In regards to eating meat

[Monica]

~ breeds best for eggs, how many to get 2 doz eggs per week

My dad raised Bantum chickens. They were small and the eggs were small and either green or blue. No Easter dying necessary! He always had at least a dozen or so chickens at any given time, but that included a few roosters. I remember gathering at least several eggs per day and we didn't have to buy eggs.

~how much space needed

My dad built some houses that had wood on 2 sides, and chicken wire on the other 2 sides, and a tin roof. They were tall enough for him to walk in and had a door on hinges. Inside were stacks of wooden boxes, each one just big enough for a single chicken to nestle in a warm bed of hay. It also had a couple of elevated poles for them to roost on. I remember the chickens sleeping side by side in a row on the roosting bar, while some were in the boxes when they were laying or brooding.

~ideal size for coop, plans for building a coop, simple coops that someone with limited carpentry skills could put together

My dad's henhouses were tall enough to walk in, and about 6 or 8 feet long and maybe 5-6 feet wide, I'm guessing. (Keep in mind things always seem bigger when you're a child!) He always locked them up at night.

~ what to feed

My dad gave them chicken feed that he bought in sacks from the feed store, but they had a large yard to forage in too.

~over-wintering

The coldest it ever got here in Texas was in the mid-teens. I don't remember him ever losing any chickens because of the cold.