Bought a house - previous owner moved to a town home so we kept the chickens. There is a decent amount of space on the property, and half of it is a forested hillside.
Any suggestions for a newbie? A new coop is definitely first thing on my list. And a fence around the property.
One of the chickens is an outcast and I feel bad for her, doesn’t leave the coop when the others go out in the yard and doesn’t eat treats from the ground just food from the feeder. The other chickens get along well it seems.
They don’t need a ton, but if they don’t get ithe oyster shell the eggs become increasingly fragile until they break when laid. Letting them free range gives them good bugs and nutrients. They lay less on the winter. You may want to consider something to heat the coop a bit in the winter depending on where you live. We tossed out a lot of table scraps since they eat anything, even chicken and egg shells.