North to Alaska!

[txn_in_ak]

HI I love Yosemity.. I used to live near Mt Lassen and the Bay area for awhile and So.Ca. Being from West Texas I get 130 in the shade but 100 in Houston is to DIE!! Humidity here and there makes all the difference. Up here we have much colder weather, kinda like Fairbanks. A little more humid being on the coast.

SO.... AK peeps .. you put a light in your coop just a regular one not a full spectrum?? Ms.Bird... did you use artificial light?? Yes these are probably questions I should have asked BEFORE I got birds LOL nothing like putting the bird before the coop !

Thanks for the help. ... Honestly I didn't think about the light. I was concerned about how to feed them and keep them warm. Not the light.

I am going to bag willow leaves for insulation we have spruce and willows no other trees we are only one of two Norton Sound villages that have trees that is LUCK!
So thanks!

 

[Mrs MIA]

I have a low-wattage compact fluorescent bulb on a timer in the coop to give additional light in the winter. Nothing like the daylight they get in the summer, but just enough to give them ~ 14 hours a day.
If given the chance to acclimate to the changing seasons, your birds will really pack on the feathers for winter... you shouldn't have to add much heat unless a) you only have a few birds, b) have really young or really old birds or c) don't have a draft-free coop. You'll need something to keep their water from freezing, of course, but the birds come equipped with their own down coat.

 

[txn_in_ak]

Thanks for the advice. I have a wood stove going into the goat house I am going to try to pipe the heat across... I have young birds the females are only 1 week old now. They should be fully feathered/grown by winter. I have 50 so they should help keep each other warm, also I am making the coop a little on the smaller side so they will keep each other warm and making floors to accomplish the sq footage needed. I ordered 50 birds because I didn't think they would all get here alive or stay alive... so far they are all alive and doing well LOL .
We love the Kenai Penn.. this is the first summer in my husbands life he has not fished down there. He guided for years until it got to crazy on the Kenai. We are Anchor River ppl always spend at least 3 weeks spring and fall there. Now we walk out to fish kinda cool.
Blessings & Thanks!!
Janet ... Elim AK

 

[Hozer]

I kept campbells in Anchorage for years. I just kept them in a run with a little house with a light bulb for heat. Often the bulb would go out due to their playing with their water. My experience is ducks are hardier than chickens due to better feathering and more down.

I would suggest giving them a bath in warm water if at all possible. Their feathers get somewhat dirty and matted after a while in the winter and probably loses some of it's insulation. They will have fun and do a great deal of preening afterward to get their feathers back in order. Just let them get pretty dry before you put them back out. I would wait for a warmer winter day. Or you can wait for that inevitable mid-winter thaw/Chinook and let them bathe outside. You will be suprised how good they look after they clean up...and so much fluffier.

 

[AlaskaBuffs]

Hello Fellow Alaskans (and alaskans at heart),
I am in Wasilla, with 30 buff orpingtons, 1 gold laced wyandotte roo, and 2 of his babys with the buffs(they are very pretty)

Deedra,
born and raised here! 2 years out in Tucson, at Al Marah arabians!

You can take the Alaskan out of Alaska, but you cannot take Alaska out of the Alaskan!

 

[Tonopah Pati]

Hello from Arizona.

I have never been to Alaska. I have always wanted to see all the wonderful places. Just reading all of your posts is really seeing Alaska in a different way. I had chickens when I lived in Mi. We used deep bedding and heat lamp when needed. The only problem that I had was with the Turkeys. They would stand out in the snow, in below 0 temps and freeze their feet. I would have to put them in the coop, where as the chickens knew when to go inside. LOL! I would love to see photos of your coops and the type of chickens that you raise. I have to get chicks that can take extreme heat.
Anyhow, A BIG HOWDY from the desert.

 

[muell112]

Do any of you folks live somewhere in AK where you have to get there by ferry? e.g. Kodiak, Aleutians etc? I have a flock of chickens here in Maine (3 roosters, 14 hens) and if we decide to move I would really like to bring them with but am wondering about logistics associated with getting them somewhere remote. Any ideas/suggestions/experience with that? Thanks!

 

[ChickensRCool]

Muell112- I used to live in Cordova (can only get to that town by boat or plane) and we moved there with 24 chickens and 3 turkeys. It is doable.
Are you planning on moving your chickens from Maine? It might be easier to buy chickens when you get up here.
To move our chickens to Cordova my DH constructed a cage (4'x5') and put it on his truck. We were moving from Wasilla. The ferry didn't have any problems with the chickens. One chickie did escape while we were on the ferry and we had to chase it down.

While living in Cordova we had no problems with getting feed for them--the local grocery store sold chicken feed. Fresh eggs were a huge hit in Cordova and I sold every egg (that we didn't eat) the chickens laid.
Good Luck!

 

[muell112]

Quote:
Ok well that's promising! I figured it'd be an issue to have them on the ferry. I've become attached to the ones I have so I'm just trying to figure out how feasible it is to move that many birds. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[gardenak]

Muel112, I live on Douglas Island, across from Juneau. You can only get here by plane or ferry, then cross a bridge to the island.