North to Alaska!

[907chickens]

Howdy! New to this site and glad to see so many Alaskans here. Lots of good advice and tips. My first time raising chickens here. Different ballgame entirely from AZ. Glad to see so many from Wasilla Palmer area. Looking forward to reading this.

 

[chicksak]

Nice birds chicksak. What breed are the black ones?

Thanks!
Was told one was a black star and the other a black australop

 

[Alaskan]

Book ONE

1.As to heat,

I only heated the coop when we stayed at -10 for a full week, and I am still not sure that it was a good idea, or actually helpful. I don't know. Maybe I get colder than Homer proper because I am on the top of a hill, and I have lots of wind. I turned on the heat lamp in the afternoon, and then turned it off first thing in the morning. I only used the heat the year we stayed at -10 for over a week...which I think was a few years back. But again....I am not that sure if using supplemental heat is really a good thing, unless you know you will stay really cold for an extended period. Maybe I consider really cold -20 or colder, but not a short dip, staying there.

Anyway, instead of heat, I have worked hard to make the perching area warmer. I think ideally the perch should be more like a box, with only one side open. So, no air flow over the perch, small area to help concentrate the heat. The one open side is open to the main coop area, that has completely draft free vents to cut down on the humidity. I haven't quite reached my ideal, but I am trying.

2. for freezing water

I think the problem with using a fish tank heater is that it is supposed to keep the water pretty warm (instead of just above freezing) and my electric bill is already more than I ever want to pay.

A stock tank heater has worked for me in the past...but, not flawlessly. (careful, if you ask me questions about it, I might write a second book, I have major water issues. I obviously like writing books, so feel free to ask)

3. as to food

I just feed them the regular Alaska layer feed in a bag. I am totally for non-GMO, but that is crazy talk (for my finances) to think about getting organic non-GMO feed for my chickens.

I do feed them as many scraps as I can. All burnt food, nasty leftovers that none of the kids (or I) will eat, as well as all fishing scraps. They love all of the fish guts etc. They clean all bones. I love giving them chicken carcasses to clean up. A bit macabre, but also cool. Just yesterday, I was cleaning out my fridge, and found that we had cleaned a bunch of Dolly Varden late in in day (the chickens were going to bed) so we put them in a zip lock in the fridge, so they wouldn't stink up the house. Anyway, they were forgotten. I think they had started to ferment or something. When we fed them to the chickens, they were WAY stinky. The chickens ate every single scrap! I also feed them weeds every day that we have weeds (so what, is that 6 months of the year?). They also get to clean up the outside garden, and the greenhouse at the end of the season.

4. what I have

I have a mix of breeds.
2 Brahma (one is a rooster, need to eat him soon)
3 Cochin hens
5 white leghorn hens
2 Rhode island red hens
2 golden comet hens
2 bantam buff Brahma hens
4 bantam d'Uccle hens
3 bantam d'Uccle roosters (I know I know, gotta kill at least one

)

Currently segregated (because of age)
I have 4 pure bred French Black Copper Marans, one rooster and 3 hens. I also have one olive egger rooster (yep, gotta eat him too)

I have 6 Muscovy in some truly LOVELY colors! drool worthy! One drake, 3 ducks, one half grown duck, and one half grown gonna be lunch male.

I also have 6 gonna eat them in about another month geese.

I am planning, next spring, to buy three breeds that I can focus on and breed into quality stock. I have decided to try ordering from Duane Urch/Turnland and getting Bantam Wheaten Ameraucana, Dominique, and Golden Hamburgs in the spring. All of those have nice tiny combs (like, why did I pick leghorns for this year?????) I had originally thought that I would also breed the Marans, but as I said earlier, because of incubator issues I only hatched out one rooster, and he doesn't look breed worthy. The three hens I got look good.

I used to have about 40 layers, but last winter a dog busted into my coop and killed every single one. I have a bunch of kids, and I love to serve oodles of omelets. Super fast and good for you too.

