You've gotten some good advice here, OP. I agree with waiting until your girls are older, and with looking for an older rooster, if you want to minimize risk. I waited until my girls were 6-8 months old, I've even seen some people recommend 1 year.
I spent quite a lot of time reading this BYC article, "
Understanding your Rooster" before deciding once and for all to bring one home. I love my girls, but I recognize there are things a rooster can do for a flock that I cannot do, especially since I free-range and would like to hatch my own eggs someday. I did a lot of reading and preparation, then once I decided I could accept the changes in flock dynamics (and my girls were old enough) I spent a lot of time looking for the right guy.
I looked for a rooster who was at least 1 year old (and likely to be past the nonsense of the puberty phase), who came from a reasonably healthy flock, and who carried the genetics I wanted to perpetuate in my own flock. It took several months but I was able to source a breeder's extra grow-out and it's worked incredibly well. We were careful about quarantines & slow introductions, in order to set him (and our hens) up for success as best as possible. Of course there are always unknowns with individual animals, but we do what we can.
It's incredibly cool watching them interact. Seeing him dance & herd & tidbit for them is amazing. Watching the girls groom him is adorable. Every day is a great birdwatching day here. That said, most of my girls are definitely less personable nowadays, and even though I expected that it's still a bit sad sometimes. There are still 1-2 who spend a lot of time with me, but I am careful not to upset my rooster by handing them too much. At the end of the day, they live outside, and the 1-2 hours I spend with them per day is nothing compared to the attentions of a dedicated rooster 24/7. He deserves my respect for his position and responsibility.
We're very happy with our decision, but there are a LOT of ways it could have gone poorly without proper research done beforehand. For a flock that doesn't free range, and if the keeper isn't interested in hatching their own eggs... I'm not sure I'd recommend it for the average fully-contained pet flock. But it's a very personal decision and I'm sure you'll get a lot of very different opinions & anecdotes.
