Should i get baby chicks now or in April ?

[K9 Handler]

Niko;
I'm in CT also. There is a third option, and one that I'm following. There is a local breeder that will hatch the chicks now and raise them to started pullets and I get them in early April. They are still too young to lay, but they are past the high mortality age.

 

[lazy gardener]

I've never started chicks in the winter but don't see why you couldn't. They start off in a brooder box. If you get a hardy breed you should be fine. I just keep thinking what happened to chicks that were hatched 100 years ago... They had the mother hen...

And, mother hen did not brood them in the winter. Nor did folks 100 years ago brood chicks in their house in the winter then try to acclimate them to a coop in the winter. Yes, they can be started in the winter, but it makes the whole chore of doing so much more difficult.

 

[Folly's place]

Shipping chicks in very cold weather (or in very hot weather) is much more difficult, and more likely to end badly, especially if there are delays at the post office. Then there's that power outage, and being home to get the generator running, or move the chicks elsewhere in a blizzard!
Broody hens do a fine job, not dependent on shipping or electricity.
I get shipped chicks no sooner than early April, and not in July or August. Mary

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hi i was wondering if i should get baby chicks now online and raise them so they will be laying in April/may or should i wait till April when the local feed store sells the chicks there. What's the difference?...

The likely difference is how many live chickens that are laying eggs you'll have in the Spring if you start with December chicks. In fact a more realistic time table for the first egg will be July or August when discussing December chicks.

 

[WhiteRockCrazyBird]

I thought it seemed like a better idea to get chicks now and raise them indoors during the baby age while it's cold outside. In fact, there were chicks available at our farm store today!!! and I almost came home with some, but they didn't have any breeds I wanted. Until reading this thread, it didn't occur to me problems like blizzards, power outages, so that stuff should be considered. I'm sure it's a bit more hands on work without the weather on your side, but if the store had had Ameracaunas, I would have fuzzy chicks at home right now... I wouldn't want to risk having them shipped in the cold temps, though!

 

[Folly's place]

It's hard to pass on cute chicks! I try to avoid the farm stores as much as possible in spring, but it doesn't work. This spring it was Wyandottes, last year Easter Eggers. They add to my flock in good ways. Mary

 

[McClureFlock]

Im raising 4 day old chicks right now outside with mama hen. I won't provide any other hear source. She's got it.

If you are mama hen, so to speak, then you just have to figure all that stuff out, and if you can, go for it. If not, wait till the cold is not a variable that will kill them.

 

[McClureFlock]

And, mother hen did not brood them in the winter. Nor did folks 100 years ago brood chicks in their house in the winter then try to acclimate them to a coop in the winter. Yes, they can be started in the winter, but it makes the whole chore of doing so much more difficult.

Well, evolution is on the move, because mama hen has 4 tiny chicks outside right now. I didn't do a thing.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Niko;
I'm in CT also. There is a third option, and one that I'm following. There is a local breeder that will hatch the chicks now and raise them to started pullets and I get them in early April. They are still too young to lay, but they are past the high mortality age.

But then you are integrating pullets, and quarantine comes to mind...

Gary

 

[Elmochook]

I was going to wait till spring for new babies... Then i walked in the room and hubby asked what kind of chicks i wanted for Christmas... Lmfao. I live in texas so I'm not gonna worry about the winter for them. I probably wouldn't get babies now if i had any type of winter like yall though.