Worried about time-wise & New England winter

[nfwc1964]

We're almost done building our coop and are about to place an order for day-old chicks. Our concern is will there be enough time from early August until the New England cold hits for these chicks to mature & handle it??

Breeds are:
Australorp
Brahma
Cornish
Dominique
Jersey Giant
Sussex
Welsumer

Any input/information will be greatly appreciated

Nancy

 

[Debbi]

I'm pretty sure you'll be ok there. The real cold doesn't really set in till November, does it? Even if they are younger than that, at 4-5 weeks of age they will be fully feathered and able to stand the cold pretty well. Make sure the coop is ventilated, but draft-free! Lots of bedding in case they want to snuggle in until they can roost. I don't worry about the cold as much as I do the heat. All of my birds do much better in the cold. If you get a real cold snap, you can always put a heat source in the coop for them, like a 100watt bulb. I hate those 250watt red heat lamps! I've heard of too many fires started with those! All those breeds should do quite well with the cold.