Just a simple question

[countrygirl911]

i was wondering when not to get more chicks this year so that when it gets cold here they will not be out in the cold at a yound age i have a coop that will be warm but i just do not want small ones out there to make sure they do not get sick or die from the cold i live in southwest mississippi it usually does not get cold till november but latly the weather has been crazy with the hottest summer ever and this past winter it snowed 3 times alt least 4 inches each tine once in feb which is not normal for us. i looking to hatcha a few this summer but do not know when to start we are going on vacation on july 11, 12 and 13 be back on the 14th should i wait to hatch a few sweet babies when we get back but will they be big enough to go outside in the winter. i hope i have not confuseed anyone with my questions i just want to keep my chickens safe and not have little ones in the coop when it comes winter time. Also my little incubator comes in the mail today i bought a small one that hold 4 eggs since we only wont to do it once so my kids can have the experience of seeing a baby chick born after that i am going to donate it to the kids school so that a class room and teach their students about baby chicks also.

 

[jossanne]

I'm in southern NM where it's plenty warm in the summer and cold in the winter. Maybe similar to your temps, but with not much humidity. I've gotten chicks as late as October 22, and moved them outside in the middle of December, and they've done well. I don't think I'd get them that late again, though, as I kept them in the house until they were pretty big and stinky. I'd probably not get chicks past September.

Have fun with the incubator. I bet when the chicks have hatched, you'll donate that one to the school and buy a bigger one for yourself...

 

[gryeyes]

I got my very first chickens as 3 day old chicks during the month of October. I added a couple each week, too, up to the entire month of October. So, when the first ones were 8 weeks old, there were still several chicks younger than that... so I kept them inside until ALL of them were 8 weeks old. This meant there were some 12 week old chicks, 11 week old chicks, some 9 week old chicks, and two eight week old chicks.

I just put the heat lamp in the coop with them for the nights - it was a pretty cold late December & early January, here in California. (No laughing - we actually DID reach 28 degrees a couple of nights!)

Then I got more chicks this spring.... and all in all, I think spring and summer chicks are easier to handle than autumn and winter chicks. But it can be done! Probably best not to get any after Labor Day or so.....