, however, that the #1 predator to chickens is family dogs. Not because they are mean or hungry, but like a dog getting into the trash, sometimes well trained dogs decide to give in to instinct and play or chase. But one clamp on a chicken and it's over for the hen. There are walkways, gates, ramps, covered areas, flowers, composting bins, how to integrate chicken fertilizer into the garden to make it a circle of giving..., and garden ideas galore. And the coops! My gosh, my dream coops they are so stunning! I thought MY coop was gorgeous and now I am going to totally redo it. I totally stumbled upon this while I have no doubt my review makes it sound as though I wrote it myself and I am a pen name...but when I find anything, product or book so well done, I am a raving fan. The information in here will take me a long time to read through but it's all written so lighthearted and there are full color photos throughout... More importantly, it is all things I saw NOWHERE on the internet and I cannot tell you the hours or weeks or, in all honesty, months I have spent looking. This is chicken living for today--where they can integrate beautifully with beauty and never be housed cruelly in a tiny box just for egg production again and even make your yard more charming. Who knew there were so many plants that could assist in a charming chicken yard---where plants and hens are safe and gorgeous and you simply want to meander through and drink your coffee there daily. This was my goal for my yard but the vision here was far deeper. My wheels are turning and my ideas are so greatly enhanced! it's one of those books you flip through but then can't put down. Note: Although the book discusses water features which hens like, if you have silkies, keep them away from ANY open water...because they do not have barbs in their feathers, water weighs them down if they enter it and they will drown. :-( If you want something they can cool off in, you can fill a kiddie pool just shallow enough so their feet get wet but they cannot drown. Their drinking bowls should be the ones with just rims sold specifically for this purpose, with no open water. I have personally seen chicken owners dispondant over a drowning.

This book combines two of my favorite things: Chickens and Gardening...with numerous photos to drool over! And excellent information and tips! Is it Spring yet??? I can't wait to get out there! I have always been an avid gardener, and the decision to keep a few hens in my yard was a natural extension of that. New to chicken-keeping, with a small flock of 5 laying hens (now 7 months old) in a small suburban, almost urban, backyard, I have quickly become quite passionate about my new hobby! Even though I probably can't let my girls free-range the yard completely, this book has given me many ideas for chicken-friendly plantings and ways to better incorporate my coop and run into my property. The author lists plants, shrubs and groundcovers that can be grown for food/forage, as well as chicken-resistant plants that can add color to the garden, but are not likely to be eaten or trampled by your hens. This information alone is worth the price of the book. I've not seen a more comprehensive listing elsewhere, and the internet forums are filled with conflicting data/opinions as to which plants are edible or toxic. I'll also be re-seeding my "lawn" areas with what the author calls eco-turf, an ecological seed mix containing clover, that will provide excellent forage for my girls. The color photos throughout the book are so lovely that I know I'll be keeping this book close at hand for the remainder of the winter, as I plan and dream about creating my own, beautiful chicken garden this spring!

It bothers me that the author suggests mail ordering chicks and casually states that some will probably be dead on arrival... like it's no big deal. "Ordering live baby animals and having them shipped through the mailing system like christmas gifts is totally fine! Sure some will be dead or be dying of dehydration, heat stroke or being frozen, but don't worry! It's totally normal!" Of course she doesn't say that, but she might as well. But you know... I think next time I want a puppy I'll skip going to my local shelter and just have one shipped directly to my door via USPS! It will be great :) the chance of it dying isn't a big enough deal to deter me. It's just a baby animal after all. There are lots of them that I could just replace it with if it croaks while in the mailing system. Yup it's totally not a problem :D ..... Said no caring human being ever. Or... Maybe I could even adopt a child that way! Have a baby human mailed to me from across the country. It's not like there are local resources I could utilize... Who wants to take the time to leave their cozy couch when they could just order a baby from a magazine or from a computer.? After all, it's just a living being. There are millions of them that could replace it if it dies :) yay. It's as though the baby chicks aren't individuals with wants and needs and interests. As though they are merely renewable resources that can just be abused and easily replaced. Anyone who thinks this way is lacking in empathy and is essentially on their way to becoming a sociopath. But other than that this book is ok. Gardening tips, composting tips, chicken coop ideas. It will be helpful.

