I live in 67 miles south of Fairbanks in a little City (town) Called Nenana, home of the Nenana Ice Classic (tripod)
it was -46 last week here ......but I posted some pics on my BYC pages of the chickens out at -30. they refused to stay in the coop, as their run is covered they wanted to play outside. My coop is insulated, I have a compact Florscent bulb to simulate daylight (that I turn on every morning) and a nice heat lamp that is on 24/7 when below freezing out.
I have about 33 hens and we believe 3 roos (1 for sure he is already crowing). I get 19-24 eggs a day right now and still have pullets that have not started to lay. my coop has only been below 38 F once and that was because the hens broke the bulb. Luckily I had a spare so when I went to turn on the lights & take out a fresh waterer (mine are rotated x2 daily for cleaning) I came back in to get the spare.
when we finish the new coop the spares will be within it!!!! lol
As for gardening, I do that all summer and I bring in large containers in the fall with Tomatoes & Peppers in them, they will continue to grow & produce through next spring (I remember to water them weekly) under Full spectrum lights in my house. So while alot of people are buying Vegetables at a premium mine are still very reasonably priced ( I grew them from seed, watered & feed, now they feed me)...
For some Alaskan Scenery shots including some wildlife you can visit, http://community.webshots.com/user/duchesspandora
it was -46 last week here ......but I posted some pics on my BYC pages of the chickens out at -30. they refused to stay in the coop, as their run is covered they wanted to play outside. My coop is insulated, I have a compact Florscent bulb to simulate daylight (that I turn on every morning) and a nice heat lamp that is on 24/7 when below freezing out.
I have about 33 hens and we believe 3 roos (1 for sure he is already crowing). I get 19-24 eggs a day right now and still have pullets that have not started to lay. my coop has only been below 38 F once and that was because the hens broke the bulb. Luckily I had a spare so when I went to turn on the lights & take out a fresh waterer (mine are rotated x2 daily for cleaning) I came back in to get the spare.
when we finish the new coop the spares will be within it!!!! lol
As for gardening, I do that all summer and I bring in large containers in the fall with Tomatoes & Peppers in them, they will continue to grow & produce through next spring (I remember to water them weekly) under Full spectrum lights in my house. So while alot of people are buying Vegetables at a premium mine are still very reasonably priced ( I grew them from seed, watered & feed, now they feed me)...
For some Alaskan Scenery shots including some wildlife you can visit, http://community.webshots.com/user/duchesspandora
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