Chicks in the fall?

[SunnySkies]

I just go fabulous news about our farmette purchase -- looks like it is a go! We are supposed to close in just over 2 weeks.

But I doubt I would be ready for chickens right away, as first and foremost, I need to get the fencing ready for the horses so I can move them and my family (right now the horses are in a self care barn near our current home. New house is an hour away, and it makes no sense to move people before horses...would make caring for them twice a day every day super hard).

Thus, this means I might not be ready to get chickens until August or so. Is it even worth getting chicks then, or should I hold off until next year? I want Swedish Flowers, and I haven't seen any pullets or older chicks, just hatching eggs and chicks. I do have some things I can brood them in, but I'm more wondering if it worth overwintering chickens that should be old enough to start laying in the dead of winter. Wasn't planning to put a light in the henhouse. Does this even make sense? lol

 

[sarah92107]

congrats on your new purchase. Where is the new farmette?
I'm in California, not much of a winter here to worry about.

 

[3LilBirds]

Depending on where you are located I would personally wait until spring if you get chicks, if you can't get them now. I'm in SoCal and I bought mine in Feb. but they stayed in my house for the first almost 3 months. Congrats on the new place though that is awesome! We've been looking for a place, they are kind of hard to find right now. Also some chickens tend to be more fragile then others. I would also put some sort of light in the coop especially if it gets cold by you in the winter. I'm a bit over protective though... lol

 

[SunnySkies]

We are in Maryland. It can be brutally cold with lots of snow, or it can be incredibly mild. Last winter was almost nonexistent, but in 2009 we had feet of snow with blizzards.

I think what I will do is spend the winter building a coop and run and then get chicks or hatch eggs late winter or early spring. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to feed chickens for months they won't be producing. I grew up on a farm, and my dad was always going on about productivity. He was always annoyed about my horses that only were for trail riding. But I guess some of his thoughts stuck with me, lol.