My girls tore up the backyard landscaping, so I quarrantined them in their run. Well, that just produced stressed chickens and the egg laying stopped immediately. This book has such great advice! I'm going to follow it and I know, with the help of ideas and commonsense advice from this book, my girls can live a happy life, running free through my gardens and helping me with the most dreaded chores! Bottom line, they're out of the coop, happily gobbling up garden pests and turning over the dirt for me, in preparation for spring planting. Started laying again as soon as they were sprung. I highly recommend buying this book, especially for beginning chicken keepers as I am. It answered so many questions that I had about their care, plus give such great advice on laying out a garden, and great ideas for how to keep them out of the landscaping you want them to stay away from. Plus, the photos are beautiful, the book is an easy read, and the advice simple to follow.

I'm always cautious about ordering books that have only 1 or 2 reviews, but I ordered this one anyway. It is awesome! The pictures are gorgeous! We just bought a small farm that has very little landscaping and this will be my guide. I like that this book is about designing the garden/yard from the beginning. It is written from the point of view of a gardener, who incorporates chicken keeping into the garden design, not a chicken person who manages to grow a few veggies on the side. I really want to get a few hens to help with garden pest control and composting, but I want my yard to be attractive too. This book shows you that this is possible. I love the garden layout ideas. With all the animals we have here already, I like that she includes a section on keeping chickens with dogs, cats, horses, goats, etc. There is also a section on using other poultry and water fowl in the garden. I also bought City Chicks, which is pretty good, but if I could buy just one book, Chicken Gardens would win hands down.

I have always wanted chickens and am finally in a place where it could happen. Unfortunately, I don't really know anything about raising them. I found this book, Free-Range Chicken Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful, Chicken-Friendly Yard , the price was certainly right and I liked the picture on the front. What can I say? I am a visual type person. Anyway, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it and learning from it. It is chock full of all kinds of valuable information about keeping chickens, chicken tractors, chicken coops, how to keep them safe, feeding methods, how numerous people have adapted their space into beautiful chicken gardens and more. The author has done an excellent job of getting information across without boring you to death. I have shared this book with several friends and every one of them agree with me, she is very easy to read and she keeps your attention making this a great buy!

I was very excited to get my copy of Free-Range Chicken Gardens in the mail after reading about it on a chicken keeping blog. The book is full of very useful information for those, like myself, who want to make chickens part of their gardening experience. The book is well illustrated with charming stories. The plant recommendations are spot on. I will definitely be incorporating many of the ideas from this book as we complete our own garden makeover. For those that would like to raise chickens or for those who are already experienced chicken keepers this is a book you'll read again and again.

The content of the book is good, but it is difficult to read due to the very small fonts used. The main font is about a size 9 (far smaller than you'd expect to see in a good quality book), the font describing the photos is ridiculously small. Each featured garden in the book begins with white font, on RED background. Not easy to read in the larger font used at the top, but almost impossible in the small font used after the first paragraph. The white and red creates a mild "vibration" effect which makes the page unnecessarily difficult to read. The page is irritating to read because of the vibration effect. I would love to be able to ENJOY this book. I find myself skimming it rather than curling up to really get into it, because of the difficulty in reading much of it. As I said, the content is good, though it feels a little redundant in places. The plant lists are helpful, but would be more helpful if some of the less familiar plants listed as bearing edible fruit were labeled as to whether the fruit was edible to people, or poultry, since the distinction is not always the same. I think this book is a good option information-wise for people wanting to free-range chickens in limited spaces that they need to use for more than just that purpose, as long as you don't mind the small print.

