Chicken Tractor: The Permaculture Guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil

Book Description

A chicken tractor is a bottomless, portable pen that fits over your garden beds. Just set it wherever you need help in your garden. The chickens peck and scratch the soil to clean your beds, eat pest bugs and weed seeds. Best of all, they provide eggs and meat with that old-fashioned flavor. Chicken tractors have helped thousands of gardeners have better gardens and taken chickens out of factory farms and put them in the garden where they are your personal helpers.

Customer Reviews:

Some good ideas for the beginner but needs some major improvement........2007-06-06

This book has some really good, practical ideas for the beginniner.

If you are into chicken production for meat there is a fair amount of information on that topic. If you are into chickens primarily for egg production (which is most of us) you'll need to figure out how to adapt the use for that purpose. This will involve implementing a nesting area and exterior access door into the design to collect the eggs. This is not a huge deal for the creative, mechanical types but might be an issue for some.

The book is extremely redundant and reads like a babbling person talking in circles. Cloudy, the information is sometimes conflicting and lacking in sufficient detail. The author would have done well to hire true professionals to organize/edit the content and draw the diagrams.

I have built and currently use 5 chicken tractors. The author suggests that you can build these things for less than the cost of lunch by using scrap materials. In my experience most folks would very hardpressed to find the materials needed for free. If you buy all of the materials needed they cost around $100 each.

Two people can build 2 of these in about 7 hours if they have only a smidgen of experience with tools/carpentry. Building one takes about 4-5 hours.

A few notes from my experiences working with chicken tractors:

1. I have used 3' tall chicken tractors for piglets (up to 4 months of age) with excellent results by wrapping the chicken tractor with a stronger gauge wire than typical chicken wire. The pigs root a large hole every day. When I move the "pig tractor" I rake their poop into the hole then rake the soil back into the hole covering the poop. This eliminates 95% of the odor and, of course, fertilizes my garden.

2. This method does not work well for waterfowl unless you have sandy or other soil that drains very quickly. On my farm in the NC mountains, confined ducks and geese immediately create a muddy mess unless there is a drainage system in place under the waterer. Drainage systems are not practical for chicken tractoring.

3. Chicken tractors work great for chickens, turkeys, and guineas. Birds raised in a chicken tractor will produce more eggs and be much more content living in this type of environment than those accustomed to ranging.

4. The author states that the chicken tractor protects poultry from predators. In reality this structure offers little protection from anything other than birds of prey and dogs. I have lost plenty of chicken tractored poultry to fox, oppossums and raccoons. Keep a baited live trap next to your birds or plan to camp out with them every night.

Hope this helps...

Good luck and good farming!

buy or borrow -- lots of good information.......2006-02-27

Because of the reviews I read here, I didn't buy this book when I bought Salatin's Pastured Poutry Profits, now I wish I had. It has a lot of good information and is entertaining to read. I borrowed from the library and am considering buying one for our home library in the future. Andy Lee gives you some good examples in both the NE and NC of how he has raised chickens, for meat and eggs. He has a good background with lots of hand-on experience. He does this for his own food and for some money, these are not just pet "no kill" animals. I found the most interesting part to be his ideas on using a greenhouse to start chicks on the ground in hay under the benches in the spring, then after moving the birds out to tractors, making your greenhouse into a naturally fertized and mulched bed for summer vegetables followed by a fall brooder for another crop of egg laying hens that can overwinter there. He moves his greenhouses and tractors, leaving behind beautifully fertilzed mulched garden beds, that's the most exciting thing for me -- my wrists and arms hurt when I dig with a shovel! He also gives a good idea of costs, of course you may need to adjust for the year and place you live, but it does give a good basic plan to follow. If you want to know how exactly how to build a chicken tractor, follow the basic plans and get some wood and nails and tools and try to do it! They are good enough if you have common sense and want to use what you have on hand or can scrounge up! I gave this only 4 stars (it would be 4-1/2 if I could) just because everyone needs room for improvement, but that's the highest rating I usually ever give. Best of luck to everyone with their farming enterprises, we need to step away from Walmart and the rest!

