Much was made of the day in November 2008 when former Gov. Sarah Palin took the trip to a poultry farm in Wasilla, Alaska, to pardon a turkey. As the cameras rolled, and as Palin chirped about her mission, in the background a man was busy doing what poultry processors do. He was slaughtering a turkey, and it wasn't pretty. When broadcasters aired the footage, many -- though not all -- chose to blur out the bloody scene taking place behind Palin.

What followed for Anthony Schmidt, the owner of Triple D Farm and Hatchery, was not fun. Emails and phone calls and letters poured in, much of them abusive. It was, he said, "a horrible circus." But at least there was a circus, one replete with birds. Now, even if Gov. Sean Parnell feels compelled to act presidential this Thanksgiving, there will be no turkeys to pardon. No birds to free from slaughter. None, at least, that were commercially farmed in the 49th state.

In fact, unless Parnell is willing to root around some back yards, he'd have a darned hard time even finding an Alaska-grown chicken to save.

Alaska once had as many as 81,000 chickens on farms. Now, Triple D was the last commercial poultry farm in the state. It might be best known for its turkeys, but it only sold about 400 of those a year, dwarfing its chicken business. The farm sold about 10,000 dressed chickens a year. Save for some leftover product in the freezer, all those chickens are gone. All the equipment is for sale. All the hard work, years of toiling, "up in smoke."

Schmidt said that he simply couldn't make ends meet. His poultry prices are too high, he said, for what people are willing to pay. It's a bad economy, he said. He had gotten ahead of himself in 2008, right before the crash -- bought more birds than he could sell -- and has been making up for it ever since, even though his turkeys and chickens are widely hailed for their taste.  

Alex Davis with A.D. Farms in Palmer, for one, is considering picking up where Schmidt is leaving off. Davis is, as they say, "vertically integrated," a necessity for small farmers, Davis said. He already has a thriving vegetable farm, sells eggs, and is always selling more and more locally grown pork --often at twice the cost of what you'd find at a grocery story. His customers, though, are willing to pay. 

They find Davis on his farm, or visit him twice a week in the parking lot of the Sears Mall in Midtown Anchorage. Unlike many farmers, Davis knows how to market his products. He's got a website which is continually updated; he collects emails and sends out weekly market reports.

"That one thing that rings most true about my business," he said. "I can never compete with a grocery store on price. But they can never compete with me on quality."

Presumably that would hold true for poultry. But chickens are harder animals to raise for harvest in Alaska. This time -- unlike so many of Alaska's economic impediments -- weather isn't entirely to blame. Neither is the small market. In the Lower 48, small family farms, chicken operations included, are growing rapidly. Locally-grown food is all the rage.

The problem seems more a maze of regulations, coupled with a risk-adverse insurance industry in Alaska, making small poultry farming in Alaska nearly prohibitive.

And then there's also a lack of entrepreneurial flame in Alaska. It's one that's been slowly dimming since the big oil strike in 1968, which provided the state a plethora of high-paying jobs, ensured Alaskans ridiculously low taxes and promised us a check every year just for breathing Alaska air. A check that allows those of us who live near a city to pay $2 a pound for packaged chicken on the way home from work.

Where have all the chickens gone?

Through the 1960s and 1970s, Alaska was home to anywhere from 30,000 to 40,000 chickens, according to statistics kept by the USDA. Then oil arrived, and the state invested millions of dollars in developing an agriculture business in Alaska. By 1982 Alaska was home to about 81,000 chickens, 57,000 of which were classified as "layers" and used primarily to produce eggs.