First chicken - how long to keep it in coop before starting free ranging?

[phieaglefan]

I adopted a chicken from the pound today. It's about 2 years old and it is sharing a large coop and run with one Guinea I am not sure of the breed. It does lay eggs according to workers at the pound. How long should I keep a new adult locked up before letting her out during the day? Pen size is pretty big -- 16 ft X 6ft for the two birds.

Thanks. I'm sure I'll have more questions later!!!

 

[NovaAman]

Week in the run should do it. Let her out to the run during the day, as soon as she's comfortable with going in and out of the coop, knows where home is, then start letting her free range.

Welcome BYC!

 

[phieaglefan]

Thank you very much for the info. I looked for awhile last night for the answer, but since I sort of needed to know right away, I went ahead and posted.

Thanks again!