Hatching During Cold Weather

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.  Psalm 8:1

It's common knowledge that most people hatch their chicks out during the spring.  Feed stores and farm supply stores are peeping with bins of tiny little chicks.

There's no question about why spring is the most popular time to hatch chicks.  The warmer temperatures outside are much more chick-friendly.  It's much easier and safer to keep chicks in an outdoor brooder in the warm weather.  If the chicks are indoors, there's no long term commitments to keeping the chicks inside since the outdoor temperatures allow them to go outside sooner.  And spring is the time when God designed chicks to be hatched.  Hence the reason hens go broody in the spring.

Cold weather months can be brutal, even fatal, for new chicks.  So, why would anyone choose to hatch chicks during this time of year?

Maybe they're just crazy?

Maybe they have a hatching addiction?

Or maybe they know something that others don't know?

Explanation 

Hatching chicks out in the fall or even the winter has some benefits that are often overlooked.

Most chickens don't begin laying eggs until they are 4-6 months old, depending on the breed.  If chicks hatch in May, they will be laying age sometime between September and November.  They may start producing eggs then and, if they do, they could possibly lay all winter.

But at that time of the year, the chickens could decide it's too late to start laying and, instead, hold onto those eggs until the following spring.  In this case, the chickens will be one year old before they start producing eggs.  It's not at all unheard of for this to happen.  It's actually quite common.

In this case, what are the chickens doing for that first year of life?  Well, they aren't really contributing to the egg production of the flocks, that's for sure.  They are eating and growing and, what chicken keepers call "free loading".  And that's okay if you want them for pest control or want their manure for your compost or you are working them in the garden after the growing season is finished.  They do have many uses apart from eggs.  But if you are using them primarily for eggs, it's not so great having to wait one whole year to get the eggs.

On the other hand, if you hatch chicks out in, say, November, they will be egg laying age between March and May and produce all summer long and possibly all winter if they are a breed that is known to do so.  (Many breeds will lay all winter during their first year unless they are just reaching laying age during their first winter.  If they reach laying age during their first winter, they may not start laying until spring.)

If you're in it for the eggs, having eggs during that first year is a huge plus.

While other people are just getting their chicks, and will be waiting for up to a year to get their first egg, you are already enjoying the eggs from your flock.

Before you jump

Now, while this may seem like a fantastic idea, there are some things you need to consider before you dive in and start hatching those eggs in the cold months.

Remember the time of year.  We aren't talking about sunny, 70 degree days.  We are potentially talking about freezing cold, snow, ice, and all that comes along with winter.

These babies can not go outside in this kind of weather.  At least, not for a while.  The chicks will need to be fully feathered before they go outside and that takes time.  Chicks grow very quickly in size, but their feathering takes a while.  Many breeds are fully feathered at around 6 weeks while some can take 12 weeks to fully feather out.  Until then, they will require a source of heat in the winter months.  Where will you keep the chicks for that long?

A cardboard box in the house may be ideal for a few weeks in the spring, but this is a two to three month commitment in the winter.  Do you have space inside for these rather large babies for that long?  If you don't give them adequate space, they may become agitated and start fighting and pecking each other.

They also smell.  You don't have ventilation in your house like a chicken coop has so the smell is going to be worse and faster inside the house than it would be outside in a coop.

Chicks can be messy, so for two to three months, you will have to stay on top of cleaning that box.  Depending on the space and the number of chicks, it may need to be cleaned every day or every other day, but I wouldn't recommend less than once a week (at the very bare minimum).  Unsanitary conditions can cause disease and that isn't something anyone wants to deal with.

Chicks also create a lot of dust.  This is mostly from the chicks dust-bathing in the bedding in the brooder.  It's normal and definitely something you want them to do, but it does cause a dusty mess around the brooder box and can even coat an entire room in a layer a dust.  If you're using a heat lamp, it will become dusty in no time and will need to be wiped off every day regardless of the number of chicks that you have.  Dust on a heat lamp is the perfect recipe for a house fire.  So PLEASE keep that lamp wiped off daily!

If you have an outdoor building, you can put the chicks in it, but you will still have to have a source of heat for the chicks.  And you will need a backup plan regardless of where the chicks are at in case the electricity is knocked out for some reason (snow storm, ice, fallen trees, etc.).  The chicks will not survive without heat if the electricity is off for too long.

Once the chicks are old enough and full feathered, you'll need to wean them off the heat lamp.  The way I do this, is to slowly reduce the temperature in the broody until it matches the temperature outside.  This may be done by putting the chicks in a coop outside and putting a heat lamp inside the coop or by putting the chicks in an unheated part of your house such as a basement or garage.  Once they are fully acclimated to the outdoor temperatures, they are ready to go outside.  (**Be sure to check the post about how to introduce new chickens to an existing flock before turning the new chicks loose in the coop with older chickens.**)

Some people say that spring chicks tend to be in better health than fall or winter chicks while others say that the cold weather helps the chicks to be more hardy in following years.  I have hatched chicks in the spring and in the middle of winter and I haven't found it to matter in the way of health or vigor of the chicks.  They seem to have all done just as well as the rest.

So, hatching chicks during the cold months isn't necessarily any different than brooding chicks during the spring in the way of the amount of work.  It is, however, a longer process since they will require you to keep them inside (whether it be inside your house or inside an outdoor building) and under a heat lamp for a longer period of time and it is more of a space commitment since they may be quite large before it is safe to put them outside.

Compromise

If you don't think you can handle the added work and time of hatching during the winter months, I'd recommend hatching in early fall or in late winter.  If you hatch in early fall, the chicks will have enough time to get all their feathers in before winter hits.  If you hatch in late winter, hatch about six to eight weeks or so before the last expected frost.  This way, you can get the chicks outside a little earlier, but after the threat of freezing has passed.  For me, I have found this to be a great compromise.  You can still get an early start on your spring chicks, but not so early that you add a lot to your work load.

I hope this helps.  Happy hatching!!  :)