My chicks stay inside, b/c we have cats---so I would worry about them in the garage. They are in our electric train room, which also is supposed to be our nursery. Now, I guess it's a chick nursery. We keep the door closed.
We had around 15 chickens last summer. Several were roosters, which I gave away. (we hatched them all in an incubator). I planned to keep one rooster, but he wouldn't let the new girls move into the coop with the older girls. The new girls were sleeping in the trees for several months. So I finally had to give him away also.
If any of my chickens get out of their fenced area (which is large, they have a good life), my chocolate lab will eat them/kill them. Unfortunately, we have had 4 or 5 fatalities as a result. I am having a new fence built next week. It will be more functional, and also a lot cuter. (cedar picket, scalloped tops). So we are down to only 7 laying hens. which is why I bought the 9 chicks, to get us back up to 16 or so. We get a lot of eggs---5 or so per day. We eat them all. I am on a diet, so I only eat the egg whites, which causes me to go through quite a few eggs. I give some away to friends/teachers also.
My husband added a florescent light on a timer to the interior of the coop this winter. This brought our egg production back up to summer levels by extending their hours of light. it was a very easy thing to do, with enormous rewards.
