Super tempted to try it, if it is in fact okay in my HOA.
Advice on sources for learning about it? Seems like a very big possibility for teaching the kids a lot about animals, responsibility, and self sustainability.
Go for it. Did it with the kids a couple years back and it was all that & more until the neighbor cat got them. Now using the prospect of more chickens as a lure to get better grades. They want them bad enough they are working harder in school.
A couple of suggestions:
1. Dogs can be trained to not kill chickens. All it took was one swat on the butt to train our German Shorthaired Pointer. I suppose a hard-headed dog could be untrainable. If your pooch can be trained not to kill the chickens, you have just made your chickens much more secure from OTHER predators.
2. Buy or borrow from your municipal animal pound a have-a-heart trap and begin trapping before you let the chickens outside. Do it for a month or so. Take neighbor cats to the pound and also any other mammals you catch. Foxes, yotes, & such HAVE to be turned over to gov't due to rabies. Marsupials not so much. You can take them to gov't or relocate. My wife crowned me "The Great Possum Catcher" in honor of my possum count after catching the neighbor cat responsible for killing Indiana and Lucy. If your neighbors have a frequent flyer, most of the fines to spring them go up per incident. That might convince them to keep Fluffy inside. If not, I would give Fluffy three strikes and she's out (in a humane manner).
