Keeping chickens, a step futher - what does everyone think??

I have 3 chickens that provide me and my family with all the eggs that we could want. It has occured to me recently that my moral problems with battery eggs extends also to meat and i would very much like to be self sufficient in this regard as well.

I live in a fairly normal suburban house with an average sized garden and have an average amount of time to spend looking after chickens - all sounds very average dosen't it? Anyhoo i don't want to upset anyone and so therefore keeping a cock is probably out of the question. What is the minimum amount of hens that i can keep to maintain a viable supply of meat and eggs (ie, dont have to buy either from the supermarket). How do i get round the infertile egg problem. Can this be done by an average bloke in his back garden???

Any advice would be appreciated.

   
This question is not my pigeon (or should I say chicken) Nathan.  But we have keepers here who produce meat birds.  I'm sure someone will come along soon with an answer for you  

I have thought about doing the same thing my self, I am lucky though to live in a rural area with lots of chicken keepers around.
Have you asked the person who supplied your chickens if they could let you have some  eggs or new chicks? The breeder my hens came from was very happy to help when I sugested doing th same thing, they may even help with the killing of the birds untill you  gain experience.A messy job but worth it I would think,you at least know what has been fed to your birds and the conditions they have been kept in.