Putting chicks in the coop

[Rob1975]

I'm still approximately about 5 weeks out or so of transferring my chicks to the coop. I read that it's necessary to close off all nesting boxes and keep them locked in the coop for a day or 2 to get them accustomed to using the roosts and not sleep in the boxes. Is this what needs to be done? Can I just keep the boxes closed off for a few days and let them roam during the day and then lock them up at night? Raising chickens is all new to me. This site and the peppeple here are great and I've learned some good things so far.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

This years hatch was 5 1/2 weeks old when they made the move from the brooder to the coop, pen or whatever you want to call it. I didnt have any problems with them wanting to sleep in the laying boxes. They insisted on sleeping on the ground but the ground isn't a good place in my pens so I had to manually place them on the roost bars every evening for about 10 days till they learned how to do it. That was really a big pain because I had 40 chicks in that hatch. When they finally figured it out, they went up their ladder to the nest boxes, jumped up on top of the nest boxes, then jumped up to the roost bars.
You can let them roam during the day and lock them up at night if you feel they're safe from preds and won't get lost.