Caponized roo personality

[Troika]

Avian vets for backyard chickens is a niche obviously begging to be filled. @GerbilsOnToast, it would be great if I could bring my Roos over to you for their snip-snip!

 

[2feetx4paws]

Why would you want to even try. The rules are no Roos... What are you telling your kids?

That’s going to be a hard reversal at 13, 14, 15... when some other hormones kick in.

 

[ellend]

Well even if an avian vet were to perform the surgery, death is going to, most likely, be the outcome. If your kids are really attached to your boy, please try a no-crow collar first, and even then it isn’t guaranteed to work.

Why would "death be the most likely outcome?" It's not that difficult to do with a bird under isoflurane anesthetic, and any avian vet will be competent with isoflurane. Farmers in the past caponized on board tables using rope restraints and only sunlight! Quite successfully, too, as capons were highly prized for market. They used to do them assembly line. With an avian vet there should be little risk, as he/she can take their time.

 

[ellend]

Bantam crows are really squeaky and alot less loud. You may be able to get away with keeping the one bantam[/QUOTE

My Old English Game Bantam HENS were dicey with the neighbors. A roo would definitely not be tolerated in my city back yard, and I live in a big city with very little enforcement. My neighbors are tolerant, but not for a crowing rooster. Even a banty.

 

[Folly's place]

Castrating cockerels is tricky, and general anesthesia is also tricky in birds for any length of time. The learning curve for this procedure is steep, likely involving bird deaths until practice produces speed. I saw it done in poultry science class at university, and both cockerels died, done 'traditionally' with no anesthesia. Not pretty!
Mary

 

[ellend]

Yes, caponizing will probably shorten a roo's life due to weight. Then again, so does "rehoming," which usually leads to being thrown into a pen to get accepted in the pecking order...or not. Or sent to freezer camp. If you can give your roo a shorter but happy, stress-free pet life through caponizing, I'd be all for it. I bet that roo would rather stay in a safe, loving, clean pet home.

 

[Folly's place]

Most avian veterinarians have been involved with 'house birds', not poultry, a different area entirely. With the advent of more 'pet chickens', that may change a bit. However, it's also true that there's little incentive for a person not directly involved in their own home flock to study this field, until there's actually demand for it. This doesn't mean an occasional phone call asking for free advice, or two visits per year to their clinic totally.
Mary

 

[ellend]

If caponizing is done correctly, there should be almost no blood. Literally a couple of drops. As to anesthetic, any vet who does birds can do chickens. If you an anesthetize a parakeet or a finch, you can do a nice hardy rooster. There is no reason for PROPERLY caponized roos to die after the procedure. They should be acting perfectly normal within 2 hours of anesthetic cessation. Wouldn't it be nice if caponizing did stop crowing, and some of those day-old roo chicks could be spared being thrown in the grinder, or into the suffocation bag, at the hatchery??? Even if they didn't live quite as long as cocks after being caponized? I keep my chickens for fun yard pets; eggs are a bonus, and keep me from having to buy cruelly procured eggs. I would gladly purchase and caponize cockerals for pets if they wouldn't crow.

 

[ellend]

Before judging, remember that even places that sell sexed chickens have occasional slips, as sexing is a definite art and peep anatomy varies considerably and can be difficult to differentiate in many chicks. Also, nobody I am aware of sells sexed bantam chicks, due to the great risk of injury to the chick during sexing of a bantam. People DO end up with cockerals when they have ordered all females. I would try anything before I'd teach my children that ordinances were more important than life. I wouldn't let my neighbors suffer crowing or risk of injury, but I'd try anything else.

 

[ellend]

Chemical castration via implant??? COOL! I've got to research this!!! Anybody have experience with it? Does it stop crowing? Do they still develop the secondary characteristics of hackle and tail sickle feathering?