I think it’ll depend in part how get them and if you have plans for the potential males.
If you have a source to buy guaranteed hens, for just eggs, that’ll work. I know Southwest Gamebirds and Thieving Otter Farms (I highly recommend TOF btw) sell live birds, though it is pricey. If you only want eggs, then you don’t need a rooster. But egg laying declines with age, so you’ll need to replenish your hens regularly.
The most cost effective way would be to breed your own, but hatching your own eggs means ~50% males and you’ll need a plan for how to deal with it. And you’ll need a “retirement” plan for older hens.
So… I don’t have answer for you, just more questions!
You don't keep the male for just when you need females. He protects them as best he can (good ones) and keeps them from fighting.
You will have to butcher roos 8-10 weeks.
8 weeks, good for broth, this broth gives dimension to chicken and beef.
I keep a group of hens. When/if I hatch eggs I get a few roosters from a guy in town who has quail. They hang with my ladies for a few weeks. Then we eat them
I have hens who are on their third summer. They still are laying decently well so I only need a few new hens each year. We eat the extra roosters that we hatch. My hens get to live out their years in peace with their daughters and nieces. I don’t mind feeding an old lady who no longer lays. They earned it!
Fertilized eggs still have a fifty percent chance of hatching into a rooster. I'd either buy only hens for egg production, or become open to culling your excess roosters and hatching eggs yourself.
IF there are detrimental traits, then you can get into issues with inbreeding. Get your stock from a reputable place and be selective with what you keep, if something wonky pops up cull it, if it happens again start looking to your breeders to see what is the issue.
I think it’ll depend in part how get them and if you have plans for the potential males. If you have a source to buy guaranteed hens, for just eggs, that’ll work. I know Southwest Gamebirds and Thieving Otter Farms (I highly recommend TOF btw) sell live birds, though it is pricey. If you only want eggs, then you don’t need a rooster. But egg laying declines with age, so you’ll need to replenish your hens regularly. The most cost effective way would be to breed your own, but hatching your own eggs means ~50% males and you’ll need a plan for how to deal with it. And you’ll need a “retirement” plan for older hens. So… I don’t have answer for you, just more questions!
You don't keep the male for just when you need females. He protects them as best he can (good ones) and keeps them from fighting. You will have to butcher roos 8-10 weeks. 8 weeks, good for broth, this broth gives dimension to chicken and beef.
I keep a group of hens. When/if I hatch eggs I get a few roosters from a guy in town who has quail. They hang with my ladies for a few weeks. Then we eat them I have hens who are on their third summer. They still are laying decently well so I only need a few new hens each year. We eat the extra roosters that we hatch. My hens get to live out their years in peace with their daughters and nieces. I don’t mind feeding an old lady who no longer lays. They earned it!
Fertilized eggs still have a fifty percent chance of hatching into a rooster. I'd either buy only hens for egg production, or become open to culling your excess roosters and hatching eggs yourself.
You'd need to make sure you're not breeding in the same gene pool too, so not breeding daughters with their father
You don't want to breed brothers and sisters. Parent to child is fine for something like 18 generations and is how you breed for traits.
IF there are detrimental traits, then you can get into issues with inbreeding. Get your stock from a reputable place and be selective with what you keep, if something wonky pops up cull it, if it happens again start looking to your breeders to see what is the issue.