Very good for the suburban gardener.......2004-05-07

I originally got some chickens because Martha Stewart said they love to eat crickets and here in the desert we have quite a problem with crickets. I found out that chickens are wonderful pets, not much trouble, very friendly and they have personalities. And they really eat bugs - best pest control you can have. I read this book on the concept of the chicken tractor and realized for the suburban gardener this is ideal. Hens eat bugs, grain, and vegetable scraps from the kitchen. Hens are great little composters, and they eat weed seeds and pests up to and including scorpions and baby mice and snakes. They don't need much except food and water, and protection from predators. We allow ours to roam a fenced in yard freely, and pen them up at night. This is a useful book if you just want a few hens and want to improve your soil (we don't move our hens around, once a year we take 4 inches off the soil in their yard and spread it around our trees and gardens.) The eggs are great - I like giving green eggs to little kids because they all have read Dr. Seuss. This book isn't for someone who is more interested in egg-laying or meat production on a large scale. And, by the way, we don't eat our hens. We are running a chicken retirement home - they don't lay eggs any more, but they still till, compost, eat weed seeds, and control pests.

has good concepts, but the steps and details are off.......2003-09-07

I used this book for some research and experiment ideas in agriculture. while it has some great general ideas and concepts, i found that the entire instructions for building the chicken tractor were lacking in detail and had conflicting drawings and steps. some required materials were not listed, and the process was vague. in reading the book, it seemed to me like a great book idea, but was very hastily presented and lacked thorough attention to detail. it looked very "thrown together". it is a book i recommend checking out from a library if you want some ideas, but i wouldn't waste my money purchasing it in hopes of practical steps for a chicken tractor. (the book might give inspiration, but YOU will have to come up with the practical details of trying and experimenting to build your tractor.) hint...lightweight and portable materials and use creativity to adapt their basic (and vaguely presented) tractor

Fine book for right audience.......2001-08-11

amrdmr is worried about the wrong things. We don't raise chickens for pets. Why read this book if you have no plans to butcher you chickens some day. There aren't many old chicken homes.

The purpose of this book was to introduce you to the benefits of pastured poultry and give you a host of ideas. True, it didn't get specific enough when I wanted to implement one of the ideas. But then, the book would have been the size of an encyclopedia.

Book Description

This updated and expanded edition provides a thorough understanding of the measurable properties of groundwater systems and the knowledge to apply hydrochemical, geological, isotopic, and dating approaches to their work. This volume includes question and answer discussions for key concepts presented in the text and the basic hydrological, geological, and physical parameters to be observed and measured. Chemical and Isotopic Groundwater Hydrology, Third Edition covers the chemical tools of groundwater hydrology, the isotopic composition of water and groundwater dating by tritum, carbon-14, Cl-36, and He-4, as well as the application of fossil groundwater as a paleoclimatic indicator.

Building Soils for Better Crops (Sustainable Agriculture Network Handbook Series, Bk. 4)

Average customer rating:

Importance of healthy soils

Building Soils for Better Crops (Sustainable Agriculture Network Handbook Series, Bk. 4)
Fred Magdoff , and Harold Van Es
Manufacturer: Sustainable Agriculture Network
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Sustainable Agriculture | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1888626054

Book Description

Healthy soils are key to producing good harvests with minimal pest problems. How to create that balanced soil ecosystem, however, remains a challenge for even the most experienced growers.

Building Soils for Better Crops unlocks the secret of maintaining a diverse ecosystem below ground to foster healthy crops above. Ecological soil management, as detailed by the soil experts who wrote the book, can raise fertility — and yields —while reducing environmental impacts. The 240-page Building Soils contains detailed information about soil structure and the management practices that affect soils, as well as practical information like how to interpret soil test results.

Some of the soil-building strategies include:

• Increasing soil organic matter • Using appropriate tillage • Incorporating animal manures • Making and using composts • Integrating cover crops into rotations • Reducing erosion • Methods to avoid and decrease soil compaction

Customer Reviews:

Importance of healthy soils.......2000-07-08

This is the best, practical guide to understanding how whole soil systems work that I have read. Written in clear, illustrative language, it makes the world of soils accessible to farmers and beginning students, as well as soil science professionals.

Chemistry of the Solid-Water Interface: Processes at the Mineral-Water and Particle-Water Interface in Natural Systems

Average customer rating:

not an easy read

Chemistry of the Solid-Water Interface: Processes at the Mineral-Water and Particle-Water Interface in Natural Systems
Werner Stumm
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Geochemistry | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Professional | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Science | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0471576727

Book Description

Provides an introduction to the chemistry of the solid-water interface, progressing from the simple to more complex and applied. Discusses the important interfaces in natural systems, especially geochemistry, in natural waters, soils and sediments. The processes occurring at mineral-water, particle-water and organism-water interfaces play critical roles in regulating the composition and ecology of oceans and fresh waters, the development of soils and plant nutrient's supply, preserving the integrity of water repositories and in such applications as water technology and corrosion science.

Customer Reviews:

not an easy read.......1999-03-27

this book needs to be edited properply, it's giving Stumm a bad name

Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon (Advances in Soil Science (Boca Raton, Fla.).)

