. Pleased you joined us. I like to move mine from brooder to coop and leave them in their coop and run for 3-4 weeks before letting them range - just so they know where home is. Just a word of caution. Depending on what your land has to offer, "staying close to home" may be relative. If your neighbor has lots of grasshoppers or something they like to eat, they may wander. Another word...some on BYC are quite anti-free range due to predators. I am in the camp that lets mine range but try to keep everything they need close to the coop - food water, dusting areas, shade, treats, etc. To each his or her own. Here's a good article from the BYC Learning Center that discusses free ranging. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/deciding-to-free-range-your-flock
