That depends, what are your reasons for wanting chickens? For example, if you have a lot of people to provide eggs for then you are going to want to start with more chickens than if your primary reason for keeping them is just to have pretty birds in your yard. You will want to get at least 3, because chickens are highly social animals and really depend on having at least one other chicken to "flock" with. Three chickens ensures that you have an "extra" in the event that you loose one chicken to injury or illness, whereas if you had 2 chickens and one died the other would be alone. If you are getting sexed chicks from a hatchery, or older chickens that the seller is certain of the gender, then it would be fine to get just the number of chickens you think you want. But if you are getting "straight run" chicks (which are not sexed and can be any combination of male or female) then you will want to get about twice as many as you think you want because not all of them will be girls and even if you can keep roosters where you live you aren't going to want too many boys or you will have some problems. Be sure to have a plan on what to do with any unwanted roosters, even if you are getting sexed chickens, because no method of sexing is 100% accurate and there is always a chance of ending up with an accidental rooster. If it's not crowing or laying eggs, there are no 100% guarantees that you're going to get the gender you want.
I'd say that it's easiest to start with 3-6 chickens. All together, they're not too difficult to deal with as long as you do your homework.
A good pen is medium-large in size, with a top and a solid bottom so that carnivorous animals cannot dig under the pen to get at your chickens. The bottom on the pen does not have to be solid, you could just make the fence go under the ground. Just make sure that no animals can dig underneath the pen and get inside.
You'll want to have a nice, cozy, closed in area for the chickens to sleep when they're stressed, and for them to lay their eggs. They want to feel safe and comfy, so putting a solid roof on it and having some sort of shavings (try Aspen shavings from Petsmart or something similar) in that sleeping area. Clean it out one a week, and replace the shavings so it's not too much work.
Depending on your yard size and if it's closed in or not, you can let them run around sometimes and they'll most likely return to the pen at night. If not, just shoo them back in and close the door.
Always have fresh water and seed in their pen, so that they can graze throughout the day. Dirt of piles of loose sand will make the chickens happy and entertained because they'll have something to dig and kind of 'nest' in.
Anyways, just start with 3-6 chickens. You can GRADUALLY increase the number of chickens that you have, but just make sure that you aren't overwhelmed with them, or that the pen doesn't get crowded.
I'd say at least two but no more than 5,6 to keep the manageable.
im thinking of getting chickens, i have pleanty of room to put a pen and a big run and i know how to pick them up, so how many should i get to start with ? im a beginner
