When to buy baby chicks: The simple calculation to find which day is best for you
So, you’ve finally committed to adding chicks to your life (so exciting!), and now you need to figure out exactly when to get them.
Too early and your chicks will outgrow their brooder before they’re ready to be moved outside. Too late and you’ll be risking health problems in your chicks.
So where exactly is that sweet spot where your chicks will be both at their healthiest and ready to move outside as soon as they feather out?
Here’s the short answer:
Spring is the best time to get chicks, typically April. Mail-order chicks must be shipped late enough they won’t be delayed by inclement weather, and ~6 weeks before outdoor daytime temperatures are 70-75°F and nighttime temperatures are 40-50°F or higher.
Let me first explain why spring is the best time to order chicks (there are so many reasons!), and then I’ll help you calculate the perfect time for you to buy chicks where you live.
By the time you finish this post, you’ll know the exact week to get your chicks! (The exact day of that week depends on which day your hatchery hatches and ships. This varies depending on the hatchery).
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9 reasons why you should buy your baby chicks in the spring
#1 Hens lay the healthiest eggs in the spring.
I know it may sound strange, but roosters and hens actually create the healthiest embryos in the spring.
This is likely due to the fact that the springtime is the “natural” time for chickens to hatch and raise babies. Although most domestic chickens have been bred to lay eggs year-round, in the wild, chickens only lay eggs a couple of times a year. Hens are most likely to hatch and raise chicks in the spring.
In the spring, chickens are no longer stressed by the cold winter weather, and their hormones are going wild!
#2 Some chicken breeds only lay eggs in the springtime.
Although the most common chickens have been bred to lay eggs year-round, some of the more ornamental breeds still only lay during the spring months. This is particularly true of some breeds with a game heritage, such as Malays or Sumatras.
And some breeds, like the adorable Sebrights, have roosters that are only fertile in warmer weather.
Sebright roosters are infertile in cold temperatures.
For these reasons, some of the breeds you want may only be available in the spring.
#3 You can get the exact breeds you want.
The demand for chicks is much higher in the springtime than during any other time of year. This means that the selection of breeds you can buy is at its very highest in the spring. In the off-season, your chicken breed choices may be highly limited.
#4 Your spring chicks will develop better immunity against diseases.
Again, this may sound strange, but chicks raised in the spring are more likely to remain disease-free. This is simply because the weather is still cool enough to keep disease-causing pathogens in check.
Chicks can be very susceptible to certain illnesses in their first months of life. For example, the parasites that cause the disease, Coccidiosis, are widespread outdoors. Chicks need to develop immunity to these organisms gradually. Too many Coccidia parasites at once may kill your chicks.
Coccidia concentrations are lower in the soil during the cooler months, and higher during the warmer months. For that reason, chicks raised in the spring are less likely to develop Coccidiosis than are chicks raised in the summer—they get a more gradual exposure!
#5 Chicks raised in the spring are ready to move outside as soon as they are fully feathered.
If you order your chicks in the autumn or winter, your chicks won’t be able to move outside when they’re fully feathered. The weather will still be too cold. This means you’ll have adolescent chickens living in your house or brooder—chickens who need a lot of space to thrive.
However, if you time it right in the spring, you can move your chickens outdoors as soon as they’ve fully feathered around 6 weeks of age. (More on this in the next section).
#6 Chicks raised in the spring are more likely to give you eggs all winter.
Most breeds of chickens begin laying eggs between 4-8 months of age. If you buy your chickens in the spring, your hens will likely start laying before winter begins, and continue laying through their first winter.
If you buy chickens in the summer or fall, your chickens may not be mature enough to begin laying before winter hits—and they likely won’t begin laying until the following spring.
#7 You can mail-order a small number of chicks during the spring.
Many urban and suburban chicken keepers want only a small number of chickens—perhaps, 3-10 hens. However, most hatcheries are not capable of shipping this small number of chickens until springtime.
Before springtime, temperatures are just too cold for a small number of chicks to survive shipping. So, if you order during the colder months, you may need to order 15-25 chicks for them to be safely shipped.
#8 Spring chicks are the most likely to survive shipment.
If you ship your chicks in the winter, your shipment may be delayed by bad weather, and you could end up with a box of dead chicks. Sadly, I hear these stories every year. Additionally, even if your shipment isn’t delayed, your chicks may chill if the temperatures are particularly low—even when shipped in groups as large as 25 chicks.
On the other hand, if you ship your chicks during the hot summer months, they can get too hot and die of heatstroke or simply fail to thrive.
