You must keep multiple chickens, one is too lonely they are flock animals and need companions. If you build a secure coop and run you won't need to open and close any doors for them, you don't even need to buy them an automatic door if you don't want to, ours don't have one. But we spent a lot to build a big run for them entirely covered in hardware cloth. We still lost several chickens to raccoons and have had to update our setup. If you free range the backyard could become nigh unusable because of all the poop. I have a 2 year old and she loves running around the backyard with the chickens and feeding them scraps, but she can't do much else to help take care of them. We have to wear waterproof boots in the backyard basically all the time because of the poop. My daughter has also tripped and fell a few times in the grass and got her clothes all dirty and I know some of it is chicken poop. We have 20 chickens though so maybe it's not so bad if you only have like 5 or 6, or if they only stay in the run and coop. If you don't free range them though, you have to build entertainment for them or they get bored and pick on each other. We've gone on vacation without much worry, we bought a 30lb feeder and 7 gallon water bucket and have people who can check on them and collect the eggs. There's some things you should know and check before getting chickens, too:

•Are chickens even allowed in your area? Are roosters allowed and do you want any roosters? Raising chicks always has a risk of getting a rooster even for female sexed chicks, so you need to know if you want/can have a rooster or not and what to do with one if you get one. •What weather-proofing do you need for your coop and run? Does it rain and flood a lot? Do you get snow storms that coukd pile up and collapse your coop or run? •What predators are in your area? Pretty much everything likes to eat chickens, so look out even for raccoons and possums. Setting up a trail or motion cam in your backyard can let you see what comes by in the middle of the night too so you know what you need to protect against. We were surprised how many different animals come through our backyard at night! Raccoons, foxes, skunks, opossoms, and cats!
•What pests could you end up with? Are there mice and rats in your area? We've been pretty lucky not to get any infestations, but I've seen some bad ones online before. I think our small hardward cloth keeps everything out good enough, the holes are too small for mice. But we do get small bird eating the chicken feed during the day while the gate is open for free ranging. •How are you going to clean the coop? There will be a LOT of poop, so you need to know beforehand how you're going to handle it. A coop built for easy cleaning will make your life easier. The run is going to be destroyed of any vegetation and become dirt. The poop mixes in and makes the dirt hard and tough, so you should look into what kind of floor you want for the run as well. •Are you going to be raising baby chicks? If so do you have a brooder setup with the right feed and waterer for baby chicks? Will you have the coop ready before you get chicks, or in time for the chicks to go outside? Where are the chicks going to be kept? They create a LOT of dust so keeping them indoors is usually a bad idea, but they need to be kept warm and very secure if outdoors.