How long to hold new birds?

[jgconnor]

When it comes time to bring them home, how long should we keep them in the coop/yard before we turn them out to free range?

Thanks so much for putting up with my "20 questions". I'm excited about getting chickens and am doing a LOT of reading and studying.

 

[carrlr]

So, can you explain coop/yard? Do you have a coop that has a run attached so they can come and go as they want? If that's your set-up, I'd say no more than a week and they will be used to it. Then you can open them up to free range. Personally, the first day or so of "free ranging" I let them out just an hour or so before they are generally going in the coop. That keeps them from initially getting to far away.