We hatched out a couple of chicks in my son's kindergarten class and have kept them in a pet crate in the house but at 2-3 weeks old, after they escaped the tote I brought them home in and I woke one morning to find the pair of them had made it past my 180lb newfoundland, my siamese cat who kills anything and all the way up the stairs, through the hall and walking around my bedroom, I started putting them out on the sunny days in my starter coop which is in the run with the rest of my flock. When they're ready for bed they holler for me to go get them and put them back in the crate. As soon as they're back in the house, they settle right down for the night. They're now 5 1/2 weeks old...they still call for me at bedtime. In the mornings they chirp loudly until I open the crate and they'll follow me right out the door, into the run and straight into the run of the little coop. I do wonder whether they'll continue their calling even after they're ready to start spending their nights in the coop.
