Henry

Meet Henry. He's a Speckled Sussex Rooster and he's my favorite.

He was the first to start his comb and wattle and for a first time chicken-owner, made it easy for me to spot which was the male from a group of straight-run chicks.

He's very tame and lets me hold him and he settles down in my arms and goes to sleep. His beak will rest on my chin and I can feel his warm breath. I never imagined I would come to like a chicken as much as I do Henry.

Here's the sad thing.

Henry is on the bottom of the chicken pecking order.

From my research, that means he gets pecked and cannot peck back.

See his eye? (above) I think he got pecked in the eye and he seems to not be able to see out of that eye. His other eye looks fine.

Here, the chickens are doing their usual chicken business. It's like they're the popular crowd in high school and where's poor Henry?

All the way over there, all by his lonesome.

sigh.

Poor Henry.

That red rooster in the middle is a Rhode Island Red and he takes his job very seriously.
We call him Rocky. (We watched 'Chicken Run' a little too much and borrowed the name from there.. Rocky Rhode? Get it?)

He keeps all his women in check, sometimes even Archie the cat! (that's the other speckled sussex rooster on the right, not Henry)

When they all go to bed at night in the coop, sometimes a hen isn't quite ready to go to bed yet and pops back out. Rocky comes running after her, as if to say,

"Get your feathered butt back in the house!"

Oldest cracks up when we say that.

*****

Here's the thing:: Out of 11 chickens we have 5 roosters and 6 hens. Rocky has taken the lead and has proven to be very good at his job. The one Buff Orpington rooster has been challenging Rocky but so far, Rocky remains on top. There is another Speckled Sussex rooster and both Rhode Island Reds are roosters.

Obviously, there are too many roosters and I have to pick which are destined for the dinner table. I hate to do Henry, as he is my favorite and I really wanted him to be the father of all my future chicken babies. Go ahead and laugh, but I really love him and I want him to have a good life, not a life where he gets pecked on and spends his day all alone, either in the yard or in the coop by himself.

Any chicken experts out there? Any suggestions? If I get new baby chicks and separate them with Henry, will he be King of the Roost or will it be a waste of time?

Did I ruin it for Henry by favoring him over the others? Did they smell human on him and shun him for betraying his chicken-ness?

My uncle tells me I would be wasting my time and to go ahead and take him and the 3 others to be butchered. Is he right? Is there no future for Henry?