using a contraceptive implant (made for dogs) to stop crowing...Anyone ever heard of this?

[MarcBinNC]

we ordered day old chicks that were born on March 5th. they are now about 12 weeks old and one of the birds is a roo. it just so happens that the roo is my wife's favorite bird. One of the things I've begun to make a connection about is that he is a big ham and being he is the wife's favorite, he crows more frequently when she is around. For example, we began leaving them in the coop until 9ish to keep from upsetting the neighbors which has worked until this morning. This morning my wife had to leave extra early and he began crowing as soon as she walked out to the driveway and continued to crow for a good hour after she left before he finally quited. She came back home around 8:30 and as soon as she got out of her car he was crowing again. Because we live in a neighborhood and he is crowing even more lately, and i havent been able to find anything on the net that is very promising, I decided to make some calls to find out what we could do to keep him without upsetting the neighbors.

I had a very long "off the record" conversation with a Avian Vet today. It was very interesting. She points out that the cavity where the vocalization comes from is very "deep" and would be near impossible to perform effectively and would very likely end up killing the bird. she also did not recommend using a harness or other type of neck wrap/restraint. her reasoning for not using a harness/neck wrap is that it would not work for long, could get caught on something, and would probably cause the bird discomfort if drawn tight enough to be effective. She said that we could do as others have suggested on here and bring him indoors (garage or house) or put him in a sound proof coop.

She did go on to tell me about her friend (a non-Avian Vet) who ordered day old chickens and also lives in a neighborhood. this vet ended up with 2 roos and like many of us, her family has become attached to them. The Avian vet agreed to try to help her friend and they first neutered (caponized) the roos at 14-16 weeks of age (she also mentioned that this is very difficult to do correctly and if she were to charge the "going rate" for her time and supplies, it would be very expensive). Unfortunately, after the birds were neutered, it had very little effect on the crowing and the roos even continued to mount the hens.

After this failure, they decided to try a contraceptive implant made for dogs (male and female) that is designed to last 6 months. though there is no research or using this on chickens, she has apparently successfully used it on a couple of hens that had serious reproductive problems (eggs getting stuck-she used a more technical term i cant remember

, etc) but the owners wanted to keep them as pets. in the case of these few hens, she had to insert a new implant every 4-6 months or the hen would start laying again. She tells me that when they did the implants for these 2 roos their crowing was drastically reduced (almost non-existent) and the roos rarely mount the hens anymore. She also mentioned that its been over a year, the roos are still quiet and there has been no need to redo the implants (perhaps they became conditioned or the hormone levels were permanently lowered?) She says that if we want to try the implant, she will do it for $130.

Has anyone ever heard of using the contraceptive before? Is it worth a try?

Thanks!

 

[jonaeselaye]

Hi all,

I was recommended the implant by a bantam breeder who says she has had a lot of success with the implant with her cockerels.

My Australorp x cockerel, Maya, was administered implant today, with a 4.7mg dose. In total, I forked out $280 (AUD), $110 for the consultation fee on a Sunday and $170 for the implant itself. The avian vet said there was a good chance that it would have benefits for Maya because of his age, the fact that he hadn't developed a proper crow yet and he didn't crow very often (5-6 in the morning between 9-11 am). She said that he probably isn't going to stop completely crowing but he would be unlikely to start crowing during odd hours and throughout the day out of habit. The main benefit I saw was that it would be likely to reduce his aggressiveness towards my silkies. She recommended that I get him dosed again in 6 months.

I'll be monitoring his progress the next couple of months. It's been less than 24 hours but there are a few things that I've noticed. He's certainly a lot calmer, still inquisitive and active but we let him free range with the silkies today while we cleaned and fixed the chicken pen and for the first time ever he didn't chase them or peck at them. He calmly foraged with them and left them alone. Moreover, usually when the silkies see him they panic and run. Today they didn't seem scared of him at all. Also when we got home from the vet, he crowed twice at 12pm and that was it. Didn't hear a peep from him any other time of the day.

At this stage it's unclear whether these changes to his behaviour and the overall flock are because of the implant or purely coincidental. I guess time will tell.

Coming from a biotechnology background, I find the debate of Suprelorin very interesting. Especially because there hasn't been a lot of research done on roosters and on the drug in general since it's development more than 10 years ago. If a research team is able to get the animal ethics approval (which is very difficult), it may be beneficial to conduct a study comparing the behaviourial changes of cockerels based on age and dosage (4.7mg and 9.6mg). It could shed some light on whether Suprelorin on roosters truly is hit or miss or largely dependent on age.

If anyone has found any credible studies on the effects of Suprelorin on roosters please send them to me. I'd love to have a read of them.

 

[leighks]

I would pen him. I would think that would be more economical than the implant. Have you looked into the cost?

