Caponized roo personality

[ellend]

Hi, we live within City limits, so can't have roosters. If I get my daughters pets caponized, will they still crow? Does it mellow them out?

Thanks

Yes, they still crow. I gave mine to a wonderful home before I could find out how much reduced the crowing might be (I live in the city also.) I have read, however, that they crow; the wattles and comb also contain hormonal tissue. Mellower, yes. When I went to visit, the uncaponized roo (raised with the caponized one) followed us everywhere, unhappy that we were near the girls. The caponized one looked on from a distance, with mild interest. That being said, if they are her pets and she can handle the risk (or you can do it without her knowing, after they have gone to another home) you can try caponizing. From what I understand, they should be done fairly young; I've read that older birds don't do as well. My bird was young, and did great. BTW; make sure you have a good scoop tool; getting those detached friable testes lifted out of the cavity is very difficult otherwise--you can't pick them up with forceps--they fall apart. You can't leave pieces inside. I was lucky enough to find a vet who was curious, and put my roo under with isoflurane gas. Good luck. Maybe someone else can comment on the crowing.

 

[ellend]

Roos have hard lives. Try finding a pet home for a roo….anybody who likes having them already has six. They fight, sometimes to being maimed or killed. People send them to freezer camp. If you are willing to pay a vet to do it, awesome! It's not difficult, and isoflurane gas used properly will be safe for them. Mine was old enough to already start crowing, and he did great. I had the caponizing book and the vet and I did it together. The only hard part was that I didn't have a proper scoop, and the (detached) testes were too slippery and delicate to pick up with any of the available instruments. I ended up using a long cotton swab to stick the testes to the cotton tip and lift them out. Not the easiest, but it worked. We used a z-track incision, which allows air to "burp" out of the chest with respirations. The skin incision, being in a different spot than the intercostal (space between the ribs) incision, did not allow air to get sucked back in. He did great. The next day you couldn't tell by his behavior that anything had happened.
Maybe a capon won't live as long. I suspect, however, he might have a better quality of life, especially IF it stops the crowing and he can stay in his city backyard pet home. Where he is not expected to sacrifice himself to protect the egg layers.

 

[McBriec]

If caponizing ameliorates/mitigates rooster behaviors that may cause them to be killed, then I am totally in agreement with Santa Claus. At least this gives the bird a chance to live with a loving owner like tn_artist.

 

[jrjoplin]

Capons can make wonderful pets. Most of the capons I’ve had become lawn art. They become very docile and if they are complete capons and not slips they will not crow. They usually become large beautiful birds, I’ve even had a few that have acted as nannys for the little chicks.

The problem will be finding someone who can perform the procedure. Even Avian vets balk at caponization. It is a high risk surgery when you take anesthesia and the closeness of major blood vessels. With a bantam rooster I’d say 8-10 weeks old for the procedure but I’ve caponized roosters up to 16 weeks with no complications.

 

[jrjoplin]

Joking?

I hope so. I can’t even imagine.

 

[ellend]

IF the capon doesn't crow, there will be absolutely NO issue with the city. The "no rooster" rule is to protect neighbors from crowing noise, and from aggression--which the capon should not demonstrate if the surgery was successful. The city doesn't knock on the door to sex your chickens.

 

[ellend]

I don't have any experience with no crow collars or caponizing but my daughter (age 6) raised a cockerel. It was a similar situation where she picked her own chicks and the one she happened to be most fond of was a roo. He was a really sweet boy and we have no problem with keeping roosters. Suddenly out of the blue when he was probably about a year old he attacked her. Just ran at her and scratched up her stomach with his spurs and chased her pecking at her all the way. We thought it was just a moment but he did it again so I gave him away. I guess we learned our lesson on that one!! It was a Buff Orphington.

Caponizing should have prevented that. Aggression should be expected with an intact, sexually mature male. I'm glad your daughter wasn't injured.

 

[ellend]

If he wasn’t canonized properly he will not ‘regrow’ testicles. He is only using the tissue left behind in the botched procedure.

"Botched" is a kind of strong word. Ever caponized? The testicles are EXTREMELY slippery and friable.

 

[PANEAVES]

Hi, we live within City limits, so can't have roosters. If I get my daughters pets caponized, will they still crow? Does it mellow them out?

Thanks

We had two roosters caponized. The vet said there was a 50% chance of them dying from the procedure. One died. The other took about a week to regain his crowing ability. He is now seven and still crows all the time, day and night. The procedure did not change his personality. He is mellow except when annoyed.

 

[jugchoke]

I hope so. I can’t even imagine.

No joke!
Years ago, kid on the farm, 82 now, we knew about caponizing.
Two ways, removal and a chemical pill inserted under the neck skin.
You just discarded the entire neck when the bird was prepared for the table.