Glad to meet you! Here is a
link to our coops and learning center, where you can find lots of articles. You will notice that most articles by BYC members have ratings by other members following the article. I find it very helpful to help me, as a newbie, decide which articles are worthwhile.
One thing you will find out is that you don't save money keeping chickens, though it's a very rewarding thing to do, and it's nice to know how the hens were treated and fed where you got your eggs. They are awfully nice and entertaining to hang out with. But between feed, even with free range (which so often results in some losses to predators), and the start up costs, it's not really saving you money.
That said, you may be able to find a really good coop in your area on Craigslist. This is a time of year when a lot of folks who got chickens in the spring may be tiring of the whole thing and putting it all up on Craigslist or a local Facebook poultry interest group. Watch both places. The other thing you can watch for is an old shed or playhouse to modify. Do NOT buy a ready made coop made of plastic or light weight wood if you can help it. They are really disappointing and never hold as many chickens as advertised. Back yard builders sometimes build good coops that you can find on Craigslist for good prices.
If you are limited in the number of hens you can keep, and want enough eggs to feed everybody in your household (eventually, ideally, hah), watch for high producing varieties of chickens. If you get the very highest producers, often sex links like Novogen, Golden Comets, Black Stars, or many similar sold under other names, you will get eggs sooner, but may have chicken fatalities from inherited problems related to the ultra high production. You might want a combination of those and some high but not ultra high producers so that you still have some producers going if those early birds get into trouble. Some very high producers are:
Australorp
Leghorns
Rhode Island Red
These birds are excellent choices for backyards, though the Leghorns are never very tame. Here is a
link to my favorite site describing chicken breeds. I like it because it is objective and fairly comprehensive, and is standardized, providing the same info for all breeds. (Please ignore their ads)
Here is my favorite article
intro to chicken keeping. I hope it helps you.
Best wishes!
