Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Articles & Books From Robert T. Ludlow
Your hands-on guide to modern chicken-raising methods Thinking about raising chickens? You've come to the right place! This new edition of Raising Chickens For Dummies provides the most up-to-date, thorough information on the many aspects of keeping chickens in your backyard. Inside, you'll find hands-on, easy-to-follow instructions on choosing and purchasing chickens, constructing housing for your birds, feeding your chickens for optimal health, combating laying issues, controlling pests and predators, optimizing egg production, and much more.
Building Chicken Coops For Dummies (9781119543923) was previously published as Building Chicken Coops For Dummies (9780470598962). While this version features a new Dummies cover and design, the content is the same as the prior release and should not be considered a new or updated product. As the popularity of urban homesteading and sustainable living increases, it’s no wonder you’re in need of trusted, practical guidance on how to properly house the chickens you’re planning (or have already begun) to keep.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-24-2022
Raising chickens can be fun and rewarding. Whether you’re raising birds for their eggs or for their cackling companionship, caring for your birds is an everyday project. Raising happy and healthy birds means knowing how to take care of baby chicks and what to feed them as they mature.Daily chores to keep your chickens healthyIf you’re raising chickens, whether for eggs, meat, or companionship, you want your fowl to stay healthy.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-01-2022
Chickens are gaining popularity quickly. Not only are chickens fun and educational, but they're also beneficial to you and your garden. When you free-range your flock, you gain helpful gardeners who aerate the soil, rid plants of insects, provide composting, and, best of all, supply food — their eggs!Here's how to gain insight on good and bad plants for a chicken garden, layer your garden for free-ranging chickens, and guard against chicken predators.
Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016
To convert a dog house with kennel into a chicken coop and outside pen, all you need is time, muscle power, a few additional construction materials, and your creativity. Many unique chicken coops have been built with a lot of imagination and a little of re-purposing and recycling materials. Of all the structures that may already exist in a garden, the most common is a dog kennel.
Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016
For raising chickens certain everyday tools are really helpful. They’re tools that assist you in composting, tools that are helpful in feeding your chickens, tools that are great for cleaning a chicken coop, and tools for raising chicks.Use two types of thermometers.Two types of thermometers that are good to have when owning chickens are the long-stemmed compost thermometer and a regular outdoor thermometer for measuring the internal coop temperature.
Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016
Chicken breeds, like dog breeds, can be categorized by their different purposes serving humans. Dogs are bred for many purposes, such as physical abilities, appearance, temperament, and show. Chickens have been bred for many purposes, too. Sometimes these purposes overlap, as chicken dual-purpose breeds do. Here are some of the categories:Dual-purpose breedsDual-purpose breeds have formidable egg-laying capabilities and heavy-breed configurations for meat consumption.
Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016
Whether you’re an experienced gardener, or an enthusiastic newcomer to gardening, it helps to know some basic garden terms to help you further understand garden structure in a garden for you and your chickens.
Plant your garden structure that is compatible with your geographical location and your plant hardiness zone.
Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016
When you are free-ranging chickens, you need to choose functional plants that offer benefits to your chickens and your garden's soil. Specific types of plants return valuable nutrients back into the soil. In addition to having a layered plant ecosystem and creating a garden foundation anchored with strong structure by using trees, shrubs, and perennial plants, choose plants that are functional according to your needs and specifically helpful.
Step by Step / Updated 03-27-2016
Besides having health and healing properties, many medicinal plants have properties that deter external chicken parasites like lice and mites. These insect repelling herbs can also be cut fresh and placed around your chickens, or they can be dried, and added to their feed. Consider these plants when you’re looking for natural insect repellents:Catnip is known for attracting bees and cats.