An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers
Slutsåld
The most comprehensive book on how to raise and breed your own poultry flock is now fully updated and expanded"e;The ultimate book for those who want to know everything there is to know about raising poultry."e;-Gene Logsdon, author of Let...
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. Book News Review- This colorful and informative volume on small-scale poultry farming provides a comprehensive reference for homesteaders and urban farmers covering the details of raising chickens for eggs and meat. Most useful for intermediate poultry keepers, the volume offers professional advice in flock planning, housing, feed, health, processing and developing small commercial opportunities, and provides detailed practical information, including step-by-step photographs of important processes and procedures. A series of appendices include detailed plans for poultry structures, recipes, and sample documents for flock management. Ussery is an experienced poultry farmer and is the author of numerous articles and other works on the subject. ForeWord Review- Written by a self-described "old hick with chickenshit on his boots," The Small-Scale Poultry Flock is a welcoming and decisive guide to the poultry-keeping experience. But keeping poultry, readers quickly learn, is not an accurate term, for Harvey Ussery's natural approach is that of a partnership with his flock, in what he terms "an integrated food independence enterprise." In following the lead of his flock's happiness, from their housing conditions to what they eat and where they roam, the author determined that he, too, could reap happiness and real rewards-in better compost for his garden and healthier and more delicious eggs and meat. Aimed at the backyard homesteader or small-scale farmer whose goal is production of all of the family's eggs and dressed poultry, this book also works as a starter kit for those contemplating the life of a "flockster," the name Ussery has coined for those, like him, enamored with the poultry life. The author shares straightforward, encouraging information written from the viewpoint of someone who desires to share the knowledge that has come out of three decades of hard-won experience. Indeed, he contends that it's not about one answer, but about experimentation to find what works best. The first chapter "Why Bother?" is a rallying cry for those contemplating freedom from conventional food sources. In it, the author shows the inner workings of factory farming and explains how that system not only makes for unhappy animals and low-quality food, but creates a serious situation for contamination of our food supply. From those troubling facts, the complexities of poultry farming look like little bother at all. The rest of the book is filled with thought-provoking quotes, essential information, and fascinating sidebars. Readers learn everything, from starting a flock and recognizing mating behaviors to managing brooding and butchering techniques. Additionally, Ussery sheds light on common questions, such
Harvey Ussery has been developing his whole-systems poultry husbandry for decades and has been writing about chickens and other fowl for Backyard Poultry since the inception of the magazine in early 2006. He has also written numerous articles for Mother Earth News and Countryside & Small Stock Journal, and has published in American Pastured Poultry Producers Association's newsletter, Grit!, over the years. Ussery has presented at national and local events on poultry, homesteading, and energy and sustainability issues, and maintains a highly informative website, themodernhomestead.us. He lives with his wife, Ellen, in Virginia. Joel Salatin and his family own and operate Polyface Farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The farm produces pastured beef, pork, chicken, eggs, turkeys, rabbits, lamb and ducks, servicing roughly 6,000 families and 50 restaurants in the farm's bioregion. He has written 14 books to date, is editor of Stockman Grass Farmer Magazine, and lectures around the world on land healing and local food systems. Polyface Farm operates a formal apprenticeship program and conducts many educational workshops and events.
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