I grow the males until they start fucking the shit out of the females, and then eat them before the females become bedraggled. they get a chance to explore, fight and fuck, as they are wont to do.

Hens lay eggs all the time, if they're well-fed. they'll happily eat mice, or other species, or snake eggs, or whatever they find. they're not exactly.. ..kind creatures.

If you isolate them from all other things and treat them as a pet, they'll take on pet behaviors, like a lot of creatures do. but, that's not how they naturally behave.

I have no qualms about treating something better than it would treat me, even if it does end up on my dinner plate. But chickens, like any creature, experience. ..and as such, we should do our best to give them a decent experience overall.