Part I of how I aquired 49 chickens and where they sleep

Back in the halcyon days of early summer 2008 for some reason I thought about the chickens we had years and years ago. Fond memories. At the time we had a front yard fence that our kitchen window perfectly framed. The girls, no roosters, assembled on the fence and watched us eat our breakfast as they waited for theirs. Very sociable creatures, they followed me around, allowed me to pick them up and chat and they gave us eggs! That was all I remembered.
So I began visiting my neighbor who has 6 or 7 chickens and asking her questions. I admitted that I was thinking about getting a few. The door opened a crack.
A few weeks later..........
Ring, ring "Hello."
"Tina, it's Ellen. 5 eggs hatched. I only want to keep 3. Want the other 2?"
Just sort of sticking my toe in that water. "Sure."
Two chickens. Two chickens, maybe an egg a day. Two chickens that I must feed and water and house and protect and maybe an egg a day. How many did we have before? 12. I think we had 12.
"Ellen, where did you get your chickens?"
"Ideal. Ideal Poultry on line."
Ideal.
Ideal has over 100 breeds of standard chickens, Barred Rocks to Silver Spangled Spitzhaubens. That does not include Bantams or meat birds. Just to see, I googled other hatcheries and found Mac Murray's. Oh the pictures and descriptions, and they are only 2.50 each.
Minimum order: 25