North to Alaska!

[Alaskan]

With dogs......

Unless they are well trained they love to go bark and upset moose or bear, then run back towards you when the wildlife gets angry.

It is always so lovely to be minding your own business, you hear your dog barking, you look up, and there is your dog, running straight at you with very angry and large wildlife chasing him which translates to running right at *you*.

 

[toofarout]

Does anyone here in AK have experience with Buckeyes? I live around Central, colder than cold - but have only been through one winter with chickens. Not so great of an experience although most survived. I am off-grid and use a generator when necessary. During the 30-60 below weeks I ran the generator 24/7. Is there some super duper, hardier than a trapper, egg-laying, wonder-woman chicken out there that I have never heard of?

Have you looked into the Chantecler breed?

 

[chicksak]

Ok my Alaskan chirps, I know this is probably not the place to post this but am in need of some advise on goats and you all have been wonderfully helpful with chickens, I thought I would ask. If of course if anyone has any! I have tried the backyardherd site, but it seems a little slow and I want to get moving...ok..maybe I am just a little impatient...lol

We are looking at getting a Nigerian Dwarf/Nubian mix doe and wether for her companion. As I would be new to goats I am not sure how much I would have to worry about keeping them warm in the winter time. I am reading a lot of mixed thoughts on this. In Fairbanks I have been told to have an insulated house and in Palmer been told a large dog house would work for the two of them and to put a sweater on them if need be when we get really cold. This I find hard to believe, but like I said don't really know. We do live in Wasilla, so don't get Fairbanks cold, but can drop to the -20's for a week or two at a time however get very strong winds, 50-80+ mille/hr winds that can last for days it seems.

Also, as we are wanting milk, does anyone breed so we can stay up on Milk with out needing the hassles of a buck? Who tests for diseases and where do you test. What are the chances of getting diseases? (yes, that one may be a silly question)

Thank you!
Christina

 

[toofarout]

Ok my Alaskan chirps, I know this is probably not the place to post this but am in need of some advise on goats and you all have been wonderfully helpful with chickens, I thought I would ask. If of course if anyone has any! I have tried the backyardherd site, but it seems a little slow and I want to get moving...ok..maybe I am just a little impatient...lol

We are looking at getting a Nigerian Dwarf/Nubian mix doe and wether for her companion. As I would be new to goats I am not sure how much I would have to worry about keeping them warm in the winter time. I am reading a lot of mixed thoughts on this. In Fairbanks I have been told to have an insulated house and in Palmer been told a large dog house would work for the two of them and to put a sweater on them if need be when we get really cold. This I find hard to believe, but like I said don't really know. We do live in Wasilla, so don't get Fairbanks cold, but can drop to the -20's for a week or two at a time however get very strong winds, 50-80+ mille/hr winds that can last for days it seems.

Also, as we are wanting milk, does anyone breed so we can stay up on Milk with out needing the hassles of a buck? Who tests for diseases and where do you test. What are the chances of getting diseases? (yes, that one may be a silly question)

Thank you!
Christina

Christina,
I'm not at all familiar with what BYC (herds) has to offer, and I've only lived in the Fairbanks area with goats so I can't help much with specifics for Wasilla. If you participate in facebook there are plenty of groups specific to goats and Alaska. (alaskan goat breeders, alaskans with goats, alaska goat talk, alaskan farmers, alaska farm and food, etc...) There are goat clubs down your way too, not sure if they have facebook pages or a BYC (herd) presence.
You don't have to have a buck, you can bring your doe to someone's buck for breeding.
There a many *really* good goat people down your way.

If you don't use facebook and want me (or someone else) to find out the website of the goat clubs down there let me know.
The goat association for the Interior is the Farthest North Goat Association, also has a facebook page.
There is also a yahoo group for alaskan goat owners, don't forget to look there too.
from Sue

 

[Alaskan]

Down here.....well, the temps very a great deal from place to place....but anyway.....

The goat owners on the peninsula that i know just have a shed/barn/shelter something to get them out of the snow and wind. No insulation, no big problems except of course the keeping the water thawed.

And you don't actually need another goat as your milk goat's buddy, unless that is what you want. You could actually house them next to whatever other animals you have. I know one lady who had a chicken as her horse's companion.

As to breeding, the easiest thing is to become fast friends with someone who owns a buck. My sister (she has goats, I don't) borrows a neighbors buck for a month (whatever month the neighbor doesn't need the buck). That way the neighbor gets one month of not having to take care of the buck, and all my sister has to pay is the one month of feed.

I would think that most people would want to charge you. But, my sister usually just wants the kids to freshen her nannies, and to eat. She isn't looking for a quality breeding buck, just any random fertile buck.

Shabbychix,

What breeds did you try last year, and which ones died?

 

[chicksak]

Down here.....well, the temps very a great deal from place to place....but anyway.....

The goat owners on the peninsula that i know just have a shed/barn/shelter something to get them out of the snow and wind. No insulation, no big problems except of course the keeping the water thawed.

And you don't actually need another goat as your milk goat's buddy, unless that is what you want. You could actually house them next to whatever other animals you have. I know one lady who had a chicken as her horse's companion.