Average customer rating:

Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon (Advances in Soil Science (Boca Raton, Fla.).)

Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Analytic | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Agronomy | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Art Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1566704618

Book Description

Since carbon sequestration in soils reduces the amount of carbon available to the atmosphere, the Kyoto Protocols have heightened interest in soil carbon pools and their effect on carbon fluxes. Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon addresses many of the questions related to the measurement, monitoring, and verification of organic and inorganic carbon in soils. The major topics covered are: carbon pools; soil sampling and preparation, analytical techniques for soil carbon; soil erosion and sedimentation; remote sensing, GIS and modeling; procedures for scaling carbon data from point and local measurements to regional and even national scales; and economic and policy issues. In Assessment Methods for Soil Carbon, leading researchers show that we now have the ability to measure, monitor, and verify changes to soil carbon. The book establishes the need for standardized methods that can be used by anyone, and helps us better understand the link between the pedosphere (soils) and the atmosphere. It also shows the importance of developing links between the economics of carbon sequestration and the amounts sequestered, and highlights the need for scientists and policy makers to interact to ensure that policies fit within the scope of present technologies.

Soil, Fertilizer, and Plant Silicon Research in Japan

Average customer rating:

Soil, Fertilizer, and Plant Silicon Research in Japan
Jian Feng Ma , and Eiichi Takahashi
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Soil | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Chemistry | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Home & Garden | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0444511660

Book Description

Silicon (Si) plays a significant role in the resistance of plants to multiple stresses including biotic and abiotic stresses. Silicon is also the only element that does not damage plants when accumulated in excess. However, the contribution of Si to plant growth has been largely ignored due to its universal existence in the earth's crust. From numerous intensive studies on Si, initiated in Japan about 80 years ago, Japanese scientists realized that Si was important for the healthy growth of rice and for stability of rice production. In a worldwide first, silicon was recognized as a valuable fertilizer in Japan. The beneficial effects of Si on rice growth in particular, are largely attributable to the characteristics of a silica gel that is accumulated on the epidermal tissues in rice. These effects are expressed most clearly under high-density cultivation systems with heavy applications of nitrogen. Si is therefore recognized now as an ''agronomically essential element'' in Japan.

Book Description

Comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of the basics of soil chemistry

Although only a meter in depth over the earth's surface, soil is key to sustaining life-affecting air and water quality, the growth of plants and crops, and the health of the entire planet. The complex interplay among organic and inorganic solids, air, water, microorganisms, and plant roots in soil is the subject of Soil Chemistry, a reference pivotal to understanding soil processes and problems.

Thoroughly reorganized for ease of use, this updated Third Edition of Soil Chemistry summarizes the important research and fundamental knowledge in the field in a single, readily usable text, including:

Soil-ion interactions
Biogeological cycles and pollution
Water and soil solutions
Oxidation and reduction
Inorganic solid phase and organic matter in soil
Weathering and soil development
Cation retention (exchange)
Anion and molecular retention
Acid and salt-affected soils

New to the Third Edition is an enhanced emphasis on soil solution chemistry and expanded coverage of phosphate chemistry and the chemical principles of the aqueous phase. At the same time, the book has retained the clear examination of the fundamentals of the science of soil that has distinguished earlier editions. Complete with SI units and end-of-chapter study questions, Soil Chemistry is an excellent introductory resource for students studying this crucial topic.

Customer Reviews:

Short and simple.......2007-03-09

This one of the best books available for understanding the basics of soil chemistry. IF you are a novice or having to take a course go for it because it covers most of the aspect of soil chemistry in a very simple language.

One drawback I could think of is that there are no example problems in any chapter, though the exercises ask you some challenging problems to solve.

Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems (Soil Biology)

Average customer rating:

Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems (Soil Biology)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Biochemistry | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 3540680268

Book Description

Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems presents a comprehensive overview of nutrient cycling processes and their importance for plant growth and ecosystem sustainability. The first part of the book presents the fundamentals of nutrient cycling. Topics included are cycling of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and micronutrients. Particular attention is paid to the role of root exudates and rhizosphere microorganisms in facilitating nutrient cycling. The second part discusses nutrient cycling at an ecosystem scale, covering cropping systems, pastures, natural grasslands, arid lands, tundras and forests. The final chapter reviews current models of nutrient cycling.

By comprehensively covering nutrient cycling at a range of scales and emphasising multidisciplinary approaches, this volume will support scientists and practitioners alike, providing links between those involved in improving sustainable economic output from managed ecosystems and those interested in conservation of natural ecosystems.