Yes, fortunately I’m a vet tech and get a courtesy discount. Full price going rate for the implant- which could last 6-12 mos- is $160. My Christmas $ is burning a hole in my pocket anyways lol.
But I’m still deciding... if I go with the implant I will update how it goes.

 

[aart]

I do have to do something, and separating him or trying the implant are the front runners for me right now. I’m fortunate to have a great avian vet nearby who said she would do it. That’s why I was curious what others who had used deslorelin/ superlorian thought.

I really don't think many have done it, and those that have had varied results.
If you're in a hurry maybe just have it done and see if it works....then you can add your experience to this thread

 

[jonaeselaye]

Did you repeat the implant application?
From what I read, it's not a one and done but a semi-yearly treatment.

@jonaeselaye maybe I missed it, but how old is your bird?

We were told by the seller 7 months but the vet believes he is between 4-5months.
He seemed moody today, the vet said it may be a side effect because of the hormone therapy, but not aggressive. Just restless. I watched him with my silkies again today and he didn't seem to want to chase them or peck them, he just ignored them.

He started crowing at around 10am today, around 10 times but thankfully he didn't start early in the morning. My neighbour mowing his lawn and nearby roadworks are muffling the sound

 

[jonaeselaye]

How old is he again?
IIRC too young for a regular molt, could the implant trigger a molt?

The vet believes he is around 6 months old but we aren't certain. You may be right because he never had any bald patches or anything, it's only his tail feathers that seem to have fallen off so maybe it is the implant. I managed to find a better photo of his body today

Glad you posted an update,
I’m very interested to see how things go as time goes on. So little info on this topic, it’s nice to have this resource!

Yes also found that it is hard to find information about the implant on roosters, even the journal articles/studies I found were mainly on ferrets and other animals. At this point I believe it could be a good option for people wanting to keep their roosters as pets. He started crowing almost 2 months ago but when we asked the neighbours the other day if it bothered them, they didn't even know we had a rooster. The coop is only metres away from our neighbours which are all boundary to boundary townhouses so if he crowed a lot they would definitely hear him.
However because of the cost and because some roosters need a few doses, I don't think it's an economical option for those who sell meat birds and eggs

 

[Leo1]

I've used deslorelin in many hens and one roo. The implant can also be given sub q in the breast. Safer and easier that way, it can't end up in an air sac. In hens it only lasts 6-8 weeks with the 4.7 MG, which is all that seems to be available in the states. With roos, I'm unsure how wrong it last. Gave one to my 7 y/o roo because I only had one hen and he was terrifying her. Stopped his mating behavior immediately. His comb shrunk and got paler. He needed a second after about 2 months, but hasn't needed another and it's been 4 months since his second. It hasnt stopped his crowing, but severely limited it. I live in an area where im not allowed roos. He has to live inside, but im now able to get him out during the days, without him crowing. He no longer crows before dawn, but instead waits until after i get up.
The implant will trigger a molt; I saw that someone asked that. The first implant will cause more of a molt and it lessens with each subsequent one. I have 2 cockerals that are 2 weeks right now, I think anyway, still hoping I'm wrong. They will be getting implants the second I'm positive and we will see if it stops the roostering all together and if it lasts longer if given before maturity.
This has been life saving for several of my hens. It's expensive and unfortunate that it doesn't last long. If a vet tries to tell you, it will last a year or 6 months, in a hen, do not believe them. The larger dose may, but the 4.7 will not. Hope this helps!

 

[Tricoglossus]

Hi all,

I am bringing this thread up again because today I had the Suprelorin implant placed into my 18 week old pet silkie rooster, Tiny. The procedure went well and no general anaesthetic was required. Tiny has barely crowed in the mornings since he started to crow approximately 4 weeks ago. I have been working on modifying his behaviour to prevent crowing as well, by picking him up and carrying him under my arm in the morning (it's quite hard for a rooster to crow when their feet are not on the ground!) until the urge to crow has passed. The vet told me that there is only a 33% chance of success of the implant stopping the crowing. I should see a change in crowing over the next week if it works. Fingers crossed!

 

[leighks]

I know this is a old post, but has anyone who have tried this on their rooster still around to comment?

I’m curious about its use to decrease mating for a rooster that’s 9 months old and overmating select hens, just to get him through these “overly amorous” times. Done a lot of research online but because it’s an off-label use of the drug, I can’t find too much info.

I don’t want to stop his crowing, just want him to cool his jets until he’s more mature and not harassing the hens so much.

 

[aart]

I know this is a old post, but has anyone who have tried this on their rooster still around to comment?

I’m curious about its use to decrease mating for a rooster that’s 9 months old and overmating select hens, just to get him through these “overly amorous” times. Done a lot of research online but because it’s an off-label use of the drug, I can’t find too much info.

I don’t want to stop his crowing, just want him to cool his jets until he’s more mature and not harassing the hens so much.

There are a couple rooster stories in this thread, did you read them?
I'd think penning him until he's older would be much easier, cheaper , and guaranteed.