5. general, since I am obviously in the mood to write a book

I REALLY thought that someone up in the Sterling area had nice French Black Copper Marans. I just looked, I think it was AK-bird-brain, but in her profile she says she is totally out of the business. I am not sure who else. The lady I bought my Marans from (here in Homer), doesn't currently have her chickens segregated since it is the end of the season. She has the Marans, and BBS Ameraucanas. Also, I didn't ask her, but maybe she knows if someone else in the Sterling area sells other breeds. She has a few chickens and roosters for sale right now. this is her craigslist ad: http://kenai.craigslist.org/grd/4006982036.html You could ask her where she got her birds from.

I guess if you got chicks right now (as in almost immediately) they would be old enough and big enough before cold weather set in, but personally it would drive me batty. I can only have baby chicks in the bathtub so long before the entire house reeks of chicken. And Homer NEVER gets really warm, so I can only have half grown chicks outside at the peak of summer. It would be best to buy some of the already grown hens available (check Craigslist) and the Wagon Wheel in Homer might still have some, you can look them up in the phone book and give them a call. Otherwise I would wait until spring.

My turkey STILL is always shivering, and he is mostly grown! I wanted to have him fresh for thanksgiving, but maybe I will just wait until his pin feathers grow in all the way (to make the carcass prettier).

 

[Alaskan]

oops! I wrote that entire book, and forgot one reply

Nope, I wouldn't add hay/straw on top of the wood chips. The hay is amazing how it acts like a solid surface, to make the poop into a solid surface of nasty.

Best bet is to add more wood chips on top of the old wood chips (think deep litter method). I never manage a true deep litter, but tossing free nice chips on top of the frozen lump does make everything look better.

The lady I bought my Marans from, says that the twice a winter when the bedding thaws, she runs out and cleans the entire coop out. Wow! Good for her!

Can you get free wood chips in the rest of Alaska?

If I want wood chips bagged, it is $5 per giant black trash bag. If I bag it myself, it is free. I have used hay in the past, since I had horses, but it is NOT a good coop bedding choice.

Truly.

Just toss more chips on top of the old. And, when you are in the mood (and it is warm enough) dig the entire mess out, and start again.

 

[mandelyn]

Alright Alaska, what's it really like up there? PM your response if you like. My brother is hard charging towards a Spring move (he's single, so watch out ladies!) and is working on his gear (proper truck, snow mobile as prices seem better here than there, even with transport/shipping) and he has this plan for DNR land in the Spring/summer, taking a break for winter, then getting back to it the next year.

We're planning a more traditional move, eyeballing the Anchorage/Wasilla/Palmer areas to get started. I'm supposing my brother will want to winter over with us. Is there a certain area more conducive to gardening/farming over other areas? Looks like there are jobs for us, though my brother I think intends to become a full fledged mountain man. It's in his blood. (mine too, but I haven't skinned a muskrat since I was 14)

First we were thinking the Smoky mountains. Then it was Montana. Now the guys are incredibly serious about Alaska. They think it meets all their requirements for outdoor living and being their own people. I'm trying to keep a level head and remain in reality. LOL Excited and scared all at the same time, ready to have a moving sale and sell everything we own. Trading both cars in for one good truck. I don't think the low profile tires on the Mazda will be much good up there, though it does have a manual transmission.

We have time to sort this all out, husband needs to finish out his degree so we're looking at Spring 2015. Brother wants to go like yesterday, but he's trying to contain himself and hold out till Spring.

We watched this documentary and it was so inline to our thinking... but of course it only showed Spring and Summer. It's always been in the backs of our mind, simple living in some far flung place. The shows we watched just brought it forward, made us really take the idea seriously. Absolutely gorgeous up there! I'll be big on fishing, I can already tell. We have a hard time relating to our peers here, supposing they can set their smart phone down long enough to have an actual conversation. It's just so crowded, noisy, no respect for nature. If I say I went for a 30 mile bike ride, I get this cross eyed "why?" look. If I bring up moving to the middle of now where, especially Alaska, that look turns to "You're crazy".

