Chicks in garage ok?

[ladyhand]

I’m in the process of building a coop for my 3 week old sapphire gems. They’ve been in a brooder in our house, but I’m thinking about moving them into the garage to give them more room. However, how do you keep the garage ventilated enough during the day, or cool enough in the hot summer months when the daytime temps are high 80s, low 90s?

 

[Mtnboomer]

My brooders are in the garage. I use a work lamp with a red "heat" bulb for winter broods and a 100 watt incandescent bulb in summer. Make sure the brooder is large enough for your chicks to choose their ideal temperature. If they are huddled under the lamp, they are cold and you may want to lower the lamp a bit. If they are on ghe fringe of the light, they are hot and back the lamp off.
Once fully fledged, they will self regulate their body temp.
Give them the space and they will find their happy place.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I’m in the process of building a coop for my 3 week old sapphire gems. They’ve been in a brooder in our house, but I’m thinking about moving them into the garage to give them more room. However, how do you keep the garage ventilated enough during the day, or cool enough in the hot summer months when the daytime temps are high 80s, low 90s?

Im assuming you are moving the brooder into the garage and not letting them free to roam. If it feels too hot for them, a simple open window with a cheap box fan would be plenty. But the concrete floor and size of the garage is usually enough to make it a non-issue.

 

[papajoesfarm]

Mtnboomer is right. During the summer providing heat is less of an issue. Before I built a dedicated brooder coop, I raised chicks in a garden shed. I used, and still use, heat lamps, and they work fine. The main thing during the first three weeks is providing them enought room to self regulate their heat by moving. And draft guards if the brooder space is big enough for drafts.
Depending on where you live, you may want to have a way to cool the garage. I used a portable 7000 BTU AC I used in my carpentry shed, and that worked fine. A used window unit will work for a garage, and you can pick those up around here for about $50, or $130 new at Walmart. Then again, here is Central Florida, and temps in a shed or garge are in the 100s most days. A garage that is in a shady area would be fine. Watch the chicks, and if they have their beaks open, and/or wings away from their bodies, then they are overheating.

Chicks are pretty hardy after the first few weeks, and it's OK if you aren't exactly hitting the range on the temperature charts.