Growing your own vegetables often leads gardeners to want to go one step further and keep some livestock. Chickens, ducks and bees are the most likely candidates for the first-time livestock owner - especially if you live in a town or have only a small amount of land. They can all be kept happily together. Keeping these animals is a fun and absorbing hobby and is a great antidote to stress. There is nothing more rewarding than collecting your own fresh eggs and honey. The book is full of sound, practical advice and looks at exactly what you need to get started: the equipment, housing, space and feed. Taking the breeds best suited for the smaller garden, town garden, or allotment, the responsible care and management of these animals is thoroughly covered in a friendly, approachable style with their welfare always in mind. Chickens: from breed selection to housing, feeding, care, and health issues this book provides simple, no nonsense information about how hens live, their needs and lifestyle and how to keep happy, healthy and productive hens. Ducks: here is all you need to know to introduce these entertaining animals to the garden - their walking requirements, their feed, and the surprisingly small amount of water they need. Duck eggs are great for baking and this book shows you how to keep your ducks happy and laying. Bees: there are many more people now interested in keeping bees. Paul Peacock shows you how to get started, where to get help, what equipment you need, and how to handle bees and harvest their honey. It emphasises gentle bees, and covers the control of varroa and other potential bee disease.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction to Chickens, Ducks and Bees; Keeping animals for food; Why times are changing; Why chickens, ducks and bees?; Keeping animals won't save you money; Three great reasons for keeping animals; Teacup philosophy; Becoming more self-sufficient; Chapter 2: Organising the Garden for Livestock; Finding out all you can before buying your livestock; Hens; Ducks; Bees; PART ONE: CHICKENS; Chapter 3: Introduction to Chickens; The hen and what she needs; Having time to look after your hens; Eating the meat; Using the feathers; Enjoying fun and companionship; Clearing up poo; Enjoying new-laid eggs; What do your chickens need?; Do you need a cockerel?; Where to put your hens; Housing your hens; Siting the hut; Spare housing; Stopping your hens fighting; Temperature; Clipping wings; A word about sickness; What do hens really enjoy?; Checking that you have permission to keep hens; Dispatching your hens; Getting advice; Chapter 4: Handling Your Hens; Why would you want to hold your hens?; How to hold a hen; Releasing your hen; Using a carry box; Chapter 5: How To Feed Your Hens; The importance of protein; The best ways of delivering food; Feeding hens in the city; Pellets or mash; Using a gravity feeder; Providing water for your hens; Providing calcium in your hens' diet; How much do chickens eat?; Providing the 'extras'; Chapter 6: Housing Hens; Providing ventilation; Materials; Nesting boxes; Providing perches; Providing a litter tray; Providing a big enough run; Siting the hut; Moving the position of the hut and run; Storing food; Using a broody box; Building your own chicken hut; Introducing hens to their new home; Inroducing hens to each other; Chapter 7: How To Keep Your Hens Healthy and Clean; Cleaning the hutch; Don't over-disinfect; Cleaning the nest boxes; Cleaning feeders; Chapter 8: Choosing your Birds; What are the advantages of keeping a cockerel?; How to buy hens; Breeds suitable for everyone; Chapter 9: How To Recognise When Things Are Going Wrong; Apple cider vinegar (ACV); Other additives; Hens sitting in the corner, hardly feeding or drinking; Hens with feathers missing; White encrusting at the base of the feathers; Birds with scaly legs; Lots of diarrhoea and hungry birds; Pale combs and reduced egg production; Wheezing birds; Chapter 10: What Makes a Chicken Tick?; The chicken gut and how it works; How hens make eggs; The moult; Broodiness; Crumbs; What are you going to do about cockerels?; Caring for your hens around the year; PART TWO: DUCKS; Chapter 11: Introduction to Ducks; Good gardeners; What you need to keep ducks; Housing your ducks; Feeding your ducks; Using your ducks for meat and eggs; Handling ducks; Duck life; Chapter 12: Feeding Your Ducks; Organising your ducks' diet; Finisher pellets; Providing water; Allowing your ducks to forage; Offering oyster shell; Making grit available; Providing extras; Chapter 13: Housing Ducks; Making the housing strong; Waterproofing the duck house; Siting the duck house; Lifting the hut; Roosting; Nesting; Fumigating; The run; Chapter 14: Keeping Ducks for Eggs; Choosing ducks for egg production; What's the egg like?; Where your ducks lay; Storing duck eggs; The good duck egg guide; Cooking with duck eggs; How do ducks lay eggs?; Chapter 15: Duck Breeds; How to buy ducks; Buying in trios; Choosing your ducks; Keeping bantams; Chapter 16: Duck Diseases; Tips for healthy ducks; PART THREE: BEES; Chapter 17: Beekeeping; Chapter 18: Bee Anatomy; The respiratory and circulatory system; The exoskeleton; Wings and legs; The head; Inside the bee; The sting; Differences between the castes; Chapter 19: Getting Started; Asking for advice from experienced beekeepers; Wearing protective clothing; Using a smoker; Buying a hive tool; Using buckets; Blowtorch; Feeders; Varroa control requirements; Choosing the hive; The brood box; Rearranging the furniture; The supers; The lid; The stand; A mentor; Races of bees; Castes of bee; How to buy bees; Chapter 20: The Beekeeping Year; Warm way/cold way; The development of bees; Orientation flights; Chapter 21: Beekeeping Techniques; What are you looking for in the hive?; Establishing whether there is room for expansion; Feeding; Hefting; Using other feeds and applications; Swarming and supersedure; Marking a queen; Collecting honey; Returning the frames; Chapter 22: Bee Diseases; Problems with bee genetics; Why bees contract diseases; Varroa; Foul brood; Small hive beetle (aethina tumida); Nosema; Wax moths; Chalkbrood; Stone brood; Tracheal mites; Viral infections; Sacbrood; Chilled Brood; Index.

About the Author

Author Paul Peacock has himself kept chickens, ducks and bees - sometimes in small, urban spaces - and has written many books and numerous articles on these subjects. He advises a major city council on public beekeeping and is also a published expert on gardening and smallholding. His books include Patio Produce and The Urban Hen. Paul Peacock writes for the Daily Mirror as Mr Digwell and appears on BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time.

Reviews

'Packed with practical advice and provides valuable information.' Vintage Tractor.