I'm happy for you!
I love my ladies!
We have several breeds - Rhode Island Red, barred rock, red stars, wyandottes, sussex, buff orpington, black australorp, 1 BB Red bantam, and 2 Silkies.
All of mine are great layers. I have a total of 10 hens that are laying age. The bantams are still too young. They have slowed down their egg laying for the winter but I've got 64 eggs so far for November, which is plenty for us.
We can't let ours free range because of the predators - hawks, neighborhood dogs, coyotes, etc. I do let mine out every afternoon as long as someone can be outside with them.
As far as how much to pay, I can't really help you there. All of ours were given to us by 3 different people! Ours eat scratch grains and laying mash. I also give them black oil sunflower seeds for a treat. They really like those.
We set up one corner of our barn for the chickens. They have a coop and a run attached to it. If you can, I would fence their area with hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. It's much sturdier. The pen ours have now has a roof since it's the corner of the barn, but I would use netting to cover the top of their run if yours are outside.
I think as long as they have adequate shelter in the winter and shade in the summer they will be fine. Mine like to wade in pans of water in the summer! I've also misted them with a sprinkler if the temps were very high.
I hope this answers some questions for you. Chickens are easier than people think. Oh, and they are social animals. Always have more than one so they are not lonesome.