Lots of good advice on here already. Just wanted to add that it's not crazy at all to raise fall chicks for laying. I live in Maine now and have raised chickens here and in the high rockies and I actually prefer fall chicks over spring ones, mainly because fall chicks start laying right when the weather warms up in the spring and will lay heavy for the whole season and then molt or slow down in the fall/winter. With spring chicks, you are sometimes waiting until half the season is already over to get your first egg and then sometimes they don't start laying heavy until even later than that, and by the time winter comes they would have more first-season eggs to give if the weather and light didn't force them to slow down. Eventually a chicken will be able to adapt and get their cycle in tune with the seasons, but for the first couple years (ie. the years that really count IMO), I really notice a difference in production with spring vs fall chicks. And the numbers tend to agree.
Not to mention, we usually have so much to deal with in the spring, any labor intensive activity we can move to the late fall is welcome. We usually get our fall chicks after the August turkey poults move out of the brooder (mid septemberish), but you could safely get them as late as mid October (depending on how far north you are) and be fine. Generally colder and wetter weather than spring brooding, but if your brooder is water tight and your heat source is strong enough, you shouldn't have any problems. Cheers!
