I currently have 6 laying hens and 2 roos. I am getting the itch to have more
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I know I don't have the set up to hatch them out, so, ordering chicks seems the way to go. Since there is a minimum size order, I will talk to my neighbor and see if they want to add to their chickens.
It is winter, and I know we can't get them in the winter. But, it is still cold up here in the spring- what temp outside does it have to be so they don't freeze to death in the mail?? How long do I have to wait to order them this spring. Then, they spend the whole summer growing up and are old enough to lay just when they all stop laying (we don't light the coop- they get the winter off). How do you work around that? Just raise them the first year then let them start laying as yearlings? Order them in the fall and keep them in the house all winter? (I don't think that will work for SO). I just can't seem to plan this out so it works right.

I know I don't have the set up to hatch them out, so, ordering chicks seems the way to go. Since there is a minimum size order, I will talk to my neighbor and see if they want to add to their chickens.
It is winter, and I know we can't get them in the winter. But, it is still cold up here in the spring- what temp outside does it have to be so they don't freeze to death in the mail?? How long do I have to wait to order them this spring. Then, they spend the whole summer growing up and are old enough to lay just when they all stop laying (we don't light the coop- they get the winter off). How do you work around that? Just raise them the first year then let them start laying as yearlings? Order them in the fall and keep them in the house all winter? (I don't think that will work for SO). I just can't seem to plan this out so it works right.