In or out at night??

[boggerman]

We're new to chickens, and have a nice coop - a kind of upstairs-downstairs idea, with the nesting area up a ladder and the bottom area open, similar common triangular designs, but more of a cube than a pyramid.

My wife thinks we need to put the whole coop into the garage at night to (a) keep the chickens warm and (b) keep them safe from predators. We live in the countryside in Ireland, so it's not exactly warm, but not that cold this time of year. To prevent predators (mainly foxes around here), I put old paving slabs on the ground around the coop to stop them digging in.
Is this enough, and are they safe and warm outside like this? Or is my wife right that we should get the chickens indoors in our garage every night??

 

[nanaluvsgps]

I think maybe a bit of insulation and wind break and they will be allright. It might be hard work bringing them in every night so aslong and its not freezing cold! and predator proof i reckon they will be ok

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I've seen that ark design and some times it has a trap door to lock the upper section off. If you don't have a trap door install one, then close it every night. They will be fine as long as there is a door and it's closed. With that style coop the door is lifted and secured via a cord. This way your birds are safe at night.

I live in New Hampshire. It gets cold here. I don't have insulation nor do we provide heat to the birds after they've feathered out. No heat and no worries.

 

[boggerman]

I've seen that ark design and some times it has a trap door to lock the upper section off. If you don't have a trap door install one, then close it every night. They will be fine as long as there is a door and it's closed. With that style coop the door is lifted and secured via a cord. This way your birds are safe at night.

I live in New Hampshire. It gets cold here. I don't have insulation nor do we provide heat to the birds after they've feathered out. No heat and no worries.

Thanks Egghead. I can't lock off the upper section of the coop completely - the "upstairs" only has a dividing wall, on top of which the hens roost. I can close off the entrance to the upstairs part, but not the entire upper section. I'm probably not explaining it very well - if I can get pictures up, I will

 

[boggerman]

here's a pic of a similar coop: