Gardening with Chickens:  Plans and Plants for You and Your Hens by Lisa Steele meets a need for information on an increasingly popular backyard activity. I had no idea of the knowledge successful chicken keeping requires. Now, I am even more impressed by what my friends have undertaken to keep layers in their yards. Steele’s approach is to create a landscape of poultry habitat and gardens.

As a landscape designer who believes in the value of planning, the emphasis on how a garden and a chicken run/coop together create a diverse habitat is appealing. Steele writes about the basic tenets of vegetable, flower and herb gardening for those new to gardening. The gardens feed the chickens and the humans. The chickens eat many of the garden pests and of course provide a major ingredient for making compost.

There are extensive descriptions of various barriers to contain the chickens when necessary. Steele includes detailed instructions on fencing, walls and raised beds. These creative ideas encourage readers to experiment in their own yards.
The health of the chickens is paramount as is knowing which weeds and plants are harmful. Owners need to learn about poultry illnesses, hopefully avoiding them with clean chicken keeping and wise choice of feed and supplemental plants. She uses herbs, vegetables and fruit as beneficial supplements to the chickens’ diet.

The author covers the making of compost, new gardens, good and bad garden bugs and natural pest control. On her website fresheggsdaily.com, readers can find her blog, sign up for her newsletter and watch episodes of her television show “Chicken Lifestyle.”

The book has beautiful photographs and illustrations to make her text clear. It will be a great resource for gardeners and chicken keepers alike.