Well, we just picked up our first chickens last night - 3 New Hampshire reds and 2 Easter-egger hybrid something-or-others. We are planning on free-ranging them in the fenced area with our alpacas. We have a 5-ft 2x4 horse fence around the perimeter. We kept them in the coop today but I'm sure they would like to get out of there soon. How long should we keep them in there so they figure out it is home? Should we monitor them when they come out to see if they are planning on trying to escape the fence? We live close to a fairly major road and I don't think they would make it long if they decided to fly off. Sorry for the silly newbie questions, but this is a whole new area of livestock for us! Thanks!