Is it too late in the season?

[Blooie]

I always get my chicks in spring....and around here we are still in the teens and twenties with snow. <sigh> One year we got our last snowfall on June 6th. If I waited until temperatures were "appropriate for raising chicks" I'd have a very small window indeed. And I brood outdoors from the start, just as @lazy gardener outlined in the second scenario. I haven't lost a chick yet and this is the only way I raise them.

Your best bet is to spend the fall and winter getting things ready. They grow fast...even if you opt to brood in the house, you are still going to have to put them out eventually, and it ain't gonna get any warmer out there as the weeks go by. I know, I know - I'm the same way...get an idea and dive in with both feet. I have to do this Now Now Now. But if I've learned one thing in this chicken stuff, it's patience.....(well, not very well but better than I used to be.) You have to wait to get your facilities for them built. You have to wait until it's practical to raise chicks. Then you get them, and often you are sitting at the side of the brooder waiting for one little weak one to get better. You put them outside when the big day comes, and you have to wait a few days for them to establish their new routine and get used to their new world. You wait to see if the coop you built is actually going to work the way you envisioned, and you wait until you have a little spare cash to change what needs it. You wait to find out which are boys and which are girls. And THEN you wait for that first egg. The first year is "The Wait Year."

In MA where you are the snow can get pretty deep I understand. So when you do your build, think about little things.....how far you'll have to trudge through to get your chores done....f you can build with some southern exposure to take advantage of the low sun....water....can you get power to it if you need it....can you build a run that you can cover at least partially for a relatively dry area outside so they don't have to be "cooped up" all winter. It's a lot to think about, but you have time!

In the meantime, there are tons of folks here on BYC in "wait mode" right along with you. If you plan to order from a mail order hatchery, keep an eye on your decided site to see when the kinds of chicks you want are available and order early! Most hatcheries let you order early and don't ship until the date you specify, and more desirable or unique varieties sell out early.

Good luck! Keep us posted on your progress, and ask tons of questions!

 

[torretornado]

I always get my chicks in spring....and around here we are still in the teens and twenties with snow. One year we got our last snowfall on June 6th. If I waited until temperatures were "appropriate for raising chicks" I'd have a very small window indeed. And I brood outdoors from the start, just as @lazy gardener outlined in the second scenario. I haven't lost a chick yet and this is the only way I raise them. Your best bet is to spend the fall and winter getting things ready. They grow fast...even if you opt to brood in the house, you are still going to have to put them out eventually, and it ain't gonna get any warmer out there as the weeks go by. I know, I know - I'm the same way...get an idea and dive in with both feet. I have to do this Now Now Now. But if I've learned one thing in this chicken stuff, it's patience.....(well, not very well but better than I used to be.) You have to wait to get your facilities for them built. You have to wait until it's practical to raise chicks. Then you get them, and often you are sitting at the side of the brooder waiting for one little weak one to get better. You put them outside when the big day comes, and you have to wait a few days for them to establish their new routine and get used to their new world. You wait to see if the coop you built is actually going to work the way you envisioned, and you wait until you have a little spare cash to change what needs it. You wait to find out which are boys and which are girls. And THEN you wait for that first egg. The first year is "The Wait Year." In MA where you are the snow can get pretty deep I understand. So when you do your build, think about little things.....how far you'll have to trudge through to get your chores done....f you can build with some southern exposure to take advantage of the low sun....water....can you get power to it if you need it....can you build a run that you can cover at least partially for a relatively dry area outside so they don't have to be "cooped up" all winter. It's a lot to think about, but you have time! In the meantime, there are tons of folks here on BYC in "wait mode" right along with you. If you plan to order from a mail order hatchery, keep an eye on your decided site to see when the kinds of chicks you want are available and order early! Most hatcheries let you order early and don't ship until the date you specify, and more desirable or unique varieties sell out early. Good luck! Keep us posted on your progress, and ask tons of questions!

Omg, I read your posts on mama heating pad! You're like a BYC legend. I'm kinda honored right now.

I have someone rather local to get chicks from and that's exciting. Husband said the coop is going to be built next weekend. I'm really hashing about details of the coop and logistics with him, now. Thankfully, we have a dog and that means we have to shovel some areas for her anyway and we will shovel around a path so I can get out there and tend them. Ideas for covering the coop? My husband could probably cover it with roofing rubber. He always has rolls of that on hand! I have to figure out which way is south in my yard.

 

[Blooie]

Omg, I read your posts on mama heating pad! You're like a BYC legend. I'm kinda honored right now.

I have someone rather local to get chicks from and that's exciting. Husband said the coop is going to be built next weekend. I'm really hashing about details of the coop and logistics with him, now. Thankfully, we have a dog and that means we have to shovel some areas for her anyway and we will shovel around a path so I can get out there and tend them.

Ideas for covering the coop? My husband could probably cover it with roofing rubber. He always has rolls of that on hand! I have to figure out which way is south in my yard.

Oh my goodness! I wouldn't say "legend".....a pain in the hiney would be much more like it! But thank you, what a kind thing to say. I'm going to print that out and hang it on the refrigerator to remind Ken of my status! Anybody got a blushing chicken emjoi?

