Decrowing Roosters.

[Sphinx]

It's actually not like those examples though. All of his communications are muted, not just the annoying one. He cannot effectively signal to his flock if danger approaches, nor if he finds food to court them with, nor any sound to stop in-fighting. I think this is more akin to cutting off a dog's nose because you don't like the fact it gets into your trash. The sense of smell is the primary sense of importance to a dog. So is the ability to verbally communicate in a chicken/rooster.

I'm all for surgeries on animals that improve their quality of life, but this one is entirely for human convenience. It would seem to me that if you dislike a major feature of an animal, you shouldn't decide that you can just cut here, snip there, and get a designer product. Just get another type of animal. For example. I detest parrots because they are freakishly loud. And I mean detest. I never once said to myself "you know, all that parrot needs is some cutting, and it'd be nifty keen." I just don't own parrots.

I've had roosters that I couldn't keep. I made the effort necessary to relocate them to new homes. You can't have everything you want in life, that's just how life works. Crippling an animal because you can't come to terms with that? Doesn't seem right.

This is the thing though: What happens to the overwhelming majority of roosters out there? Most of them are killed and (hopefully) eaten. I bet if you were able to survey the roosters, and let them decide going to freezer camp or being "crippled", I'll be that every single one would choose to be alive. The ones that would choose freezer camp are probably the ones who misunderstood the question (being chickens and all).

It's not like there's tons of farms with huge populations of bachelor roosters. I imagine that more than 90% of all roosters hatched don't live the first year. Isn't something that would change that statistic at least worth considering?

 

[centrarchid]

This is the thing though: What happens to the overwhelming majority of roosters out there? Most of them are killed and (hopefully) eaten. I bet if you were able to survey the roosters, and let them decide going to freezer camp or being "crippled", I'll be that every single one would choose to be alive. The ones that would choose freezer camp are probably the ones who misunderstood the question (being chickens and all).

It's not like there's tons of farms with huge populations of bachelor roosters. I imagine that more than 90% of all roosters hatched don't live the first year. Isn't something that would change that statistic at least worth considering?

90% is a bit of an underestimate. I bet it is in the range of 98 to 99%. The poultry kept by backyard folks probably do not repressent more than a couple percent of the total US flock.

 

[bluedogsonly]

Here is a video of a before and after surgery on one of my American Game Bantams. This little guy is going to be my AI rooster for my standard sized wheaten hens. Watch carefully, this video has not been altered. Sorry about the road noise, I live on a highway, and the other birds crowing. I hope you all can see that he really seems to be acting just like any other rooster and that he does not seem to be in pain while he's crowing. He is just so much quiter without changing his daily life.

Dr. James

 

[bluedogsonly]

"quieter"

 

[Hillschicks]

$250 to have a slightly quieter $3 chicken??? Lol ... Guess some of the country is doin alright for themselves... For less than that most people could sound proof their coop

 

[RachaelS]

$250 to have a slightly quieter $3 chicken??? Lol ... Guess some of the country is doin alright for themselves... For less than that most people could sound proof their coop

LOL, wish my 6 would crow in their coop, problem is they goes out in to run to do it

.

Money is relative, you can get a free kitten in the newspaper but still spend $$$$ if it gets sick. The purchase value is not always the "real value". For some $250 is worth it, for others, it is not. For me it is not, but then again, I use my money in other ways that people may not agree with. Yes, I will admit I do go to McD's every now and then

, a total waste of good money on not great food, but the kids like it.

 

[Autumn Acres]

My rooster is my pet, but I wouldn't pay $250 for a surgery to de-crow him. I dont use him for breeding, I just love having him around. I am one of those people who is at risk of losing him because my neighbors don't like him, but all I'd be willing to pay to decrow him is probably $100. It just seems abnormal to take their crow away. He seems so proud of himself when he belts it out and I'm proud of him too!

 

[bluedogsonly]

Ive never understood the thought that 1 "crippled" (decrowed) rooster is actually worse at signaling the flock of danger than 0 roosters at all. The other hens take part in this also. The rooster does not seem to be hindered at all in his daily life except he's quiet.

I have had a few vets actually contact me about learning this procedure. I try and explain this procedure as best as I can without hand gestures and facial expression. Ha. I would not have tried this without seeing it first hand. But it seems like there may be more options in the future when it comes to finding a vet closer that can do this surgery.

The price that Im willing to charge is $150, I know that is not worth it to some. But for some out there it is also not worth $45 to spay or neuter or $20 to vaccinate your pet. This procedure should not come cheap, it does carry risk and honestly, the time and effort to have the knowledge and skill to perform it is very valuable. If it were cheap, it could very well be abused. This is to save the roosters life. To most that life is not that valuable (most of these birds are $3 chicks), but to others you cant place a value on them. There seems to be a lot of judgement being thrown about concerning others opinions.

I think if you could ask the bird, hatchet or scalpel?, he'd probably take the chance at a quiet existence.

Sorry for the soap box speach. Thanks all.

Dr. James

 

[centrarchid]

I watch my birds very closely and listen to them as well. My adult roosters are valued for several reasons and among them are the roles they play within my free-ranging flocks. Their most obvious role is as the nuclei of harems that can include any combination of hens and juveniles. Rooster directs the harem's foraging routine, indicates prime food items, directs harem at roosting time, does most of territory defense (part of purpose behind crowing), does most of warning with respect to terrestrial and avian predators, actively combats hawks targeting his offspring, defends interest of his offspring against parties not part of his harem, sometimes takes on broody responsibilities when hen weans chicks, ejects subadult offspring from harem, and keeps hens fertile. Every last one of the jobs involves vocalizations, many unique to the job. In my setting I suspect a given rooster would not be capable of doing his job without a typical voice and think it is probable that voice modified roosters would not even be able to secure a harem if hens have a choice between modified and normal roosters. Roosters isolated in confinement like many I have would lke be able to keep hens fertile but same roosters might have difficulties interacting with normal and possibly other modified roosters.

For most urban keepers of chickens considering modifying the vocal capacity of their birds, normal harem related roles may not have same importance I place on them. Such birds are likely kept more for the purpose of eye candy. If potential users of the modifications are concerned about impacts of changed vocal capacity has on quality of life for the bird, then that should be considered at least from the aspect of how husbandry methods can be adjusted to compensate modified birds.

 

[bluedogsonly]

Some good points Cenyrarchid, I agree with most of what you said and in your situation this procedure would probably not be needed. I have actually seen roosters kill there own chicks and have seen flocks of just females seem to get along just fine. I have never used a decrowed bird in a free range situation, since I dont free range my birds. The roosters do all of the rooster things when it comes to being confined by a fenced yard, my girlfriend maintained about 8 bantam hens with a decrowed OE rooster and things went well. The neighbors didnt even know there was a rooster but the kids loved to come play with them. Also, the hens that were in the "bachelor" pen (large pen full of roosters that I maintain to practice this procedure) actually prefered a decrowed rooster to others that were not. But the decrowed bird is bigger, stronger and more confident than the subordinate roos that were not decrowed. I still think that manliness is the defining factor, which crowing is a part of, but scrapping and confidence seem more important.

Another point is that people who have several free range roosters dont have city ordinances or neighbors to contend with. The situation that I feel a rooster and owner would benefit is a small confined flock with one favored rooster that will not be able to stay because of his crow. The suburban backyard flock with 4-5 hens raised from chicks and that 1 "miss" cockrel that has become a beloved pet and the rooster's life is in danger is where I think this should be applied. Again this is not for everybody or every situation, and it shouldn't be.

Hope I'm not offending ya'll too much. Thanks.

Dr. James