I am a newbie to chickens, too. And, it worries me that the poster's wording said: one chicken, for viewing pleasure. All too often people say: I want one! And they mean it. I have found education can and should be offered, often and even then, people don't take good advice.
Birds need to flock, be a part of a flock, be in a flock. Humans crave grouping, look at how many members are on this group alone. Dogs are "pack" animals and look how many are forced to live solitary lives with their surrogate pack humans gone much of the time.
A better question would be: What "breed" which has been asked before by many newbies...I don't think anyone, including myself is being too intellectual or uptight, we all enjoy our flock(s) so much we are looking forward to viewing pleasure, daily and would like to ward off any problems beforehand, such as having only one chicken.
Brings to mind, solitary confinement. A parakeet would do better as a solitary bird than a chicken.
I think of many things when deciding on a favorite flock. Housing to begin with, their health, happiness and welfare, their color, their being durable for our cold and long winters, their willingness to enjoy my company, their awesome eggs, how much it costs to heat and keep lights in their coops, the cost and setting up of runs that will protect them from predators, including my golden & weims.
Neighbors dogs are allowed to roam daily and nightly. Wild fox come thru here. How often I need to ship by air and not run out of feed.
I also have to say another woman in our town does have one chicken, in her house and its a part of a flock that includes an old toy poodle, a cat and a Springer Spaniel. The chicken has free run of the house with the other animals until bedtime. It works for them.
