Is it too late to get a few chicks?

I still have 30 coming sometime in Aug. I am not too worried about it- like someone else said the heat lamp will be on for a bit longer but, such is life
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Of course this is my first year raising chickens so you can take my thought with a bit of salt
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I have 40 chicks warming today and 10 that are about 18 weeks old.

Good luck!
 
It's NEVER too late to get chicks!!
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You may have to do some things to make the comfortable, etc. But hey, wouldn't you do that anyway?? just my 2 cents.
 
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I'm in SE Michigan.

I think if you could find some right away, within the next couple of weeks, they would be fine. By the time they're 3 months old, they should be able to handle pretty much anything Mother Nature can throw at us here in the Midwest/Great Lakes, assuming they have proper food, water, and shelter. If they were hatched in August, they would be 3 months old in November before the worst of the cold hits.

I think the other important factor would be to have them used to the outside right away, so that as summer transitions into fall, they can gradually adjust to the cooler and cooler weather. Try to get them out of the warm brooder fairly soon, by the time they're like 4 weeks old, I'd say, at least partially -- they can still have a warm spot to move to when cold, all winter if you like, but they should be mostly spending at least their days in the ambient temperatures. I think if you kept them indoors and warm and then suddenly put them outside in colder weather, like some frosty October nights, THEN you would have problems. But if they are used to it gradually, it should be ok -- kind of the way you never just dump live fish from one temperature water right into another, but float the bag a while to allow temps to equalize.

Good luck, hope you can find some chicks on fairly short notice.

If not, what some of the other posters suggested was good -- try to find some older birds. Look on craigslist or hoobly.com.
 
I have 17 week olds all the way down to 8 weeks. Then we had a freak accident and lost two 8 week olds. So last Monday I ordered 4 Welsmmers from MPC. They shipped out Tuesday Evening and I got them Wed at 9am. They did fine. I was hesitant at first but I didn't want a bigger spread than I already have.

What I have learned now is that the chicks dont need the lamp. I used the lamp the first few days thinking they needed the heat. After 1 day they started sleeping away from the lamp. They will be feathered by the end of September when it gets cooler. We get snow starting in Nov so I may have to worry about a heat source, but with 14 other chickens I think they will be ok.

YMMV
 
For the most part you can order anytime, it depends on what your plan is, what your set up is, do you have a space to keep them warm in the winter? For the most part yes you can, the problem is getting what you want. Check with your hatcherie first.
 

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