Moving keets from brooder to permanent housing

[makingshift]

I've been letting my ducklings and chicks spend a few hours at a time outside in my chicken tractor. (It's been very warm here and the birds are 3 weeks old.) I know my keets would love to go out, too, but I'm afraid that if I put them in the tractor they will forever-more think of that as their forever home. I am building a second hoop house/tractor for the keets and it will be located in a different part of the yard. I've read that guineas are very instinctual about returning to "home" and that I should move them from the brooder directly into their permanent home. Do you guys think it is wire for me to keep them inside until their permanent home is ready? Or should I go ahead and let them spend a little time in the tractor?

Thanks!

 

[BarbaraNH]

As long as your keets are only spending a few hours at a time in the tractor, I don't think they would imprint the tractor as their home. When you move them into their new hoop house, you will need to keep them there for a few weeks anyway, and that is when they should begin to recognize that location as their home. In the meantime, I'm sure they'd appreciate spending a little time outside in the hot weather.