Too late to start incubating?

[TheNuttyChick]

How late can you start incubating and it still be in time to set the chicks outside in the coop without it getting too cold in the fall months?​

 

[Ridgerunner]

My brooder is in the coop. If you have electricity out there, they can go in the coop inside the brooder from day 1. You just need to provide a brooder with a heat source and a good draft guard

My brooder is big enough (3' x 6'), has good ventilation up high, and has a good draft guard. I only provide heat at one end and let the rest cool off to ambient, but no breezes are blowing directly on them. Sometimes that ambient is pretty low. You'd be surprised how much time the chicks spend in the cooler sections of the brooder.

Last fall I moved 5 week old chicks from that brooder into a grow-out coop that has no heat source and it was getting into the 40's at night, Then we had a cold snap. When they were 5-1/2 weeks old, the overnight low was in the mid-20's Fahrenheit. I had a good draft guard around them and they were fine.

So how late can you incubate. It depends on your set-up and what you are willing to do. For me, it is never too late.

 

[AlienChick]

If you're brooding outside in the coop without any source of heat, I would suggest hatching them for as long as your temps stay above 80 degrees.

I don't know when temps drop in your area but plan on a 21-day incubation period plus 6 weeks for them to be fully feathered.

If you are providing a source of heat, then you can hatch year-round.

 

[jen85]

As long as you have somewhere with a heat lamp for them, you are fine. I hatched every month last winter! Had chicks in the house always! Lol. My husband was pretty happy when my addiction was over. Just hooked up the incubator to set a new batch.. Had to! My giant blue Cochins started laying eggs!

 

[TheNuttyChick]

Thanks guys!
Only had chickens for a year now, but have become addicted to buying hatching eggs and am driving my hubby nuts!
I kinda figured on hatching until at least the end of August so they will be at least 6 weeks old when I put them in the coop for the colder months.
It starts getting colder around the end of October (40's) here. But we really didn't have much of a winter last year (except for a surprise Halloween snow that melted in no time but took out power for a while).
I'm expecting Chantecler, Breda and Orpington eggs this week, so I want them to be feathered out before it gets too chilly.​