Decrowing surgery - my roosters experiences

Double Kindness

Songster
5 Years
Jul 25, 2014
1,394
153
158
CO
Roosters happen even if one buys pullets. Roosters are awesome, I think. Unfortunately my neighbors, and most people in general don't enjoy the sound of rooster crows, much less a crowing contest.

I fell in love with ayam cemani chickens. I live in an urban area, which one would equate to no roosters. I desperately wanted to breed fibromelanistic chickens. Research brought me to several options. No crow collars, decrowing surgery or not breeding.

On BYC there was a member selling a semi-quieted rooster. I talked it over with my bf, he saw the you tube video and said ok, but if the neighbors complained, he'd have to go.

The neighbors love Lenny. He's so good to my hens in my laying flock. He can crow, but it's not very loud. He's probably 25% as loud as a normal rooster.

The summer and fall went by, no issues with the neighbors and us having chickens, ducks and a semi-quieted rooster. Then finally the ayam cemani chicks from my friend's flock hatched. And I got a dozen chicks.

There was a very handsome mottled English orpington that had a brief affair with the cemanis, out of my 12, I have 4 obvious haffies, ayam cemani x orpington.

I picked my 2 best blackest roos (Boss & Reginald) and dretd, the BYC member that does decrowing surgery and learned from Dr. James in Oklahoma, picked them up on Sunday.

She just called me to tell me the surgeries went well. My boys were hatched 3rd week of August, 2014, Reginald was 2.25 lbs. and he was the smaller of the 2.

Good news on black color saturation on my ac boys, larynx was gray as well as trachea, and the heart she said was charcoal gray, and the meat! It's the dark blackish mulberry tinge she said about what she saw.

I miss my boys, I handle them a lot, they are a naturally flighty breed of chicken, but once you have one held, they are so sweet and friendly.

My roos had not yet begun to crow. Time will tell if the surgery was a success.

Most roosters face the same fate- an axe to go in the stewpot. Many of us love our roosters, but no one wants to fight with their neighbors. Perhaps the risk and cost of this procedure is too high for some. I certainly am not going to do this to all my roosters, I'm also learning to caponize and have 1 capon under our belt so far, being self taught by reading a caponizing thread on BYC. Idk if this is the perfect answer to wtd with all the extra roosters we end up with. But it's usually an early death for most roos everywhere, but maybe not for all of them anymore.
 
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I fell in love with ayam cemani chickens.

My sister is obsessed with them, but the prices I've seen are out of my league. I'm glad you found a way to keep yours. Roos are illegal here too, but at least three of my neighbors have them so I'm going to see if I can get away with keeping one as well. The only neighbor who I think might be disturbed (or care) said she would never even notice and to go ahead and do it!
 
The surgery went well, the boys are recovering well, eating etc. I'm so relieved, now time will tell if they are able to crow and how loudly, since the procedure was done before they even started crowing and they are young and healthy.

Reginald may be for sale in a few months, as I have been planning on using Boss for breeding.

Thank you to dretd and kerstiens, for the ayam cemani and for doing decrowing surgery, both extremely hard things to find.
 
Dretd is so fantastic at updating me on how my boys are doing and sending pictures

this was today
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yesterday
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recovering from anesthesia
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I don't know how effective the surgery has been yet, as my roos had not started crowing yet. It may take another 6 months before I will know how effective the decrowing surgery went.

Next I need to pick out the 2 white bresse roos I want to use for breeding for the decrowing surgery. Probably within a month.

My friend is trying to hatch out 5 last ayam cemani eggs after seeing my chickens from her flock, and now with confirmation on fibromelanistic traits observed by the vet that did the surgery. I'm so thankful this was an option, and that it seems to have gone very well. Time will tell though.
 
Is the premise that if you 'decrow' them before they've ever crowed the surgery is more effective?

Anatomically, what exactly do they do in the surgery?
 
My understanding is that the surgery goes better if they haven't started crowing yet and built up the muscles that get the air volume in and squeezes it to let them belt it out like that.

Idk exactly how the surgery goes, but there are small holes cut open in the air sacks or larynx of the roosters, the surgery is in their throats/airways. The vet said they got 4 different types of anesthesia, and that the ayam cemani needed 4 times the amount of anesthesia than other breeds to get the effect. They are a bit flighty, mine get handled a lot by me, but they freak out every time I go near them, but as soon as I have them in my hands, they melt and love cuddles and petting.

I love my chickens so very much, I want to keep them as long as I can, but a crowing contest is not the way that's going to happen and make for mad neighbors.

Reginald had a little complication after stitches came out yesterday the vet said, and there was a bit of air trapped under his skin, which can happen and is common. She gave him some antibiotics, and they are still under observation. My boys might come home by tomorrow afternoon.

I told the others they are coming back soon, we had a talk this morning about Boss and Reginald, and Nugget is probably going to become a capon this weekend. Nugget is a haffie, he's an ayam cemani x mottled orpington roo, I have 2 haffie pullets and 2 haffie roos. The roos are going to become capons.

I think one of my white bresse roos has yellow feet/legs, he will become a capon, as I can't breed with him. I have 4 ayam cemani roos to make into capons in the next few weeks, unless someone wants them, but they are far from perfect with white toe nails and gray tongues, and are about a month old.
 
Just found out there's a clinic that's practically within walking distance of my house that does decrowing surgery. I might seriously consider taking a couple of my boys in. What age are yours?
 
The boys come home tomorrow afternoon
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I have missed them so much.

My boys are very young, only about 12 weeks old. They haven't begun crowing or attempting to crow yet, which from what I read is an important factor as to how successful the surgery is. I guess I'm going to find out eventually right?

In a month I will probably have decided which 2 white bresse roos will go for the surgery.
 
I had a bit of a set back. My flock got a respiratory infection and we had to postpone the next batch of white bresse for the crow reduction surgery. I have 3 bresse roos, so I guess I need to really figure out which 2 go for surgery.

Reginald had some issues a couple weeks ago where we think he got an impacted gizzard. My bf tended to him and he seems recovered. They wheeze after the procedure, so diagnosing the respiratory infection was a bit trickier than normal.

A 3 day course of tylan injections seems to have fixed everyone up. I need to be more careful when I spray sweet pdz powder.
 

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