Now Henry has to fly the coop

There is no room in the coop for this Shropshire cockerel after one of his girlfriends turned out to a be a male.

Henry, the white cockerel, was king of the roost at his home at The Hem in Shifnal where he lived with five chickens.

But he is now in need of a new home after his owner, Julia Prior, discovered one of the chickens was in fact another cockerel.

The two cockerels cannot live in the same pen without fighting and Mrs Prior said sadly one needed to go.

Mrs Prior named her five chickens Freda, Mavis, Olive and Vera, along with Betty who turned out to be a cockerel and is now named Greg.

Mrs Prior said: "Henry came to us because he needed to be rehomed. He is absolutely beautiful.

"We had five girls but one of the girls has turned out to be a boy so Henry has sadly got to go.

"He's white with a beautiful pale mauve tail and feathers. He's so tame and gorgeous. There must be someone out there who would like him."

Mrs Prior said she and her husband, Rob, had only had the chickens for three months but were really enjoying their new lives looking after them.

"We had five girls who have all been named after special people who have passed away in our lives and they seem to have taken on their traits too.

"But then one day we saw Betty playing with Olive and it turns out Betty is not a Betty at all but is in fact a cockerel who we have now named Greg.

"Greg is half the size of Henry and there will be a lot of fighting in the house if they stay together."

Mrs Prior said the chickens were an early Christmas present really as her husband had always wanted chickens.

And the couple are already celebrating after their first four eggs were laid.

"Every day is exciting when you've got chickens. It's like the Archers here at the moment," she said.

"We had three eggs first and then on Thursday Freda was making a lot of noise and we went in and there was another egg. It's great.

"We will be sorry to see Henry go but as long as he goes to a good home that's all that matters," she said.