Keep chicks in garage?

[SandyRiverChick]

I don't do tub's, heating lamps or garage anymore (but I would do the garage if I didn't have a brooder in my coop.) Do you have a coop yet?
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I wanted to add that the standard supplier recommendation for heat lamps using a 250 watt bulb is a minimum of 20 inches from the lamp to the ground. Otherwise it will melt/catch fire.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Yes it’s a standard garage. Everything closes properly and it’s not old or run down in any way. I’m worried about rats/mice I guess. We have those around. My cats take care of them outside, but no cats in the garage and it worries me. 4 chicks, tub is probably 3x6 feet width and length

We moved into a brand new house in Sept. 2020, had dog food in the garage, in a plastic bin, never saw a single mouse or ANY evidence of them ().

We got chicks in Sept of last year (2022), brooded them inside and moved them out to the coop at 5.5 weeks. AS SOON as the weather got cold, the mice invaded. They started coming into the chicken run and getting into the feeders - I began plugging the feeders up each night and they stopped going into the run. They quickly moved to the (brand new) garage. Mice can fit through VERY tiny spaces.

This was a long-winded way of saying, mice can and WILL get into your garage, especially with chick food out in the open in the middle of winter. So, if I were you, I'd take extra precautions to keep rodents out of the brooder - perhaps cover the top with 1/4" hardware cloth and set traps around the brooder.