The roofing on your coop is entirely up to you - your skill level, your time, and your budget. We didn't have much of any of those so we just used roll roofing and sealed the seams and edges with roofing tar. Not real imaginative, but effective. On the run, which is where they spend their time if they aren't wandering around the yard, we have a summer cover and a winter cover. Now, bear in mind that despite the immediate picture that comes to mind when someone says they live in Wyoming, we aren't all snowcapped mountains and forests. Our area is semi-desert so we don't get much rain in the summer. Snow we get.....nothing like moisture when the gardens aren't growing anyway, huh?

On the run, in summer we use landscape fabric - the stuff that's brown on one side and black on the other with little holes dotted all over it and not the kind that you can see fibers in.A roll lasts a couple of seasons, and if it does get ripped we just take it off and put on a new piece. Our run is a hoop run, so Ken stands on one side and tosses the roll over. My job is to catch in. I know, hard work but somebody's got to do it. We roll the edge at the top and bottom of the sides with this metal lath that is premade with holes every couple of inches, secure it to the wire of the run, and use it like a window shade. We can roll it up or down. In winter we use a mesh reinforced plastic greenhouse type tarp, but don't seal it up all the way. The bottom on the west and east side (the long side) are about 6 inches above the litter level, the south side is done as a separate piece that we can roll up or down, depending on the day's weather, and the north side has a large gap above the people door. Ventilation is just as important in the winter as in the summer, and the first year we tried the plastic we made the mistake of sealing the run completely. Dumb, dumb, dumb. We had condensation literally running down the sides on the inside and dripping on our heads when we went out there to work.

You'll find the south side, I promise. Look for moss...oh, wait....around here the stupid trees didn't read the boy scout handbook....well, you'll find it! You can see our coop build by clicking on My Coop under my gorgeous photo....we have since expanded it and on the 12th of October of this year it looked liked this:


That's it behind the trellis....

 

[torretornado]

I pulled in my driveway and realized where south is!

My car came in handy! Haha!

 

[centrarchid]

Is it too late in the season to get chicks? I'm in MA, I've read chickens don't do well with extreme temp changes, would I be better off waiting till Spring?

Let there be no doubt raising chicks in winter is more complicated and stressful for all parties involved. You have already stirred up a lot of help from people who can provide experienced based direction. Your timing is also the most problematic when it comes to time they will be transitioned to out doors in your location. That being said, even as novice you can pull it off.

I will emphasize a couple points others have not covered yet. First, you want bodies and head covered completely in feathers. Then there is also the issue of feather quality in addition to that assumed state of coverage. I would make brooder so it is over sized and includes a place where they can dust bath under a heating light source. That will promote pelage (body feather management). Regardless of whether you employ the heat lamp or heat pad method, start allowing the ambient temperature in your garage to drop so they can acclimate to the lower temperatures. Acclimation is important. I would also setup so they have a box stuff with some straw that you get them to sleep in at night while in the brooder. They ideally will be doing that while in the brooder. When birds moved from brooder to coop, move the box with them. Objective for me is to have young ground nesting birds imprinted on that box so they will use naturally when moved to outdoor quarters. The sleeping in box will help them stay warm at night through buddy system plus further block wind.

Do move during a warm spell, not when you expect record cold or fierce blizzard conditions. Young birds can be lost or damaged (frost bite).

Carefully monitor feather health at all times as under your winter climate it can have significant impacts on health and potentially survival if you have a blizzard event. Keep your head in game when it comes to things like grit and water as both essential for young birds to process larger amounts of feed needed to support growth and simply staying warm when temperatures are low.

 

[torretornado]

This is my backyard. I was thinking of putting the coop close to the deck, I can run an extension cord if need be for whatever.

 

[centrarchid]

Wind breaks and allowing winter sun to get into where birds are would be first considerations.

 

[junebuggena]

Ok, so, going to talk this one through to make sure I understand it correctly.

Dog crate, wrapped with tighter chicken wiring to prevent chicks from escaping, solid flooring of some sort, hay/bedding over that.

Use wiring and electrical tape to cover any sharp areas, form a "cave-like" structure. Add a flexible heating pad and then some hay over the cave. Water and food that is accessible to the chicks, enough space for them to venture out into the crate when needed.

Does that sound right?

That is exactly right. You do need to make sure the heating pad is one that won't automatically shut off though. I don't have a safe way to run electricity to my coop, so I do brood in an unfinished room next to the garage.
This my brooder setup.


Less than 24 hours old, under their 'momma'.
By 2.5 weeks old, they start going out for short field trips to the grow out coop. By 4 weeks old, they are outdoors full time without heat.

 

[torretornado]

Wind breaks and allowing winter sun to get into where birds are would be first considerations.

My porch faces south. I'm going to watch the yard and see where most sun is.

 

[torretornado]

That is exactly right. You do need to make sure the heating pad is one that won't automatically shut off though. I don't have a safe way to run electricity to my coop, so I do brood in an unfinished room next to the garage. This my brooder setup. Less than 24 hours old, under their 'momma'. By 2.5 weeks old, they start going out for short field trips to the grow out coop. By 4 weeks old, they are outdoors full time without heat.

Ohhhhhh cuteness!