Is it too late in the season?

[Ridgerunner]

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.

How old are the chicks you are getting?

 

[torretornado]

How old are the chicks you are getting?

They'd be pretty New. Maybe 1 -2 weeks at most

 

[torretornado]

That's if everything pans out

 

[centrarchid]

Age could be more complicated than that. They are ahead of youngest broods I have going into winter.

 

[3riverschick]

I am telling you you will be sad if you build other than a woods open air coop.. Pick your rosecomb or cushion comb breed. I don't care what anyone else says. Blooie is right. now is not the time of year for chicks. wait till spring when they can grow according to the natural cycle of life. I have been in poultry on and off for about 11 years. made a lot of mistakes and had some fine victories. this is not a mistake you want to make. Look up the Prince Woods book on Hathi Trust Digital Library website and see the fascinating physics behind its construction which make it so excellent for any clime with very cold winters. I am in western PA and replacing all my coops with Woods coops after the polar vortexes kept freezing all the combs on my birds. Its all about the physics of air flow related to the actual dimensions of the coop. Dr. Woods was a genius in coop design.
Yes, I am once again waiting for my new birds. They will be here next Aug and well worth waiting for. And the new Woods coops will be waiting for them.
Sincerely,
Karen

 

[JennaMW14]

If I we're you I'd wait to Spring, but spring is just as dangerous! Racoons and other animals wake in the spring and wake HUNGRY...found that out the hard way, I loss my whole flock almost.

 

[centrarchid]

A lot of us do rear chicks in winter prior to spring. I do so routinely with American Dominiques. A major reason behind it is you can get pullets into lay before molt of older birds and the young pullets will lay right through that period. Yes, it is a headache and you need to be more prepared. When comes to concerns about predation, seasonality is not all that important when birds already confined.

As soon as you start using brooders, confinement and feeds, you are already uncoupling from nature anyway.

 

[torretornado]

​I am telling you you will be sad if you build other than a woods open air coop.. Pick your rosecomb or cushion comb breed. I don't care what    anyone else says. Blooie is right. now is not the time of year for chicks. wait till spring when they can grow according to the natural cycle of life. I have been in poultry on and off for about 11 years. made a lot of mistakes and had some fine victories. this is not a mistake you want to make. Look up the Prince Woods book on Hathi Trust Digital Library website and see the fascinating physics behind its construction which make it so excellent for any clime with very cold winters. I am in western PA and replacing all my coops with Woods coops after the polar vortexes kept freezing all the combs on my birds. Its all about the physics of air flow related to the actual dimensions of the coop. Dr. Woods was a genius in coop design.
Yes, I am once again waiting for my new birds. They will be here next Aug and well worth waiting for. And the new Woods coops will be waiting for them.
 Sincerely,
 Karen

Single comb won't work? Or is that similar? I'm researching and single comb looks much larger

 

[Ridgerunner]

Once they are feathered out the risk to healthy chickens in freezing weather is not that they will freeze to death, but the danger from frostbite. Ventilation is directly related to frostbite risk. People in Georgia have caused frostbite on their chickens by keeping the coop so airtight the moisture from their breathing, their poop, waterers, or other sources can’t escape. People a lot further north than Massachusetts don’t have problems with frostbite. Frostbite normally affects the comb and wattles.

There are many different types and sizes of combs on chickens, single, rose, pea, cushion, and walnut being a few. Some single combs are quite large, some not so much. Some walnut combs are large, others not so much. The larger the comb the more susceptible the comb is to frostbite. The same is true of the wattles. Some people keep single combed chickens through weather colder than you will see and don’t have those problems. Some people with chickens with smaller combs still get frostbite. There are different factors involved. But a chicken with a smaller comb has less chance of getting frostbite than one with a larger comb.

It’s like a lot of things to do with chickens. It is not that all single combed chickens will get frostbite while a pea combed chicken will never get frostbite. It’s more of a probability. The smaller combed chickens are less likely to get frostbite in freezing weather. You are playing the odds.

 

[Blooie]

Sure, you can raise chickens with larger combs in cold climates....I do. They (the combs, not the whole chicken) are more prone to frostbite but that's very manageable with excellent ventilation year round so moisture from poop, breath, and water doesn't settle on them. If you only have a few birds, it's not that difficult to dab those combs and wattles with a little Vaseline or Bag Balm.

That said, I really like my Easter Eggers for several reasons - I've found them to be personable with so many variations in color and the small, tight combs are a bonus. They aren't prolific layers, but they are steady (except for Dumb Daphne the Flock Complainer) but I'm not looking for egg laying Pez dispensers anyway. My grandkids are crazy about how pretty they are and love the blue and blueish green eggs. They do extremely well in our wild Wyoming winters and equally as well in our hot, dry summers. I'll never be without some of them in my flock. Some others that I like for cold hardiness are Brahmas...good layers of brown eggs, small combs, big bodies and very adaptable to cold. They are gentle and gorgeous, too, regardless of what color you get. But they don't do as well in summer, and those feathered legs can make a mess out of eggs in the nests if they drag stuff in there when they go in to lay.

There are always tradeoffs. Every owner will tell you that they have the "best breed" of chicken, but what is great for one might not be for another. So keep researching and if you find a breed or variety that suits you in every way, don't let the comb prevent you from enjoying them.

Edited to add: Yeah, what @Ridgerunner said!