Need Advice on Breeds that will be OK in VERY Harsh weather...

[Tuffoldhen]

Also...check out the where am I, where are you Thread...there should be people from AK ..

I know there is a Leslie in the North Pole...she is in AK....

 

[paulandashia]

Thank you so much! I have been doing a lot of research lately, and have narrowed it down to:

Ameraucana
Australorp
Delaware
Orphington
Plymouth (white) Rock
Rhode Island
And the Red and Black Star.

I think when we are going to get these babies in the Spring of 09, I will order 4 of each, and see how they all do.

I'm eager to have these little ones in the house for the first few weeks till they get big enough to be outside.

And thank you SO much for the link to the other Hatchery!
They have all the breeds I am interested in getting all in one place, so I will only have to have 1 shipment instead of a variety of places.

I am SO excited to get started.

 

[hcammack]

add wyndotte to that list they were developed specificly for harsh winters they have small cushion combs and are very well featheres large birds.

 

[herechickchick]

Oh yeah another addict!

 

[chickenannie]

Yeah, like hcammack said, small-to-nonexist combs and lots of extra feathers are helpful in finding winter-hardy birds.

 

[Frosty]

I'm in North Dakota, temps here frequently get -20 to -30. I keep my birds in an unheated coop, but it is insulated and has windows on the south side. I keep a water heater under the fountain, at about -20 it does start icing up a bit, -30 the center is still thawed but I have to bring it in to thaw when I want to take the top off.
I have raised Speckled Sussex, Buff Orpington, Barred Rocks (though the BR roos that I had tended to be aggressive), leghorns, easter eggers, california whites, rhode island reds, sex links, black australorp... some of my favorites were the sussex, orpingtons, and australorps due to temperament. Any chickens that I have raised did fine in the winter as long as they could get out of the wind and weather. Types with large combs tend to get frostbite and lose the ends of their combs. Just be careful... they can be addictive

!

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

What part of Alaska are you in?
This forum has members in Nome, North Pole, Wasilla, and the Kenai Peninsula (were in Sterling).

Next summer we will be offering Light Bramas, Dorkings, Silkies, Mili fleur d'uccles banties, and quail.

So far our Light brama, RIR, barred rock, and orphinton are our best layers through the winter.

 

[ole-crone]

We live in a mountain valley in UT that regularly gets down to 20 F below and sometimes 30 F below. I have found that many chickens are cold hardy. I see bantams running around in fields, we have silkies, etc. I try to steer clear of chickens with a single comb but the few we have seem to do well. I think the trick is to just make sure they have a dry coop. We don't have heating in ours and rarely lose anyone during the winter.

 

[paulandashia]

I am currently in Anchorage, but we are going to be moving out to Wasilla in about 2 months or so (If our offer on the house is accepted).

We were planning on having chickens (about 8-12 hens) and 2 Milk-Goats by next spring (09).

This whole summer (2008) we are getting everything safely built, prepared and ready for the animals.

We also decided we wanted to add Egg-Laying Ducks (or Geese) to the bunch, but that will take some more research on my part since I have never really even been around them.

And eventually we want to add about 4 horses (those I am VERY familiar with), but the horses will come in time.

First, we are going to settle in with the Chickens, Ducks/Geese and the Goats. LoL

I am just SO excited.
I grew up on fresh milk and eggs, and having to serve my 4 year old Son and 1 year old Daughter store-bought "junk" is just NOT sitting well with me.

Eggs don't taste like eggs, and don't even get me started on the Milk!

I miss the Good-Old Days! LoL

 

[Leslie In North Pole]

Hello,

I am up in North Pole, and like Nome, we deal with some extremes, we regularly get colder than -40. I have a very well insulated coop and I have a little bit of everything running through my yard and I do mean everything, including turkeys, ducks, and Guineas. Come May, I have a list for everything and anything I can hatch, people love buying local and I enjoy meeting fellow chicken lovers.

I prefer having a couple of different layers as there are different personalities that can be linked to the different breeds. In my area, the local feed stores sell a lot of barred rocks, RIR, buff orpingtons, sex-links, Black Jersey Giants, Easter Eggers, white rocks, and a few other requested birds. On ducks, khaki campbells lay really well. I haven't had any issues with any of my ducks but I do know that some people have had some issues with runner ducks as they are so skinny and at least one lady in my area says her muscovy drakes don't seem to make it past their third year because of how little body fat they have. I have never heard of anyone having an issue with geese or turkeys, both seem to handle the extremes, even without a coop.

My preference for cold hardy chickens are cochins, brahmas, Easter Eggers that have peacombs, and the like. There are many breeders in Wasilla that offer barnyard mixes and pure breeds that are suitable to your area and come from winter hardy stock. Some of the hardiest birds are going to be your barnyard crosses, they tend to grow strong, lay well and show the best qualities of both parents (kind of like a good mutt dog.) In Wasilla in particular, Terrisa aka alaskanhenhouse brings in and hatches locally, she has ducks, geese, and chickens.

There is also one "official" hatchery in Palmer called Triple D. I have never been there, I have only talked to them on the phone and I know they fly most of their chicks in as well.

There is also a yahoo group just for Alaskans who raise poultryhttp://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/akdomesticfowl/ Feel free to sign up and pick every one's brains on how we handle our extremes, compete in the fair and do local buy and trade.

If you are building your coop this summer, you may even find yourself adopting a ready made flock come this fall. A lot of people find themselves having to rehome young pullets due to circumstances in the fall and it is a great way to get a young flock and fresh eggs through the winter.