#9 You don’t need to provide artificial light for spring chicks.
If your chicks hatch in the months of April through July, you can raise them in natural light conditions.
If, on the other hand, your chicks hatch in the months of August through February (and possibly March, depending on your location), you’ll need to provide extra light by adding controlled artificial lighting before the sun comes up. To understand why, check out my article, Raising chicks in winter or fall? Don’t make this fatal mistake!
Adding controlled artificial lighting to your brooder and coop can be a real hassle. Make life easy on yourself (and your chicks) and order your chicks for the spring instead.
3 easy steps to calculate which week you should get your chicks.
The best time to order your baby chicks depends on your climate and your schedule.
Let’s figure out which week works best for your circumstances by considering these 3 things:
When is the weather safe for shipping chicks?
When do you want to move your chickens outside to their permanent housing?
When will you be available to pick up your chicks?
Step #1: Determine the earliest month that’s safe for shipping chicks.
If you’re buying your chicks locally, you can skip this step (Woohoo!). You have so much more freedom on deciding when to get your chicks—one of the many benefits of buying locally.
But, if you’re shipping your chicks, you need to absolutely make sure you order them to be shipped during a month with decent weather. If there’s any chance of snowy weather delaying your chicks’ arrival, don’t order that month. Choose the next month (or even the next after that).
The right month for you, of course, will vary depending on where you live and what hatchery you’re ordering from. For example, a hatchery based in Wisconsin will be a riskier place to work with than a hatchery based in Texas.
I actually buy my chicks locally, but if I were to have them shipped, I’d aim for April at the earliest. I live in southern Idaho, and on rare occasions, we can have heavy snow in March. April, on the other hand, is safe.
If I were ordering from a hatchery in a milder climate, like Texas, I could order in early- or mid-April. If I were ordering from a hatchery with a colder climate, like Wisconsin, I’d probably wait to order till late in April.
If you live in a particularly cold climate, you’ll want to order later than April, and if you live in a warm climate, you’ll likely want to order earlier.
What month is safe for you?
Step #2: Determine the ideal month to move your chicks outside.
Once your chicks fully feather out at 6 weeks or so, you don’t want them in their brooder any longer than they have to be. By this age, they look like little chickens, no longer babies. They’ll need a lot more space now.
Your 6-week-old chicks will also be incredibly active and adventurous, and they’ll be bored as heck in your brooder. They’ll be ready to move outside and into a larger coop—and you’ll be so ready to move them!
But the weather’s got to be warm enough outside first! What’s warm enough? you ask.
In the ideal scenario, your daytime temperatures are around 70-75°F (21-24°C), and your nighttime temperatures are 40-50°F (4.5-10°C) at minimum. Warmer nighttime temperatures are better.
Where did I come up with these numbers? According to The Chicken Health Handbook:
“A chicken’s body operates most efficiently at an effective air temperature between 70°F and 75°F (21°C and 24°C), which is the ideal temperature range for good health and productivity.”
I also want to point out here that your 6-week-old chicks will not be able to handle as cold of temperatures as full-grown chickens can. Your chicks will still be losing and re-growing feathers at this age. They won’t be able to handle cold temperatures until they have their full, winter-ready plumage. For some chickens, this won’t occur until 3 months of age.
But an outdoor temperature of 70-75°F is perfect for a 6-week-old chick. When you first get your chicks, you want their brooder temperature to be 95°F at the hottest place (under the heat source), and then you want to decrease that temperature by 5°F every week until you get to 70-75°F (the best temperature for a full-grown chicken).
So, by the time your chicks are 6 weeks old, they will be most comfortable at 70-75°F.
Note that in the chart below, the brooder temperature refers to the temperature underneath the heat source, not the temperature of the room. You want your chicks to be able to get away from the heat source and cool down if they need to.
I start my chicks off in a room that’s 70-75°F—you don’t want to start them in a room that’s 95°F (rookie mistake). If you’re using a heat lamp, you do want the temperature underneath the heat lamp (near the floor) to be 95°F.
Use the chart below to determine what the temperature under the heat lamp should be every week after.
| Chicks' age | Brooder temperature |
|---|---|
| 1 week |
95°F |
| 2 weeks |
90°F |
| 3 weeks |
85°F |
| 4 weeks |
80°F |
| 5 weeks |
75°F |
| 6+ weeks |
70-75°F |
I actually much prefer to use a brooder plate, which is a much safer and more comfortable option for your chicks than a heat lamp.
