North to Alaska!

[AK Baha]

I have lived in Alaska my whole life and have never seen a tick,chigger or mites ever. Hope i never do!!

 

[shabbychix]

I have heard that there have been cases of Bedbugs in Anchorage during the past couple years. Unknown in AK before that. I don't know what category they are in and if they affect animals or not. All those almost microscopic critters. Hope I never SEE (or feel) one.

This is a very slow moving thread. Are there not many chicken lovers in AK? Maybe they are too busy and I understand that. Winter communication should be better?

 

[AK Baha]

I know some of the hotels in town have them because I seen a lady in front of one with a sign that said they did. Those things willy me out!!! Think I would just move to my cabin if I ever got em in my house.

 

[Alaskan]

dude! I had friends out here in Homer that got them! (bedbugs)

They are SO VERY DIFFICULT to get rid of....crazy bad!

Supposedly the annoying slugs are imported too.... total bum

and yep on the thread slowness

1. there aren't that many Alaska people on here anyway

and

2. don't you know that Alaskan summers are constant work....you rest when the sun goes down!

I still haven't gotten ANY wood yet. And last year I had promised myself that I would get wood in the early summer time so it was drier by winter.

I also needed to paint the trim on my house....but I think I decided to pretend it looks good and isn't really peeling.

Didn't get to a bunch of things actually....and the clock is ticking! The fireweed has already been blooming for weeks! (And the sandhill cranes are starting to show up again too )

 

[shabbychix]

Boy, I hear you regarding the busyness and not having things done. I had the exact same determination about wood, getting it all in before this winter, and I have none. House needs to be stained .. gave up on that and the coop needs some work. My coop is actually great except for the door. It swells from condensation and accumulates ice around it in the winter. I haven't figured out how to get the proper ventilation, to prevent condensation, without letting out all the heat. Important when it's 45 below or worse.

 

[Alaskan]

I put in poop trays this year (yep, didn't paint the house trim, didn't get any wood yet, but I spent lots of time on my coop ) and I am going to put in another vent so that I can keep the windows closed tight.

My thought is that the air will come in a vent at the floor level below the poop tray, and then out a vent at the top of the wall, away from the perches. The top of the wall vent opens up to a shed, so no wind can get in through there.

So, the air has to take an L shaped path though the coop, but it will never go close to the perches. The perch area should be pretty close to no air movement.

I am going to baffle that low floor level vent to make sure the air doesn't rush in.

Of course, I am in the tropics compared to you...so maybe I shouldn't be talking.

But....I would think you need to 1. Have no movement by the perches, and 2. Have the air going in and out go through something to slow it down. Maybe even use a few feet of dryer vent, and force the air to go through that.

With your humidity so high, and your temps so low, how bad was your frost bite?

 

[shabbychix]

I had no frost bite. Buckeyes have pea combs (almost not there) and no wattles that I can see! That and the fact that their feathers are tight, making them good cold weather chickens, are the reasons I have Buckeyes. Who knew that they would decide that feathers taste better than their food. Plus I kept their coop above freezing the entire winter except twice when it got down to 28 degrees.

Picking. People tell me it is because I introduced new chicks to the main 12. Because they were younger, they have been picking at them since they were introduced. I was so careful. I put the new chicks in an area fenced off from the rest but they could still interact with each other. I waited 2 months before putting them all together. The younger 12 were only 1 month younger. Anyone experience this? I have a couple bullys. Chicken people tell me that if I get rid of them another will replace them. Shouldn't I be able to add a chicken from time to time without a massacre? Man, discouraging!

 

[allsummedup]

Yu

Allsummedup - Do you still have your Banty rooster?  Is he friendly?  I have a friend , in Fairbanks, who has had a small (not sure the breed) hen for years.  When she gets other chix (mostly for meat)  she hangs with them but is all alone all winter in her heated garage.  I keep telling her she needs a FRIEND! 

yup sure do! He's a Banty polish very handsomeness he needs a home that won't et him.

 

[shabbychix]

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! She will be so happy to have a friend for her pet! I'm not sure how to proceed. Can you give me your number so she can call you? Or email? I'm new here. Is there a secure way of doing this so I don't have to post my/her phone or email? She would never "et him". LOL

 

[allsummedup]

I also have a very friendly SFH rooster that needs a new home.
20$ takes him