"If your garden fantasies involve chickens, Jessi Bloom is here to make those dreams come true." -The New York Times Many gardeners fear chickens will peck away at their landscape. But you can keep chickens and have a beautiful garden, too! In this essential handbook, award-winning garden designer Jessi Bloom offers step-by-step instructions for creating a beautiful and functional space while maintaining a happy, healthy flock. Free-Range Chicken Gardens covers everything a gardener needs to know, from the basics of chicken keeping and creating the perfect chicken-friendly garden design to building innovative coops. In Free-Range Chicken Garden, Jessie Bloom explains how to have both a happy flock and a beautiful garden, leveraging the soil-building and weed-managing talents of these feathered gardening assistants. 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. Introduction When I first got chickens, I made a lot of mistakes. In the first few weeks of letting them roam freely in the garden, you'd often find me chasing them around in circles, trying to get them to go where I wanted, which is about as easy as herding cats. Our first chicken coop provided adequate shelter, but ended up being better housing for rats than birds. And I wanted to collect breeds just like I collect plants-at least one of every kind, please-ignoring my husband's warnings of becoming a chicken hoarder. Fast forward, and now our girls will come when called and even hop inside visitors' cars as if they are ready to hit the town. Their housing is clean, rodent-proof, and an impenetrable barricade from night predators. Their days are spent weeding the garden beds, mowing the lawn, and chasing insects, between regular dust baths to groom themselves and lounging in the sun. It's a great arrangement for everyone. Chickens are easily one of the most useful animals we can have in our lives. Unlike other pets we keep, chickens provide us with food-fresh from our own backyard. For gardeners, chickens can be a resourceful tool as well as a companion, but there is much to know so the birds don't wreak havoc in your garden. There are not many resources available for gardeners who would like to know what's involved in keeping chickens, or for chicken owners who want a beautiful garden with free-ranging hens in it. This book takes you through the basics of starting with chickens, from how many to get, to what breeds will be best for you, to acclimating them to your garden and routines. It also covers the essentials of keeping your chickens protected, even training the birds. The heart of the book has you looking at your garden as habitat for your flock, starting with the basic elements of landscape design, then selecting materials for fencing and hardscapes, onto choosing chicken-friendly plants, and reviewing sample garden designs. One chapter is devoted to innovative coop design, followed by profiles of predators and information on health care. Each dimension of the book is explored with photos and illustrations. While doing research for the book, I interviewed gardeners with chickens from throughout the country, and I found that t

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