Hentopia: Create a Hassle-Free Habitat for Happy Chickens: 21 Innovative Projects

Description

More eggs, less work! And more enjoyment for both the chickens and their keeper! That's the promise of Frank Hyman's Hentopia. From the Vending Machine Feeder to the Refilling Rainwaterer, Hyman's innovative building projects are designed to save time and money, while keeping chickens safe, healthy, clean, and well-fed. All 21 of the projects for the chicken yard feature easy-to-follow instructions and colourful photos, including creative doorways, nest boxes, fencing, roosts, as well as a predator-proof pen and "Chunnel" chicken run. With a lively, humorous voice, Hyman generously shares his ingenious strategies and expert advice on all aspects of chicken keeping. Requiring no previous carpentry experience and using many salvaged or found materials, Hentopia is within reach of every aspiring chicken-keeper. Colour photographs and illustrations throughout

Frank Hyman is a certified mushroom forager who teaches mushroom identification to chefs, arborists, organic farmers, and the general public. His writing on foraging has appeared in Forbes, Paleo Magazine, and Hobby Farms. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

"This is the book I wish I'd read when I started keeping chickens. Frank Hyman is so funny and personable that he has managed to write an extremely handy and detailed chicken-keeping manual that is also quite entertaining to read. More importantly, he's lived the backyard chicken lifestyle and solved every imaginable problem using nothing more than a few ordinary tools and some ingenuity. Whether you're dreaming of keeping chickens or already manage a flock of your own, you will be inspired to take on one of these projects--and your chickens will thank you." -- Amy Stewart, NYT bestselling author of The Drunken Botanist and Wicked Plants "Having worked with Frank for nearly a decade and read dozens of his articles and columns, I always walk away with some new bits of information that I can put to use right away. Hentopia is no different. Frank's creative projects are practical, well designed and easy to do and will make your everyday chicken-keeping chores a breeze. He's a true zen master of poultry!" -- Roger Sipe, Editor, Hobby Farms and Chickens magazines and HobbyFarms.com "Practical, resourceful, and fun!" -- Melissa Caughey, author of How to Speak Chicken and A Kids' Guide to Keeping Chickens, and blogger at Tilly's Nest "Hentopia brings together practical DIY family flock keeping systems that decrease daily chores while at the same time keep costs down with innovative use of materials. It describes ways to allow chickens to have a high quality of life--including fresh grazing and foraging--while having protection from predators. From the chickens' point of view this book is something to crow about!" -- Patricia Foreman, Animal Scientist, Pharmacist, and author of City Chicks