I changed this to a whole new thread, because a lot of people will have things to add and it can become a fun and helpful thing to a lot of people.

Here's what I came up with on short notice!

There are several good books, “Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens” is good, there’s a Chickens for Dummies book out there, and “The Chicken Health Handbook” by Gail Damerow.   Don’t know for sure about the chickens for dummies book, but I’ve heard it’s good and I know the other two are.

Chicken coops should be able to keep predators OUT.  It’s incredibly heartbreaking to come out in the morning and find out that a raccoon or opossum or coyote or mink(weasel) got in and literally tore them apart over night.  Neighbor dogs can also destroy them in a few minutes of afternoon “fun”.

Any openings in a coop need to be covered with hardware cloth as opposed to chicken wire.  If you are keeping them in a run, it’s best to have the lower part covered with hardware cloth because raccoons will reach through large fencing and tear legs and wings off while they’re alive.  Yeah, gross.

Chicken wire is good for keeping chickens in… it is too flimsy to keep predators out. 

Coops do NOT need to be insulated at all, chickens have down and are fine in almost the coldest weather.  Coops DO need to have ventilation, chickens produce moisture both from breathing and from pooping, and in the winter, it can cause dampness which is dangerous.  It’s bad for their lungs, and it also makes it hard for their down to fluff up enough to provide the insulation it’s designed to do.

Chickens need clean water at all times and decent feed.  In the summer if they’re free ranging and have access to lots of bugs and vegetation, they’ll eat a lot less feed, but they still do best with some.  They definitely need good feed in the winter.

They need roosts to rest on overnight, which should be higher than the nest boxes.  They will roost on the highest things, and you don’t want them roosting in the nest boxes, cause they poop a lot at night and you want the nest boxes to stay clean.

They don’t need anything fancy, but if you’re feeling like getting fancy, they’ll adapt!

This is good!  Keep em coming all. 

I find the best roosts are 2x4s set with the wide side up so they can set on them well and lower their breast feathers down over their feet.  Chickens do perch at night, but they are walking birds, not much of a flying bird.  They like to have their feet mostly flat and the 2x4s allow them to keep their vulnerable feet warm on cold nights.

When they only have round roosts, they tend to have more foot problems too. 

Having the coop in the trees is ok, good in fact, as long as it's not too dark.  It will give them some wind break in the winter, and shade in the summer.  They're generally more vulnerable to getting too hot in the summer than too cold.

Mine is in the trees, but I also have a lot of raccoon problems.  I also have a good dog that HATES raccoons though.  If I accidentally say the word in the house, he's running from door to door to window, trying to get out to look for any.  I send him out on regular patrols and I think he's doing a good job of keeping the miserable varmints away. 

I know people think they're cute, but when you find bits of birds left after a raid, you learn that they're not all that cute after all.

You don't need roosters at all to get eggs.  I'm not trying to be a smart alek, but that is such a misconception that I thought it worth saying.  So many people think you need roosters.  Hens are very happy on their own, often having a rooster or roosters, is much more annoying than it's worth.  To both the hens and to you.  They do make good watchbirds against predators though, sounding an alarm against them, and if a predator does come into the yard, they'll usually try to stand them off and give the girls a chance to get away… they usually are the ones that get killed then of course, but that's what they do.

I have the heated base and use the metal waterer.  Hauling water in freezing weather is a miserable thing and chickens need water almost more in the winter than the summer to keep them strong and healthy in bad weather.  The one mamaleigh linked to is a good one, there's another one called "little giant" I think it is, which is less expensive, but looks the same, it's not worth the money.  Spend the extra $7 (or so) for the farm innovators one. 

After about 4 years, even the better one eventually did fail but it sees some hard use in poor conditions so I wasn't sorry.  I got one of the cheaper ones after and regretted it!  It didn't even last one winter.

No rusting in mine, it's 4 years old, my last one lasted at least 9 years, I gave it away to the 4H-er I gave the rest of my chickens to way back when, not sure how long it lasted after that.  It gets kinda slimy in the summer, a good scrub out takes care of that.

  Of course they'll be ok Leah's Mom!  I've seen some badly mislabeled at our TSC, and I think they're always straight run, which means you won't know which are roosters is all.  But if you planned on having roosters, and you are ok if the breed isn't a sure thing, I think they're fine!  I have a hard time resisting the little guys there myself!