Cock-a-doodle-darn

Oh Rufio, you make me crazy. 

When one raises poultry, it is inevitable that you will have roosters - 50% of all chicks hatched are male. Roosters are amazingly beautiful birds, and great flock protectors. They will fight off predators, and protect their hens from any perceived threats - including humans.

In nature, Jungle fowl (the wild ancestor of domestic chickens) form groups that typically consist of a large number of females to a single dominant male and a few subordinate immature males. Young males who reach maturity may try to challenge the lead male for mating rights, or be chased away from the flock to find their own group. Hens have the freedom of choice to follow a specific male or escape from ones they don't like. The lead males are the protectors, and are often the first to lay their lives down to predators as a sacrifice to the safety of the group. There is always room for a subordinate male to take his place. The natural processes of disease and predation are generally how the ratio of males to females are kept in check, ensuring the health and peace within the flock, as well as creating genetic variety for the long-term success of the species.

In the comfortable confines of high-strength fencing and predator-proof coops, domesticated poultry are spared the stressors of natural selection. All birds are given the safety and security to live and eat and grow - but they also lack choice. They are at the mercy of their human caretakers to determine the best course of actions to influence flock health and compatibility. When lacking the outside influences of "the wild" the dynamics of a flock are hardly natural, and there can be cases where a rooster's deep-seeded desires to fight for survival, to take his mates, and to protect his territory runs into conflict with the preferences of those human caretakers around him... Unfortunately the most common approach to dealing with this is the culling of the offending rooster.

 

"Rufio" - a mixed laced Cochin/Polish cockerel, with a strong dominant attitude and tendency toward aggression has been a challenge. I am no stranger to raising poultry, and I know that in many cases the entire purpose these birds serve is to be food for others. I keep other species who's primary diet consists of poultry... but with this one rooster I find myself questioning and resisting age-old wisdom and traditional methods for dealing with "problem birds."

He has charged at me, jumped on my toddler, tried to fight with birds twice his size, has caused chaos among the flock, scared the younger hens, and bullied his brother into a state of neuroticism... yet despite this I continue to give him more chances, continue to feed and care for him, and continue to try my best to make things work. To date I have spent hundreds of dollars to build him his own coop, and countless hours trying to integrate him with the flock

I don't know why with THIS bird I find myself completely incapable of considering his death as a viable option for resolving the problem. It would most certainly be the "easy way out" and I have been offered plenty of logical reasons as to why this might be the better option for the sake of peace within my flock (and my personal sanity.) Perhaps it's stubborn pride, perhaps it's a desire to prove I'm not "the norm" or perhaps it's the universe pulling some secret trick on me that will only be revealed later - but there is something underlying in my soul that is telling me that I should keep fighting for him. Perhaps this bird has some lessons to teach me.