Start-up costs? You didn’t ask me but I have some related experience.
It’s best if the coop is big enough and tight enough to be at least, slightly heated in the winter. Layers do best if they’re not struggling to keep warm in winter and can be ventilated in the warm months.
One egg per day per clucker is a good way to count but they’ll skip a day once in awhile.
They like to browse outside in the driveway gravel because they need grit but their home cage needs to be small mesh and buried a foot or so around its perimeter. A wire cover over the pen is desirable: Owls and hawks love them some chicken.
I’m not really a chicken farmer but I am , indeed, a varmit hunter. My neighbors have used my advice when starting chickens and have had minimal losses. I always know when they get chickens because within two months I’ll start to see skunks, raccoons, coyotes, marmots and a few other miscellaneous varmits heading that way. They all love chicken eggs and will steal your breakfast every time.
When they have their flocks operating I usually kill at least one varmit per day. Sometimes I actually tell the neighbors and they are amazed at what their flocks attract.
So, Yeah, a proper chicken coop/yard will be your biggest expense.
And don’t buy Purina feed until further notice.
You’re welcome!
Thanks for the benefit of your knowledge & experience. I’d very much like to give it a shot. Would prefer to have them be semi-free range, and have a section of the back yard that would lend itself to becoming a fairly spacious chicken run, with a gate & stout lock and then the coop inside it. Maybe some smaller chicken wire attached to the chain-link for security.
So the coop would be the most labor and time-intensive to get it set up right. Guess I can live with that. Oh, and I almost forgot about verifying whether the town ordinances would allow it, or if they’re considered “livestock”. One town worker told me that hens ARE allowed in-town, but not roosters because their crowing would piss off the neighbors. Heh.