Laboratory Manual for the Examination of Water, Waste Water and Soil, 3rd Edition

Average customer rating:

Good Scientific Manual
A very good handbook

Laboratory Manual for the Examination of Water, Waste Water and Soil, 3rd Edition
Hans Hermann Rump
Manufacturer: Wiley-VCH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

Soil Science | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Experiments & Projects | Experiments, Instruments & Measurement | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Recycling | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Water Supply | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 3527298258

Book Description

This successful laboratory manual is now available in its third edition. It has been thoroughly revised and updated. New features include:
- Methods for the determination of AOX, TOC and DOC
- Luminescent bacteria waste water test
- extended description of sample preparation for soil analysis
- comprehensive description of environmental protection measures in the laboratory
As in the previous editions, all methods for analysis described can be applied without consulting further literature. They have proven their practicability. Their description includes the necessary safety measures.
A review of the previous edition: 'One can recommend this book for people in professional training and students, but also for the practitioner, for whom this concise laboratory manual is a valuable aid for daily work.' (Fresenius Journal of Analytical Chemistry)

Customer Reviews:

Good Scientific Manual.......2005-01-19

Laboratory Manual for the Examination of Water, Waste Water, and Soil is a very informative. It starts out speaking about laboratory safety because this book talks about using chemicals and other substances that can be quite harmful. This was definitely one of the finer points of the book starting first and foremost with ways to avoid injury in the laboratory. Next the book goes into explaining how imperative quality control of the results of your laboratory work is. It explains that nothing is more important that the purity and accuracy of your results. The manual then goes into how to organize and catalogue your samples as to not get them confused with one another. In the next section the manual talks about how to take field measurements and how to properly and accurately record your results. It covers the entire test from ph, to calcium carbonate aggression. The last 2 sections go into how to take more detailed and accurate measurements back in the lab to the interpretation of all of the results that you come up with.
While this book uses great detail in explaining the subject on what it was written, as for any ability to hold my interest is where this was lacking. This manual was very dry it obviously was not written to be interesting or anything of that nature, But in all seriousness this was possibly one of the most boring books I have written. The language that was used in the manual was very technical and if you do not know the terminology then it is easy to get confused and lost. Plus this language adds to the boredom because of the frustration that comes with trying to understand the highly scientific terms. But for the purpose that this novel was written for it is perfectly written using precise detail and covering all of the bases and answering all of the questions that may arise in the course of testing water samples. I recommend this book for those who are interested in entering the field of water examination it is a excellent book for those who are looking to get there feet wet in this field. But if you are in search of a page-turner something to hold your attention or just a good read I suggest that you steer far away from this book it is not one that would hold any ones attention for any long stretch of time.

A very good handbook.......2000-10-27

This manual offers a very good basis not only for experts of water chemistry, water and waste water treatment and environmental protection but also for teachers and students of technical directions at colleges as well as at universities.

225 pages contain all factors playing an important role for examination of water, waste water and soil. 9 chapters include general remarks to laboratory safety (also regarding to waste treatment) and quality control. Furthermore requirements for analytical methods of the different water types and soil are mentioned. Further chapters deal with the preparation and technique of the sampling as well as their application in practice.

Chapter "Laboratory Measurements" describes all important methods in detail. So this book is a perfect handbook for the target group, even without using the attached extensive reference list.

In chapter 7 a huge variety of tables containing especially German legal and technical regulations is an clearly help for interpretation of received results.

This book can be highly recommended as a handbook for everybody dealing with water, waste water and soil treatment.

Book Description

Recognition of the importance of soil organic matter (SOM) in soil health and quality is a major part of fostering a holistic, preventive approach to agricultural management. Students in agronomy, horticulture, and soil science need a textbook that emphasizes strategies for using SOM management in the prevention of chemical, biological, and physical problems. Soil Organic Matter in Sustainable Agriculture gathers key scientific reviews concerning issues that are critical for successful SOM management. This textbook contains evaluations of the types of organic soil constituents-organisms, fresh residues, and well-decomposed substances. It explores the beneficial effects of organic matter on soil and the various practices that enhance SOM. Chapters include an examination of the results of crop management practices on soil organisms, organic matter gains and losses, the significance of various SOM fractions, and the contributions of fungi and earthworms to soil quality and crop growth. Emphasizing the prevention of imbalances that lead to soil and crop problems, the text also explores the development of soils suppressive to plant diseases and pests, and relates SOM management to the supply of nutrients to crops. This book provides the essential scientific background and poses the challenging questions that students need to better understand SOM and develop improved soil and crop management systems.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books