How old before winter?

[meathook]

I am in the midst of jumping through several hoops with the town to get the OK for chickens. I am feeling pretty positive but I think there may be another month before the process is complete.

We really want the whole chick to egg producing hen experience so my question is this:

We live in Western NY and the winters can be quite cold. How late is too late to start chicks so they will make it through the winter?

 

[tygab]

They need to be fully feathered out, and preferably with some time to grow because they are going through a lot of changes. I am assuming they'll also be outside from ~6 weeks on.

Hopefully some of the experts who've done this will chime in but I am thinking 3 months growing before temps get into freezing at night. So, for your area, probably you've got about 6 wks time, say mid July, if you're starting with day olds.

 

[RRT114]

I live in Pennsylvania......You could get chicks safely until about October. After 6-7 weeks most chicks don't need anymore het, and even if it did get very cold, a lamp would suffice after they are 6-7 weeks until they are mature. I have brooded chicks right through the coldest of winter.