I raise rare-breed and show quality chickens, along with layers and meat birds. Let me know if there's anything I can answer. Keeping a few chickens has really caught on over the last few years. The majority of my customers come up from the 'burbs, which is great - helps keep American ruralism from suffering its last gasp.
As far as coops go: IMHO, most folks over-spend on chicken coops. Now, if you want it to look nice in the back-yard I can understand. But as far as utility, chickens don't need much. And they don't care how it looks. Plenty of good plans on-line but I tend to build with whatever I have on hand. I get a lot of wood and roofing materials from Craig's List. There's always someone pulling apart and old fence or deck and they just want the wood gone. Most of it is reusable for things like hutches and coops. You can let your birds free range if you have the space, and then just lock them in the coop at night. They will put themselves to bed ("The chickens always come home to roost"...). The key is to introduce them to their coop at night when they are sleepy (chickens go very groggy when they are asleep and they are easy to handle).
Make sure to feed your chickens a varied diet. This is especially important if they don't get a chance to free-range and scratch. Chickens are omniverous, so you can feed them plenty of table scraps. I find they are partial to things like grits, left over potato dishes, rice, etc. I also feed them whey (left over from cheese-making). Obviously layer crumbles would be the staple of their diet.
If you also keep a garden, you're in luck as the birds will provide excellent fertilizer. I also endorse the Back Yard Chickens website recommended above. Good bunch of folks and very helpful for Q/A.
