50 Do-It-Yourself Projects for Keeping Chickens

Owning and raising chickens doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. With imagination, simple tools, and salvaged or bargain materials, you can make everything your flock needs for their health and safety.

Buying a chicken coop can be a major expense. Follow the steps provided in the book to retro fit an existing structure into a chicken palace fit for the fanciest hens. Brooders, grow out pens, and chicken runs can easily be pulled together and give your feathered family a safe place to scratch and peck.

• If your chickens want fun activities, create boredom busters with the directions for a chicken swing, dust bath, outdoor roosts, front porches, and resting perches.
• Are you planning to raise your own sustainable flock? Building a nesting box area fit for the best broody is included.
• You can even set up a maternity ward and brooder pen in the coop.
• Dropping boards to dust baths, feeding stations to first aid, read and learn the simplest ways to provide the infrastructure and fun that your chickens need to grow and thrive.

After all the project building, and chores are done, treat your flock to a delicious seasonal recipe with one of the recipes included.

From beak to talon, you're ready to tackle the needs of your flock with 50 DIY Projects you can create on a limited budget. Let's get started!

Janet Garman is a farmer and freelance writer in Maryland. A career in writing began after the nest emptied. All the years of studying farm management and raising many species of livestock along with a full house of children led her to begin sharing her experience in a farm theme blog and website, timbercreekfarmer.com. Janet's background includes a degree in large animal farm management and animal science from University of Maryland and decades of farm and homesteading experience. Her other books are Chickens from Scratch, Raising Your Own Chickens from Hatch to Egg Laying and Beyond, Habitat Housing for Rabbits, and Margarita and the Beautiful Gifts. She lives in Crownsville, Maryland.