New to chickens, can they be raised in Alaska????

[Arctichicken]

Thanks for the link futurechickenman, I will check it out

 

[Arctichicken]

Just visited the chantcler link, they seem really well suited to Alaska. Thanks for the info. I like that website too. It also had my favorite cattle there. I want to raise Highland cattle later on down the road. Anyone know anyone who has some? I wonder how they do in Alaska? I would imagine pretty well. Thanks Again

 

[Alaska animal lover]

Stephanie, I did have to get soil brought in.=p
My dear husband-DH, works for CH2MHILL(formerly VECO)
He does well maintnance, rebuilds valves, operates wells. Other things too. He works two weeks and then comes home two weeks. I love the two weeks off. We go camping and fishing and can leave whenever we want because we aren't limited to a weekend schedule. He also makes year round income and really only works 6 months of the year. You just have to be able to be seperated. There are a lot of things to think about. Can you deal with your kids/land pets for two weeks by yourself? If the water freezes/pipes burst/car breaks down can you deal with it? Some women can't and begin to resent their husbands for being away. I have been doing it for more than 6 years and believe me there have been some really bad days. Kids get sick, I get sick, pets die, they don't wait for DH to be home. In six+ years I have only asked my DH to come home early one time when my dad passed away. He went to work the day after our first DD was born and I got home from the hospital to frozen pipes! The trick is to not make a huge deal out of it. Just get it taken care of the best you can and be proud of yourself. I recommend having a few hundred dollars set aside for those kind of emergencies though.
The #1 thing that will get him a job on the slope the fastest is having a CDL. Commercial Drivers License.
#2 is knowing someone.
So I hope you don't mind the lecture about the slope.

If you hav any questions just PM me or post here!
I hope I didn't scare you away from your hubby working up there, I just want to give you another look into the lifestyle.

Aimee

 

[Arctichicken]

Hi Aimee,

It wasn't a lecture, it's exactly the stuff we need to know. I appreacite it!!
I know it would be rough at first but we are both willing to do whatever it takes to make it in Alaska. Plus I have older kids as well as younger ones too. So we would all pitch in.
He almost went for his CDL this winter, his stepdad drives for Schneider and is a supervisor/instructor, but then it would be different driving, compared to up there. What is the process for obtaining a CDL up there? He really is thinking hard about working on the slopes. We have had our business before and it drained him so much. The weeks away would suck but when he's home for a few weeks it would be alot of freedom to do what we want. Any info you are willing to share would be much appreciated!!! Is there usually a long wait to get hired? Other than a CDL what quaifications do they want? Thanks again

We found this link on coop designs thought you might like it if you haven't already seen it. check it out then scroll the page for more pics.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8342

Thanks again for all your help. Maybe after we're settled we can get together especially if we move to Palmer.
Stephanie

 

[Alaska animal lover]

I would really have him look into getting his CDL there if it's cheaper. We don't have many places to get the CDL up here so they can pretty much charge what ever they want. Just knowing he has the ability to drive a big truck is what's important. My DH dosen't drive a big rig like you see for shipping or long hauling up there, but the box truck he drives requires a CDL.
I don't know exactly what they are looking for, I will ask my DH for the website to the job listings and you can see what might fit for your DH. I mean they need everything up there from cooks to electricians to mechanics to laborers. It just depends. The companies start off at all different rates of pay but I think the lowest I've heard of is $16hr. But they usually get .50 to 1.00 raises every six months. My DH works 12 hours a day or more seven days a week for the two weeks he is there. He makes more money in overtime than regular time. Both Sat and Sunday are full overtime days at time and a half pay. Now I'm not trying to make it seem like the money is pouring in! Sometimes the taxes he pays for the overtime are half of what he brings home. With six kids, you might not have that problem, since they can all be claimed as dependents. We have two kids and we don't claim either one so they take out more taxes but we get the big refund.

DH just called, he said since there are so many companies up there that you would have better luck just searching Alaska Oil Field Jobs or something. If you want to work for a specific company search that comanies website. A few of the better ones in my opinion are BP, CH2MHILL, ASRC, Conoco/Phillips.
I can't think of anything else right now. I will let you know if I think of anything.

Aimee

 

[Arctichicken]

Thanks for the info again. You help out more than you know. My hubby is ex- Navy Seabees, he was a construction mechanic and worked maintenance and upkeep on all of the big rigs and construction equipment. He can pretty much drive anything. But military licenses aren't good for civilian jobs. I will look into him getting it here the only problem is we were planning on coming up in a few weeks. I guess we'll just have to see. We'll look through the oil co. websites and see if they have any openings and what the requirements are. Thanks for the recommendations. Hopefully he can at least start doing construction when we get up there and go from there. He has been a carpenter for 22 years so that is where I think he can make the most money, but year round work makes a difference.

Ugh, moving can be frustrating!!!
So how old are your kids? My oldest is 15 and youngest is 2. My oldest 2 kids are from hubby's 1st marriage (15 & 12 ) but we have sole custody of them and have for years it's like they were always mine. Then we have 4 together (8,5,4,2). They are all really excited about starting our own little family farm.

Well it's late here I'm gonna get to bed. Talk to ya later, Stephanie

 

[Mrs MIA]

Can I be a nosey neighbor?

What made you decide to come here...to Alaska? Moving anyplace without having a job already lined up is hard, but with a family of 6 children? You must be ready to get the heck out of Dodge!

