How old should chicks be before they can handle the cold?

[lizm1221]

New to raising chickens with so many questions! We have been thinking about getting some chicks for awhile, and I guess we thought too long. At this point, most suppliers can't get our chicks to us until the end of July. We live in the northeast so by the end of October/early November it's likely to be at or below freezing at night. The chicks would be 14/15 weeks old by then, would they be ok to survive the winter at that age or do we need to find chicks somewhere else that would be older by winter?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Your chicks will be adults by the time winter really sets in. They will be just fine. Chickens have down coats and your chicks will be fully feathered by September. No problems. Cold doesn't bother chickens nearly as much as severe heat.

 

[Battlechicken]

Mine are 8 weeks old now and last night was the first night i left them without the light...I was a little nervous but it only got down to 45 hahah...needless to say they all made it through the night