With a brooder plate, you don’t have to worry about the temperature chart above. Simply put the brooder plate in your brooder and make sure your room temperature is 70-75°F.
Okay, now it’s time to find which month will be warm enough for your 6-week-old chicks to move outside.
So, take a minute right now and search your browser for:
[your town, your state] climate
And then find which month has highs near 70-75°F and lows that are at least 40-50°F.
So, for me, I searched, “Horseshoe Bend, ID climate.” And this is what I got below:
This tells me the ideal time to move my chicks outside is during May or June—I’ve highlighted these months above. Next, I’ll count back 6 weeks from those months.
If I want to move my chicks outside May 1, that puts me in mid-March for ordering. However, I think May 1 may still be a little too cold. I’m better off shooting for the end of May or the beginning of June, just to be safe.
So, if I decide I want to move my chickens out at the beginning of June, then I should order them to arrive 6 weeks earlier in April.
If you’re having your chicks shipped to you, you’ll want to compare the ordering month you come up with in this exercise with the month you determined in Step #1. I determined that April was a safe time for chicks to be shipped to me, so this works great. However, if April wasn’t safe, I would need to order in May.
What month works best for you?
One last thing, I do actually put a Sweeter Heater in my chicks’ coop for their first month or so outside. This ensures they don’t get too uncomfortable at night. 40-50°F is still pretty cold for chicks who are used to 70°F. You can use this same heater during the cold winter nights for your adult chickens too.
Step 3: Determine when you’re available to pick up your chicks.
You will need to either pick your chicks up from your local hatchery or feed store, or you will need to pick them up from the post office. Be sure to order your chicks for a week where you’ll be available to pick them up during hatchery, feed store, or post office work hours.
Chicks shipped from a hatchery will take 1-3 days to arrive (any longer than that and they won’t survive). The hatchery and post office cannot guarantee that your chicks will arrive on a certain day, so you’ll need to be available for a few-day window.
Once your chicks arrive at your post office, you’ll want to pick them up as soon as possible. Your chicks will be highly stressed, and so the sooner you can get them to their safe brooder, food, and water, the better. You’ll definitely want to notify your local post office when you’ll be expecting your chicks. Make sure you tell them to call you as soon as your chicks arrive.
And that’s it! Now you know exactly which week you should get your chicks!
Bonus step: Determine when you’ll have free time to bond with your chicks—because chicks imprint!
Here’s an extra piece of advice for those of you who are raising chickens as pets, and who actually want to bond with your chickens:
Order your chicks for a week when you have some free time to spend with them.
Very young chicks will imprint on living things (and even on artificial objects). There’s a small window of time where your chicks are susceptible to forming a close attachment after hatching (generally, up to 3 days old).
So, if you want your chicks to imprint on you, you’ll want to spend as much time as possible with them their first week of life. At the very least, you’ll want to spend a lot of time sitting next to their brooder and talking to them. Even better, get in their field of view so you can share eye contact.
A brooder with a door that you can open and put your face inside is the very best. This way your chicks can gaze into your eyes, which is incredibly important for chicken bonding. And your chicks can actually approach you and touch you if they’d like.
Letting your chicks approach you, rather than vice versa, is the best way for them to form an attachment to you. If you try to touch them or pick them up, you’re likely to terrify them. Not the best way to start a relationship.
A brooder with see-through sides (like wire or glass) is another option. With these brooders, you will at least be able to get some eye contact with your chicks.
Chicks also imprint on sounds to some degree, so don’t forget to talk to them sweetly as often as you can!
If you want to bond with your chickens, but you’re unable to spend this early time with your chicks, that’s okay. Bonding with them during this imprinting period will go far in taming your chicks, but you can also tame them later with additional effort.
When should you place your order for your chicks?
Now that you know when you want your chicks to arrive, make sure you place your order early. Some hatcheries sell out fast. This is especially true of rarer breeds.
Some major hatcheries open up orders as early as November or December, but January is more common. I advise ordering the very first of the year. This will ensure you can get the breeds you want on the week you want them.
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Sources
Damerow, Gail. Hatching and brooding your own chicks. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2013.
Damerow, G., The Chicken Health Handbook. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2015.
Damerow, Gail. Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens. North Adams: Storey Publishing, 2017.
Rogers, Lesley. The Development of Brain and Behaviour in the Chicken. Cambridge: CABI, 1995.
Willis, K. and Ludlow, R. Raising Chickens for Dummies. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2020.