My family and I are planning to get some chickens within a few weeks. I don't really know where to begin. It gets really hot and humid here in Louisiana in the summer. We live in a rural area with over 3 acres, so space isn't an issue.
The children had a couple of pigs a few years back. This is the old pig pen that we planned to use. My first idea was to add on to it. Although, after more thought, it seemed better to tear it down and redesign it using as much of the materials as possible. Any thoughts on how best to reuse the pen?

There used to be a chicken coop back there when we moved here 6 years ago. In fact, most of the structure for the pig pen was part of the old coop.
My questions are this: What is a good amount of chickens to start with? Should we get adults or chicks? How large does the coop need to be? Since we have the space, I would like them to be as "free-range" as possible. How do we go about doing that?
I am completely inexperience when it comes to raising chickens. Any advice anyone can give me would be much appreciated.
The children had a couple of pigs a few years back. This is the old pig pen that we planned to use. My first idea was to add on to it. Although, after more thought, it seemed better to tear it down and redesign it using as much of the materials as possible. Any thoughts on how best to reuse the pen?
There used to be a chicken coop back there when we moved here 6 years ago. In fact, most of the structure for the pig pen was part of the old coop.
My questions are this: What is a good amount of chickens to start with? Should we get adults or chicks? How large does the coop need to be? Since we have the space, I would like them to be as "free-range" as possible. How do we go about doing that?
I am completely inexperience when it comes to raising chickens. Any advice anyone can give me would be much appreciated.