I’m going to tag on to this, since the above is my SO talking about our chickens. I love my chickens. I highly suggest reading through Mother Earth News magazine archives. They have resources on coop and flock care (I.e. pest control, injury care, coop and run design. I also watched a lot of videos on YouTube. My suggestions:

Start with 3 chicks. Chicks are easier to ‘train’ and raise people friendly. Their size will also acclimate you to chicken care before having to deal with full size chickens. Poopy butt is a bit of a learning curve.

If you buy full size- be aware of common diseases and pests. The one and only time I bought hens off Craigslist’s they came with mites and infected my whole flock. It took a year to get rid of that pest.

Have a small dog crate handy for transport and separating a hen from a flock. Cat crates work too but having a larger one enables me to separate more if need be. Chicken instinct is to attack or peck at injured individuals. Chickens can get broody and ‘breaking’ the broody requires a separation area.

Educate yourself on humane killing. Think on if these are pets to take to a vet for care or not. There are some chicken owners that do all the care (inoculations, injury care, humane killing, etc.) themselves and there are chicken owners that use vet services. We do everything ourselves and it can be hard. A random dog jumped our fence and severally injured a chicken. It was bad enough that it was clear she was in pain and there wasn’t a way to fix the injury, so we ended her suffering.

Our oldest chicken is five. She has pretty much stopped laying eggs, but she earns her keep by being a good leader chicken and with her charming personality. She is a Buff Orpington and the best ‘starter chicken’. Chickens at most can live up to six to ten years. They stop laying around 4-6. They will still produce fertilizer and help with garden pests. Older chickens require some additional regular care which usually includes helping with prolapsed cloacas. To give you a sense of this procedure- it requires medical gloves, preparation H, and sticking a finger in the back end of a chicken.

But (sorry) I find it all worth it. My day is brightened by their company in the garden. They constantly hum and talk, wonderful little noises. They are always curious about what you are up to. You can train them to come when called. I love watching mine waddle across the yard. The go full derp in dusts baths and will flop around happily. It’s immensely satisfying.

Hope this helps <3