Goodbye to two roosters

When we ordered chicks this spring we got a few extra males.  The hatchery made a mistake on one of the barred rock females and also sent me an extra barred rock male in case the one that I ordered died.  Of course, they all lived because I was a good chicken mama.  But a flock of 19 hens only needs one rooster otherwise they will be bare backed from his attentions to them.  For weeks now we have been trying to decide which rooster to keep.  One was obviously going.  Mr. T earned his name for two reasons.  One he was so tall and skinny that he looked like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  The other was for the A-Team Mr. T because he was half bald by growing his feathers in strips.  He is the one lying down as usual.  The other one was the prettiest rooster. Calm and mannerly, he was quite the country gentleman.  He paid no attention to the hens however and was usually off by himself. The third chicken is with the ladies most of the time.  He is a hog with the treats but he protects them when a hawk flies over and herds stragglers back to the group if they get to far away.  He was not my favorite but he seemed to be the girl's.  In fact, I call him "fat head" at times because he acts so bossy.  My friends at backyardchickens. com said to let

the hens decide.  And so "Fat Head" becomes our "Mr. Darcy."  I guess Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice is proud and arrogant at times but in the end he takes care of everyone especially his lady.  The other two boys went to live in another flock hopefully to be liked better by those girls and loved by their new chicken mama.   

Our proud Mr. Darcy (otherwise know as Fat Head)