Another step I encourage anyone with the space to do so is to add a chicken coop to your property. I built ours between last November and this past February, and the first hens moved in around February 7th. Here is a link to Backyard Chickens dot com where I posted an extensive set of construction pictures while it was being built. There are several threads linked off of that one with details of different coop and run components, including the rainwater collection system that fills that barrel on the back and provides the chooks with a near inexhaustible supply of drinking water.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=283812
And here are some pictures from today of what our coop and flock looks like. We have 2 Rhode Island Reds, two Golden Sex Links, and a pair of Jersey Giants. Three of the girls are in lay right now and we are averaging three eggs a day. When the Jersey Giants lay, their eggs are like goose-eggs, but it will be at least another month before they mature. They are a full 2 months younger than the Reds.
The henhouse and run us based on six four by four posts that support the roof, and the coop. The run is 50 square feet and the coop interior is 20 square feet, and the exterior nesting boxes add about 8.5 additional square feet. The lids open up to harvest eggs.
You can do worse for yourself in a barter economy, than to have fresh hen fruit available every day, and if you select "dual use" birds you have meat on the table when you need it.
Check your local zoning to be sure of the rules; here we are allowed a flock of this size, but hens only and no roosters allowed; and if you are raising hens for eggs you don't want a roo anyway...
The cost was reasonable and we spread it out in cash over several months, so it was easy to pay for it as we went. Give chickens a try in your long-term survival plans.
