starting small. maybe buy 6 eggs to hatch. what breed should i be looking at ?You should do it chickens make me happy. look into it I will say if you hatch your own half of the chicks will be roosters. It's good to have a few roosters around they are the guards and sound the predator alarm , it's thier job. But if you have to many your hens will be all abused and bald Of course there is a practical solution for to many roosters. I order my chick through the mail sexed. It's cool the folks at the post office always get a kick from the cheeping box