Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book has pretty pictures; that is the book's only positive trait. The book has numerous flaws, which have been covered by other reviewers. However, other reviewers haven't discussed the problem I had with this book: a severe lack of focus. Instead of focusing on the book's supposed subject--"How to Create a Beautiful Chicken-Friendly Yard"-- the author apparently decided she would rather superficially talk about many, MANY other topics. They include: 1. Coop design (lots of pretty pictures, only one "how to do this" plan with measurements) 2. Predator descriptions and deterrent methods (Mostly accurate info, but why is this discussed in a garden design book?) 3. How to pick chicken breeds (In every basic chicken keeping book in the world--why waste valuable space in this supposedly specialized book with a rehash of that same information??) 4. How to clip a chicken's wings, etc. (What does this have to do with garden design? The author may have her reasons, but doesn't explain them.) 5. A brief rundown of other poultry types, including turkeys, geese, and ducks. (Huh?? Why are ducks discussed in a book that is supposed to be about chickens??) 6. She wraps up the book by listing common chicken diseases and parasites. (?!?) I have had my chickens for almost 2 years and own many basic chicken keeping books; I didn't need another one. What I DID need was tips on how to incorporate my chickens into a garden--what plants to avoid, what plants they'd love, what plants would benefit from the extra nitrogen from chicken poop. Unfortunately, there is very little information of this sort included in the book, and what little there is is VERY difficult to find, even if using the index. In addition to all the unnecessary and unwanted basic chicken keeping advice, the author decided to include basic gardening and composting advice--again, losing focus of what this book is supposed to be about. This book reminds me of a high school freshman's first English essay: cluttered, unfocused, and ultimately unhelpful. If you're actually interested in what the book claims to be about--successfully incorporating poultry into a holistic garden design--a better choice would be "The Small Scale Poultry Flock", by Harvey Ussery. However, if you're just interested in a cute coffee table book, I suppose this may fit your needs.