Small-Scale Poultry Flock (eBook)

An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers

Harvey Ussery (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2011
416 Seiten
Chelsea Green Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-60358-367-1 (ISBN)

Infos

The most comprehensive guide to date on raising all-natural poultry for the small-scale farmer, homesteader, and professional grower. The Small-Scale Poultry Flock offers a practical and integrative model for working with chickens and other domestic fowl, based entirely on natural systems.Readers will find information on growing (and sourcing) feed on a small scale, brooding (and breeding) at home, and using poultry as insect and weed managers in the garden and orchard. Ussery's model presents an entirely sustainable system that can be adapted and utilized in a variety of scales, and will prove invaluable for beginner homesteaders, growers looking to incorporate poultry into their farm, or poultry farmers seeking to close their loop. Ussery offers extensive information on:The definition of an integrated poultry flock (imitation of natural systems, integrating patterns, and closing the circle)Everything you need to know about your basic chicken (including distinctive points about anatomy and behavior that are critical to management)Extended information on poultry health and holistic health care, with a focus on preventionPlanning your flock (flock size, choosing breeds, fowl useful for egg vs. meat production, sourcing stock)How to breed and brood the flock (including breeding for genetic conservation), including the most complete guide to working with broody hens available anywhereMaking and mixing your own feed (with tips on equipment, storage, basic ingredients, technique, grinding and mixing)Providing more of the flock's feed from sources grown or self-foraged on the homestead or farm, including production of live protein feeds using earthworms and soldier grubsUsing poultry to increase soil fertility, control crop damaging insects, and to make compost-including systems for pasturing and for tillage of cover crops and weedsRecipes for great egg and poultry dishes (including Ussery's famous chicken stock!)And one of the best step-by-step poultry butchering guides available, complete with extensive illustrative photos.No other book on raising poultry takes an entirely whole-systems approach, or discusses producing homegrown feed and breeding in such detail. This is a truly invaluable guide that will lead farmers and homesteaders into a new world of self-reliance and enjoyment.

Inhalt

1. Why bother?

2. The integrated small-scale flock

3. Your basic bird

4. Planning the flock

5. Starting the flock

6. Housing

7. Manure management in the poultry house : the joys of deep litter

8. Watering

9. Pasturing the flock

10. Managing the pastured flock using electronet

11. Mobile shelters

12. Putting the flock to work

13. Chickens in the garden

14. A question of balance

15. Thoughts on feeding

16. Purchased feeds

17. Making your own feeds

18. Feeding the flock from home resources

19. Cultivating recomposers for poultry feed

20. One big happy family

21. Protecting the flock from predators

22. Helping the flock stay healthy

23. Managing the winter flock

24. Other domestic fowl

25. Breeding for conservation and breed improvement

26. Managing the breeding season

27. Working with broody hens

28. Butchering poultry

29. Poultry in the kitchen

30. Serving small local markets

Epilogue : The big picture

Appendices

Rezensionen

lt;p>Booklist-

Whether prompted by the economy, a do-it-yourself philosophy, or a concern for the good earth, more Americans are contemplating, when codes and ordinances permit, raising fowl. Long-time poultry farmer Ussery shares his and "guest" experts' expertise and tips in a remarkably easy-to-follow text featuring lots of black-and-white photographs of flocks, structures, feeding, and even methods of slaughtering. The language is straightforward, even entertaining at times. (How could you not chuckle at "Reading the Poops," a guide to fecal health?) What's more, Ussery provides an encyclopedia of chicken and other fowl care, encompassing everything from anatomy and species selection to feeding, breeding, and selling in the local market. The other experts add their perspectives, as in "Adventures in Slug Heaven" (about slug control). Altogether, there's no better introductory reference on the joy of home-raising chickens. Appended material covers making trap nests, a dustbox, and a mobile A-frame shelter; duck confit; a feed-formulation spreadsheet and spreadsheets for tracking egg and broiler costs and profits; and a comparison of natural and industrial eggs.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 7.10.2011
• Vorwort: Joel Salatin
• Zusatzinfo: Color photos, tables and line drawings throughout
• Verlagsort: White River Junction
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Technik
• Themenwelt: Weitere Fachgebiete ► Land- / Forstwirtschaft / Fischerei
• Schlagworte: Agriculture • animals • Chickens • farming • Gardening • Husbandry • small scale • small scale poultry flock
• ISBN-10: 1-60358-367-X / 160358367X
• ISBN-13: 978-1-60358-367-1 / 9781603583671