Genetically, it makes the most sense to mate a pied to a pied--all babies are pied. And you get the same results from a male pied to a female het pied as you do with a female pied to a male het pied--50% normal-looking het pied and 50% pied.
Economically, you can expect more pied babies by mating a male pied to two or more female het pieds than by mating a pied female to one or more het pied males. A male can sire clutches with more than one female, while a female has only one clutch per year, no matter how many males she mates with. Male pied x 2 female het pieds produce two clutches, each of which is expected to produce 50% pied and 50% normal-looming het pied. That's where the benefit of using a pied male appears.
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