This is a lovely looking book the pictures are beautiful. Having had chickens for the last 11 years and letting mine free range I decided to give this book a try to see what advice it would give. My hens are great but they do tend to go to areas of my garden I wish they would not (normally the newly laid mulch or prize flower beds) I have read mixed reviews on this book but I still went ahead and purchased. Yes if you have had years of experience with chickens some of the literature given you will of read before, but you will get this with most books. I could relate to the author who has used her expertise and improvements to write this book and I found some information in here that is not in other books. I enjoyed this book and if you are looking at free ranging your hens and other poultry/ducks this is a good book to start with it incorporates gardening and poultry two great things to do (in my world anyway!)

und günstiger auf englisch. Die Maßangaben sind natürlich nervig, aber hinten gibt es zum Glück ein paar Umrechnungsangaben, die sehr hilfreich sind. Einzige Makel: der Einband ist zu billig und fällt bei intensivem Lesen recht bald auseinander - das scheint aber bei sehr vielen Büchern in letzter Zeit so zu sein. Sehr schade. Inhaltlich stört mich ein bisschen, dass nur einmal ganz am Rande auf die Gefahr invasiver Pflanzen eingegangen wird - aber ok, das ist wohl bei den meisten Gartenbüchern leider so. Toll ist alles andere: sehr viele praxisnahe Tips, wie der Spagat zwischen Hühnerhaltung, Ziergarten und Gemüsegarten funktionieren kann. Die Pflanzenlisten sind sehr umfangreich und meist mit Herkunfts- und Frosthärteangaben, sodass jeder für seine Region das Richtige raussuchen kann. Die Bilder sind sehr schön zeigen einem, dass man mit guter Planung auch ästhetische Ansprüche an den Hühnergarten befriedigen kann. Natürlich braucht man, wenn man Neuling ist, noch 1-2 weitere Bücher, z.B. zu Hühnerrassen und etwas Genauer zur Haltung, aber trotzdem gibt dieses Buch hier einen guten Überblick sowie sehr viele gute Tips. Hoffentlich kann ich bald loslegen mit der Detailplanung eines hühnerfreundlichen Gartens!

I have been waiting for such a long time for this book to come out & i wasn't disappointed. Lovely book with lots of photos & ideas. There are case studies in each section about a particular chicken owners garden. It has re-ignited my excitment about owning chickens. It has given me lots of ideas to implement in my garden & can't wait for some nice weather to get started. It lists plants that are suitable in a chicken garden & those which aren't. Plants which your chickens will love to eat & those they won't. How to protect your seedlings from rampaging chickens on the hunt for bugs. There is lots of advice about how to use your chickens skills to benefit your garden (poop & eating bugs!) There is lots of information about coops, runs & chicken tractors to move around the garden (which i plan on constructing so that my girls can roam on the grass in the sunshine but the poo is contained & the plants don't get destroyed.) It also covers chicken health & looking after your chickens. I can highly recommend this book to both newbies who are thinking of getting some chickens & to those like myself who have had chickens for a bit but need some ideas. You can definately have a nice garden & chickens if you do some basic planning. The book has lovely thick paper too! A pleasure to read cover to cover or just dip in & out.

I don't often take the time to review my purchases (there are a LOT - especially in the book department) but I am so happy with this one! As another reviewer stated, it is indeed American in outlook and there is mention of local regulations etc which would not apply this side of the Pond. However, as far as I am concerned, a garden is pretty much a garden and a chicken pretty much a chicken! It's a great book to leaf through in bed in the middle of the winter when the wind and rain are howling outside and you can plan/dream of what you are going to do in the Spring. I have a very small garden which is divided into thirds - the Chicken Garden, the Vegetable Garden and the grassy bit! Having read this book I have decided that instead of segregating my two chooks I will adapt the garden to suit them. The book gives lots of ideas about what to plant which will survive their not-so-tender attentions and ideas for those who want to build their own chicken coop etc. I am currently working on protecting the veggies from the chickens when I plant them - and the chickens are working hard to rake, weed, debug and fertilise the raised veggie beds. Sounds like a plan? Works for me and this book is a great help and inspiration - American or not.

Great book and fun to read. Recommended to anyone who want`s to have/build something different and enjoyable. Lots of Ideas and details. Love the plant information pertaining to the safety of the birds.