Do:

Research municipal ordinances to make sure it’s legal to raise chickens on your lot.
Ask your neighbors if they’re okay with hearing the occasional cluck from your hens.
Remember to share an egg or two with your neighbors if they agree.
Decide which breed of chicken you’d like to have before designing or purchasing a coop. (Size and space requirements depend on a bird’s type.)

Don’t:

Buy or design a coop without consulting a resource guide first. We recommend Reinventing the Chicken Coop, by Kevin McElroy and Matthew Wolpe and The Chicken Health Handbook, by Gail Damerow and Jeanne Smith, both from Storey Publishing.
Get a rooster unless you’re miles away from neighbors.