Maybe crazy. I saw this 2 bedroom 1 bath cabin style home on 5 acres, generators, battery bank, green house, outbuildings... $85,000 in the middle of no where and nothing but with some neighbors. I drooled over it, longed for it, saw winter crafts laid out all over the big harvest table it had in it. Does that make me crazy? I was tickled pink that it had a proper bathroom. My brother is talking hand built log cabin and an out house, no proper road to get there for miles. He might just be crazier than I am.

I quit smoking yesterday. I don't want to bring that habit with me if this is what we're doing. Listed some things I know I won't need up there on CL, like the fish tank. Sorting belongings and making checklists. (husband was in the Army for 10 years, I have moving down to a science). I'm prepping for a general move to anywhere really, since nothing is set in stone yet.

Was it really 65-ish everyday all through July this year in Anchorage, or was the website lying to me?

So, what exactly are we getting ourselves into? We tried to get Alaska when he was in the Army, ended up in Germany instead. Then Kentucky, D.C. (talk about over crowded)... but never Alaska like we wanted.

We're moving somewhere, I know that. We're 31 (brother 28) with no kids for any of us, so it's great timing for a move like this. Almost a now or never sort of deal really. I doubt we'd get to it if we really settle in somewhere else.

 

[Alaskan]

Well, you really want to watch where you end up..

No matter where you are in Alaska, make sure the house has good southern exposure.

That is vital.

Cost of living up here in general is pretty high.

Good gardening: you want to look up average highs and lows throughout the year ( I am sure most places in Alaska will have something on the internet with average highs and lows). Each place is different. I am warmer than much of Alaska in the winter, but I am pretty cold all summer long. But elevation makes a big difference too. I am up on top of a hill, so lots of wind and one full month (if not two) more of winter and snow. But, I also get very few mosquitoes.


As to a vehicle, I would pick a Subaru. A Subaru can drive through and out of almost anything. I have scraped almost every spare part off of a Subaru and it still drove perfectly. Because Subarus are so popular up here, it is easy to find a really good mechanic when you need one. I like the older ones better (less computer stuff to mess up), but even the new computer ones are better than anything else I have ever driven. You can get a towing package on a Subaru and a small trailer if you think you will need to do lots of hauling.

A truck really has to be super weighed down in the back to get good stability in the winter. (sand bags, what ever) And I still think that the Subaru just drives better and is much less likely to get stuck.

 

[laseterlass]

I came up from traveling the lower 48 when I was 18 in 1988. I have lived in Soldotna, Chugiak and Anchorage where I am now. To many rules in anchor town BUT it is where I own my home and make the money. My kids are here too and I dont like the idea of them uprooting and following me so I stay FOR NOW. I have chickens a few under cover roos and rabbits in my backyard and I lease a horse at F-J to keep me close to my roots. In my humble opinion. Anchorage is a good place to start. You can travel around and get a lay of the land and still be relatively safe from here. Never underestimate Alaska. You will pay dearly. Spend a summer or two wandering and listening and then decide where you want to be. I personally LOVE Valdez BUT living there would be tough on my family. Still given half a chance? I would sooooo be there.

 

[AKnewbie]

Looking for a female duck or looking to rehome our drake. His buddy just died.
I live in the Kenai peninsula

 

[Alaskan]

Looking for a female duck or looking to rehome our drake. His buddy just died.
I live in the Kenai peninsula

What kind of ducks?

You might want to try craigslist.

Good luck!

I might be able to be talked into parting with one of my muscovy ducks.....but I definitely don't need another male.

 

[mandelyn]

Looks like the Anchorage craigslist was pretty active! My brother was pretty well set on going, but we may end up visiting and not moving. It would be awful hard to leave Dad if we all went.

Brother and I had a long talk and he may see the light on not heading into the bush immediately. He's taking his dogs too, after my blatant refusal to babysit 5 total while he went trekking into the unknown alone, leaving his responsibilities behind. He at least needs the dogs with him, since Alaska has way more than just coyote like we have here.

Sometimes he makes me so worried! He's so responsible, but so bullheaded too. Stubborn enough to make it I think, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid. My cousin is in the coast guard and is stationed up there, so she had a lot of information.

Subaru does make a good car!