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North to Alaska!

post #1 of 370
8/26/08 at 11:13pm
Thread Starter 

Hi all!
Any fellow Alaskans out there? We have 12 hens of various breeds.  Four RIR's,  three Barred Rocks, a Buff Orphington, Golden Comet, Black Australorp, a Black sex link, and a Gold Laced Wyandott.
This will be our first winter with chickens so any advice on how to winter them over and winterize the coop will be greatly appreciated.

Gayle

Mom to a menagerie-8 Keeshond, 1 Great Pyrenees, 2 Ibizan Hounds, 1 deaf American Bulldog, 3 cats, 6 horses, 4 ducks, a mixed flock of laying hens, 11 Silkies, and a wonderfully tolerant husband who just rolls his eyes and goes with the flow.
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Mom to a menagerie-8 Keeshond, 1 Great Pyrenees, 2 Ibizan Hounds, 1 deaf American Bulldog, 3 cats, 6 horses, 4 ducks, a mixed flock of laying hens, 11 Silkies, and a wonderfully tolerant husband who just rolls his eyes and goes with the flow.
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post #2 of 370
8/26/08 at 11:23pm

Welcome from NW AK and I've got...(its in the siggie) plus a few more...I use the deep bedding method and cleaned it completely every Friday night or Saturday last winter until I realized I was throwing all the heat out into the compost pile!roll

So I cleaned out only half once a month but added shredded paper and straw to give the girls (RIR's) a feeling of a cleaned coop which they rewarded me w/the maximum amount of eggs that day, every time! 

The 1st 8 RIR hens in their first winter of laying provided 9-12 eggs every day I provided a clean coop.  OOps, got two pullets outside the chain link fence, gotta get them back in...

Instant gratification lasts just that long...

Geese would be the perfect flock if they laid eggs year 'round
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Instant gratification lasts just that long...

Geese would be the perfect flock if they laid eggs year 'round
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post #3 of 370
8/31/08 at 10:13pm

Hi Gayle!!  frow  welcome-byc

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post #4 of 370
9/1/08 at 3:44am

Welcome to the BYC. big_smilebig_smilebig_smile
Put a heat lamp in the coop that points down to the waterer so it dosn't freeze.
I just moved down here to Alabama from Alaska last year. I lived in Alaska for the last 26 years but I didn't have chickens then.
I lived in Anchorage, Homer, Cordova & Kodiak Island. Man do I miss Alaska and it sure is HOT down here in Bama.

Jayare

1st Chicks Oct 07: 2 RIR, 1 Delaware, 2 Golden Phoenix & 2 Silver Phoenix
2nd Group of Chicks 1-9-08: 5 Buff Orpingtons, 2 EE, 1 SLW
3rd Group of Chicks 3-5-08: 1 SLW, 1 RIR, 1 BO, 3 EE's & 1 Australorp warmer
Ducks 3-13-08: 3 Khaki's, 1 Mallard, 3-23-08 6 more EE's, 11-10-08 6 BBS Orps
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1st Chicks Oct 07: 2 RIR, 1 Delaware, 2 Golden Phoenix & 2 Silver Phoenix
2nd Group of Chicks 1-9-08: 5 Buff Orpingtons, 2 EE, 1 SLW
3rd Group of Chicks 3-5-08: 1 SLW, 1 RIR, 1 BO, 3 EE's & 1 Australorp warmer
Ducks 3-13-08: 3 Khaki's, 1 Mallard, 3-23-08 6 more EE's, 11-10-08 6 BBS Orps
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post #5 of 370
9/1/08 at 7:07am

welcome-byc

From what I can tell from all our Alaskan BYC members, you guys now have more chickens than moose up there.  winksmile

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post #6 of 370
9/1/08 at 9:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Chicken Lady 

welcome-byc

From what I can tell from all our Alaskan BYC members, you guys now have more chickens than moose up there.  winksmile


yuckyuck

...and I'm trying to keep it that way! LOL!

The chickens do pretty well in the winter... make sure they have a dry/draft free coop to get out of the elements with plenty of roost space, and a heat lamp on the waterer should keep the coop (depending on how big it is) just above freezing.  You don't want the coop to be too warm, because it will actually be hard on the birds.  There are actually several threads on winterizing birds if you do a search. smile

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post #7 of 370
3/8/09 at 7:03am

XD hi from southwest Alaska! hooray for the bristol bay region!

~*an egg come out of a chicken, a chicken comes out of an egg!*~
HENS: 4 Egyptian Fayoumis, 1 Cuckoo Maran, 4 Black Stars, 4 Red Stars, 2 Phoenix (a standard silver and a gold bantam) and 2 mystery meaties. ROOS: a gentle caring Cuckoo Maran and a shy but beautiful Silver Spangled Hamburg. quite a flock!
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~*an egg come out of a chicken, a chicken comes out of an egg!*~
HENS: 4 Egyptian Fayoumis, 1 Cuckoo Maran, 4 Black Stars, 4 Red Stars, 2 Phoenix (a standard silver and a gold bantam) and 2 mystery meaties. ROOS: a gentle caring Cuckoo Maran and a shy but beautiful Silver Spangled Hamburg. quite a flock!
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post #8 of 370
4/22/09 at 9:54pm

hi,
i just started a flock. Im in wasilla and have 7 hens and 11 chicks. i love it. not looking forward to winter just cause the eggs freeeez. grrrr:( LOL
nice to know there are others out there.

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post #9 of 370
4/22/09 at 10:01pm

Ahh Alaska!

I spent several years there as a clergyman, and miss it terribly!

Didn't have chickens at that time, but stayed with a priest who did.

Get them close to the cows in the barn. Barring that, I'm afraid I have no useful advice other than find other chicken owners and do what they do.

Good luck!

Deut. 23:1
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Deut. 23:1
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post #10 of 370
4/22/09 at 11:57pm

welcome-byc

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