Winter Chicks

[Manhen]

I was wondering what success folks have had ordering and raising chicks. I am Midwest and winter temps occasionally get below 20F and sometimes below 10F (prolly 2 times a year) for short periods.
I have a well insulated shop and a galvanized 6' oval stock tank as a brooder with heat lamp.
There will be a fair number of them, 30 maybe.

 

[B-Goock]

Honestly i wouldn't try ordering them during winter. 2 days of shipping and no control of temperature. Day olds need about 90 degrees.

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

I had ordered my chicks during February of last year. In NJ, we do have a fair bit of cold days, usually in the 20s and low thirty's, sometimes in the teens, so we ordered them later in the winter. I kept them in an unused room; with a very large pen, until they were at least 6-8 weeks old. I had ordered about 16 (this number increased because we bought a few more chicks a few weeks later). A stock tank won't really fit all of them after a few weeks, so you should try to get a bigger enclosure. My chicks were in a pretty cold room, about 45-54 degrees, so once they were around 5 weeks old, we started moving the heat lamp away gradually until there was no heat. We then opened a window gradually to get them used to outdoor temps. This worked well and by the beginning of April, we had them outside full time. Some people do brood their chicks outdoors using a coop or shed with a heat lamp or chick heat plate, but there are the risks of fires. We ordered from Cackle Hatchery in Missouri, which is closer to you than it is to me. I got them in about 24 hours after hatching. Chick casualties during transit is higher that it is in another season, partly because chicks need a lot of warmth, especially during their first few days. I would suggest that you order your chicks around maybe late February, towards the end of winter, so that they can go into their coop when things start warming up, because keeping them in for even 8 weeks is a lot of dust and stink.

 

[B-Goock]

The problem I've had is shipping issues. No telling the temps they were subjected to and for how long.

 

[Manhen]

Hmm. Meyer said they are great at it. My shop is 1000 sq. ft. with propane heat and crossflow windows. Several rolls of various sized fences. Meyer said that they have a 48 hour survival guarantee. I don't know if that is after shipping or after hatching or after receipt. I would think it is the latter. I don't want a divorce. Ups and downs here.

 

[pitterpat4353]

Hmm. Meyer said they are great at it. My shop is 1000 sq. ft. with propane heat and crossflow windows. Several rolls of various sized fences. Meyer said that they have a 48 hour survival guarantee. I don't know if that is after shipping or after hatching or after receipt. I would think it is the latter. I don't want a divorce. Ups and downs here.

I just had 21 chicks arrive from Meyer Hatchery to Colorado. It was middle of November and they arrived at 48 hours after hatch, all alive. I did lose 3 the next 3 nights due to my setup in the garage wasn't warm enough and we had a blizzard with 16 inches of snow and freezing temps. Changed the location to a more insulated area and they are all thriving now. Trying to figure out where to put them in the next couple of weeks when it will still be cold, but they will have outgrown the broder setup. They were cold when they arrived, so be sure to have the brooder area "pre-warmed" for them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Meyer said that they have a 48 hour survival guarantee. I don't know if that is after shipping or after hatching or after receipt. I would think it is the latter. I don't want a divorce. Ups and downs here.

All that means is they'll reimburse you for any losses, or possibly replace them if there's a large number of losses. They can't promise they'll all make it. You're taking a known risk by ordering in winter and because of that, there's some places that will not ship in cold weather or will delay it until temperatures are looking a bit better.

If you are going to order anyway and it sounds like these chickens are for your wife or maybe the kids, I'd suggest you open the box first to make sure she doesn't see any birds that didn't make it.

 

[Manhen]

Kids are grown, I am semi-retired. Mostly the eggs from our flock are for our table, the neighbors and food pantry. It keeps me busy. Just not enough blue eggs....