As to breeding, the easiest thing is to become fast friends with someone who owns a buck. My sister (she has goats, I don't) borrows a neighbors buck for a month (whatever month the neighbor doesn't need the buck). That way the neighbor gets one month of not having to take care of the buck, and all my sister has to pay is the one month of feed.

I would think that most people would want to charge you. But, my sister usually just wants the kids to freshen her nannies, and to eat. She isn't looking for a quality breeding buck, just any random fertile buck.

Shabbychix,

What breeds did you try last year, and which ones died?

Christina,
I'm not at all familiar with what BYC (herds) has to offer, and I've only lived in the Fairbanks area with goats so I can't help much with specifics for Wasilla. If you participate in facebook there are plenty of groups specific to goats and Alaska. (alaskan goat breeders, alaskans with goats, alaska goat talk, alaskan farmers, alaska farm and food, etc...) There are goat clubs down your way too, not sure if they have facebook pages or a BYC (herd) presence.
You don't have to have a buck, you can bring your doe to someone's buck for breeding.
There a many *really* good goat people down your way.

If you don't use facebook and want me (or someone else) to find out the website of the goat clubs down there let me know.
The goat association for the Interior is the Farthest North Goat Association, also has a facebook page.
There is also a yahoo group for alaskan goat owners, don't forget to look there too.
from Sue

Sue,
Thank you for the information! I have signed up for most of the FB sites and have learned so much! I am still looking for the local goat club and will get on to the Fairbanks one and see what I can find out. I would love to find an active local 4-H for goats for our daughter but so far no luck,, will have to call the office.
Thanks again for your help.
Christina

 

[chicksak]

Down here.....well, the temps very a great deal from place to place....but anyway.....

The goat owners on the peninsula that i know just have a shed/barn/shelter something to get them out of the snow and wind. No insulation, no big problems except of course the keeping the water thawed.

And you don't actually need another goat as your milk goat's buddy, unless that is what you want. You could actually house them next to whatever other animals you have. I know one lady who had a chicken as her horse's companion.

As to breeding, the easiest thing is to become fast friends with someone who owns a buck. My sister (she has goats, I don't) borrows a neighbors buck for a month (whatever month the neighbor doesn't need the buck). That way the neighbor gets one month of not having to take care of the buck, and all my sister has to pay is the one month of feed.

I would think that most people would want to charge you. But, my sister usually just wants the kids to freshen her nannies, and to eat. She isn't looking for a quality breeding buck, just any random fertile buck.

Shabbychix,

What breeds did you try last year, and which ones died?

Thank you Alaskan! I appreciate the help.
Christina

 

[shabbychix]

Summer got really busy for me so I've been absent from BYC for awhile.

I'm going be a Gramma! And not to a chicken. Very excited about that. Thinking of selling my cabin and moving back to (closer to) Fairbanks.

But I have to say that, in large part because of this Forum, I have two (rescue) chickens living in my entry. I fenced in a corner of the room, put a floor over the floor, an old book shelf for nesting boxes, a tub full of sand for bathing and I have "in house" chickens. They are wonderful pets. One is pretty assertive and opinionated and the other is a lover.

Back to the Buckeye question. The ones that died. Well, I have 12 left, out of 23 that I started with spring of 2012. Two are in the house, 4 have never recovered their feathers from being pecked last winter so will not make it through this winter and the rest are going into the freezer next weekend. Makes me very sad. This summer, even when I had 16 hens (before 4 died) I never got more than 5 eggs in a day. Sometimes none. I know some are molting but .. all summer? Is this normal? I was looking forward to MORE eggs and possibly being able to sell a dozen now and then but that never happened.

What I think (inexperienced as I am) is that the 6 month confinement just messed them all up. It got super cold in Nov (-40) and didn't let up till April/March. IThe coldest it ever got in the coop was 28 and that was twice .. otherwise it was usually in the 40's and always above freezing. I finally read, somewhere,that these chickens are wonderful but do not do well in confinement. I believe that. They don't mind cold but they do go crazy. Even the one that is in the house, that I said is opinionated, will scrape her beak across the fence (like an inmate with a metal cup) to get my attention, mostly because she wants to go outside.

The 4 that died this summer .. 2 were in the nesting boxes, dead. One was upside down, laying at the bottom of the perch ladder and one was jest dead on the floor like she died in mid-stride.

I guess I'll just start over next spring with a different breed.

 

[shabbychix]

I was rambling, sorry. They were all Buckeyes.

 

[Alaskan]

Hey, I love rambling (didn't you read my very long rambling posts? hehe

)

Totally terrible about your chickens.

Yep, my chickens get cooped up for about 6 months of every year, *sigh*

I just kept increasing and increasing the snow free space that they had, until I can now keep the number of chickens I want, without them eating each other.

I also try very hard to give them "activities", which pretty much means that I try to go out twice a day to toss out left overs or scratch.

The movie theater gave me a free bag of stale unseasoned popcorn. That was awesome to listen to them eat that.


Maybe you need to figure out which breed lays a bunch of eggs, does great in confinement, and has a tiny comb.

I wonder if the Dominique would work, or maybe an Ameracauna.

Feel free to ramble again, I need the company.