(not necessarily a bad thing.

) I moved up here after having only been here twice... once for 4 days and once for 2 weeks in November... fell in love with it. I swore if I ever had the chance to move up, I would. The opportunity availed itself a couple of years later, and I never looked back. Met my now-husband two weeks after I got there (I had a job, but no place to live) but we didn't start dating until 2 years later. Now we've been together for 8 years, married for 2.

Do you know anyone in the area that can help with the logistics? Do you have housing lined up yet? Nosey-bodies wanna know.

When you guys make the trip down to Kenai/Homer, I hope you'll look us up.

 

[GoodyChickenShz]

Hi. I know I'm a long way from Alaska down here in So. California, but we live in a very rural area and we have coyotes that can jump 4 ft. fences, and we also have owls and hawks. In fact, my husband witnessed a hawk murder a quail right near our coop! But we put that deer/bird netting up over the top of the coop and we haven't had any problems from the big predator birds.....or the coyotes. Also, keep a close eye on the sled dogs. I loved my Siberian husky to death but I would never let him get close to my birds.......even so, he still managed to go out and kill the birds of some less careful bird owners. Good luck! Wish it was me moving up there!

 

[Arctichicken]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Can I be a nosey neighbor?

What made you decide to come here...to Alaska? Moving anyplace without having a job already lined up is hard, but with a family of 6 children? You must be ready to get the heck out of Dodge!

(not necessarily a bad thing.

) I moved up here after having only been here twice... once for 4 days and once for 2 weeks in November... fell in love with it. I swore if I ever had the chance to move up, I would. The opportunity availed itself a couple of years later, and I never looked back. Met my now-husband two weeks after I got there (I had a job, but no place to live) but we didn't start dating until 2 years later. Now we've been together for 8 years, married for 2.

Do you know anyone in the area that can help with the logistics? Do you have housing lined up yet? Nosey-bodies wanna know.

When you guys make the trip down to Kenai/Homer, I hope you'll look us up.

We lived in WA for a while (again moved out with no job lined up and found work immediately). We fell in love with snowcapped mountains and the colder weather. We just loved the Pacific North West. Unfortunately we hated the politics and very high taxes (we ran a business and it seemd like we paid more money to the state than we ever got to keep to survive) in WA. Not to mention very hig drug use and crime. All of our employees were ex-cons. So we knew we wanted something different. After we got back from visiting friends in Australia we have been living in VA to be close to my Mom and let her see the grandbabies that she hardly ever gets to see. Now we are ready to get back to the North. We wanted the scenery and climate similar to WA. I have been loking into Alaska politics, taxes for businesses, climate, lifestyle and people for a while and we decided it's what we definitly wanted. The Mat-Su area seemd to fit us well, remote but close to ammenities. My hubby has been looking into jobs such as construction, cable installation, the slopes, etc. We didn't want to commit to a job until we knew for sure where we would end up living. Altho now we have changed our minds and he is trying to make builder contacts right now. Hopefully he can line up a job before we arrive!!! Either way we're still coming in a few weeks. Plus I homeschool the kids and I want to have them registered with the homeschool office by Fall, which means we have to have an Alaskan address to give them. Yes we are ready to leave where we are for sure. Because we want to get up and settled and working before winter sets back in soon. I know about the short, short summers up there. The only person that I have talked to from the area is Aimee (Alaska Animal lover) and I'm trying to pick her brain

(but hopefully not annoying her). Shes been a big help. So have you and Kodiak. The internet helps alot too. As far as housing, I've been in contact with a few people and have several houses in Palmer that I like. I'm not sending them any money tho until seeing a house and the area. We need a 4 bedroom. 3 if we're desperate, 5 is preferable. So if they'll still be available by time we get there, then I can move forward. I know it sounds reckless but my hubby and I are young (I'm 27 he's 38

) and we are very gutsy, so we've been told. We like the adventure of starting over in a new place. We are coming up in our motorhome and are prepared to stay in it a few weeks at a campground until we can line up a home/work. Thanks for your concern and advice and we definitly plan to visit the Kenai Pen. and will surely look you up. You'd have to email me your info after we get there. I would love to meet several of you ChickenMamas

 

[kodiakchicken]

Stephanie,

Sounds like you are doing your homework, which is the #1 requirement for making a successful move anywhere.

Aimee gave you some great advice about working on the slope (abbreviated term for "Arctic Slope"). My dad worked security at the pump station up on the Yukon River for many years. The 2 weeks on/2 off is really good. There are a variety of jobs available with the pipeline. One place to start is with the Alyeska Corp - they are the actual pipeline corporation, although a huge majority of the work is done by subcontractors, like ASRC (Arctic Slope Regional Corp) and the others Aimee listed. Alyeska's job site is here: http://www.alyeska-pipe.com/employment/jobs.asp

Just bear in mind that any of the jobs in the cities are usually 40 hour week jobs that will require you to live in that area. Another good place to look for jobs is with the native corporations. Afognak Native Corp is part of the Kodiak region, but their subsidiary, Alutiiq Corp, is based in Anchorage and they do a HUGE amount of construction around the state. They have a native preference for hire, but a lot of non-native folks get jobs with the native corps (I'm one of them - I work for Koniag - the Kodiak regional corp). ANC & Alutiiq's job site is: http://www.alutiiq.com/jobs/

Hope this helps!

Erin