me and a friend have been raising chickens for the last 3 months...I never knew that I would enjoy raising chickens lol but I like it alot...we are raising dual purposes breeds and rare breeds...in 3 months we have alil over a hundred birds...we have
rhode island reds
buff orpingtons
Lavender orpington's(very rare and expensive!)
french copper marans(lays the darkest egg!)
black australorp's
silver laced wyndottes
light brama's
cornish rock meat birds
and bearded and non-beared Silkie's(ornamental's/pets)
my friend had a barn that he used to raises birds and dogs...and we just converted all the pens to chicken coops then free range them all day...and we just built one chicken tractor for our cornish rock meat birds.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/index.php is the best forum for chickens..
if your wanting chickens mainly for eggs...i'd get some rhode islands,orpingtons, black australorps or some of the hybrid egg layers like production reds or black stars...