Caponizing a roo

[jsr5]

There is one other reason he may want one. They are considered a delicasy. At one time in france or england maybe both they were forbidden to be eaten by the peasants they were strictly for the kings and other royals.

 

[jsr5]

Does anyone happen to know a vet that will caponize (Castrate) a rooster? I tried one but they dont. Any suggestions??

https://www.veterinarians.com/services/bird/co/denver/

shows 4 avian vets good luck

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Why?

Capons do not mate with hens to fertilize eggs, and they do not grow the pretty rooster-specific feathers. So if you want an actual rooster but without the crowing, a capon does not work.

If you just want a nice pet chicken, it is MUCH easier and cheaper to get a hen.
If you want one that looks different than other chickens, it is still easier and cheaper to get a hen of a different or unusual breed.

I would like to have my rooster caponized so he's not a jerk. We have him and do not want to get rid of him. Such a thing would have utility. But it's a very dangerous surgery that most vets won't tackle as it goes against their vows to "first, do no harm", and when it's done in the field, it's done without anesthesia, which I find cruel and unethical at best. Oh well. I guess I'll have to take my rooster to freezer camp if he's not a good boy.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I would like to have my rooster caponized so he's not a jerk. We have him and do not want to get rid of him. Such a thing would have utility. But it's a very dangerous surgery that most vets won't tackle as it goes against their vows to "first, do no harm", and when it's done in the field, it's done without anesthesia, which I find cruel and unethical at best. Oh well. I guess I'll have to take my rooster to freezer camp if he's not a good boy.

If he's already a jerk, he's probably too old. I think you're supposed do it around 8 weeks

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Human males do seem to have a rather superfluous attachment to their “junk” as you call it. And nearly every animal species on the planet demonstrates the same emotions that we, rather ignorantly, had always assumed we were the sole harbingers of. BUT, if I were a rooster...and I was offered a situation, under which I might be happily able to stay in my home...or even be lovingly adopted for life in the first place...in other words, a chance to LIVE, instead of the way they seem to be currently treated..losing internal gonads would be a small price to pay for my life. Right now the poor males are ground up alive commercially, and the few that do get homes are often subject to culling when a rooster is deemed too aggressive or not ‘fitting’ in with the other animals. And, while the testosterone from his testes are not the sole determiner of aggression or other behavior....the presence and/or absence of this hormone does act as a modulator to turn things up or down. I just got my first chicken 2.5 months ago....she flew over my fence. I want to help save a male too. It just isn’t right to not try.

Yes. Of course we have no idea what an animal “thinks”, but with that we are assuming they can “think” at all. To be clear, animals are not “dumb”, just different, and excel at other abilities. Of course the definition of “thinking” is pretty nebulous to begin with. Anthropomorphizing helps us relate to other species better which can be a good thing, and we can relate through basic emotions, too. I mean we are way behind effectively studying animal cognition and even how they feel pain. I remember being in a seminar and the speaker showing painting from a few hundred years ago of men tossing a dog onto a table and cutting it open ... awake and alive, to study organs. But animals had no feelings of pain (or anything else). Variations of this still exist. Pain management for cats is extremely lacking to this day and we still have a hard time even figuring out how to test and quantify pain. I mean, humans used to castrate humans in a variety of cultures. They lived, well, unless their innards fell out through the cut ...

ANYWAY, I say animals don’t have as much attachment to their testicles just through observation, not any scientific study. My example is neutering a cat -say they have ear mites that are cleaned out while under anesthesia the same time they are getting their testicles removed. When they are recovering and just coming out of anesthesia, they can start moving but not fully aware yet. I don’t recall ever seeing one try to get to their empty sack. The moment they can move they are kicking their legs to scratch at their ears. Not their removed organs, but itchy ears. I’m sure it hurts there, too. Never seen a freshly neutered male can give any indication of missing his testicles. Unless it gets infected and the area is sore and bothersome. Of course myself or anyone can quantify the response. We also know (again I’m thinking mammals) castrated animals seem to blend in fine with their social groups. I suspect capons would find their place also, but it would be great to hear from people who keep some beyond butcher.

We also need to consider that for most animals, hormones and procreation and make and female roles are intimately tied to just trying to survive enough to pass on genes. A female cat will go in and out of heat until bred, and her whole existence will be homonally driven to breed and pop out babies, and eat just enough to survive. (Again I know cats aren’t chickens) However a pet animal that has been fixed is not ruled by hormones, and can focus on other behaviors of their species. I’m probably still anthropomorphizing, though, but it seems a reasonable thought.

Anyway, sorry for the super long post!!

I keep chickens as pets. If I was in a situation where I wanted to rescue roosters but couldn’t keep them due to crowing, I wouldn’t caponize. The reason for me is that I haven’t ever had experience with a capon. Dogs and cats don’t change that dramatically when they’re fixed, and they’re quality of life is the same, and often better. This is because they will have a lower chance for reproductive health issues and won’t attempt to wander around and possibly get injured, lost, or killed. They are usually fixed so they don’t have offspring, which would be bad for those puppies/kittens because it would contribute to the overpopulation of stray animals and it might be extremely hard to find them a good home. It just isn’t right to me to caponize a rooster (as a pet) because it might dramatically change him and wouldn’t really be for his own good- it would be so someone could keep a non-crowing rooster.
I’m not against people caponizing their roosters, but that is why I wouldn’t do it myself.
The only way I would caponize a rooster would be after I’ve seen a capon and interacted with him for an extended period of time, as well as observed him in a mixed flock compared to a rooster who hadn’t been caponized. If the capon acted the same as the intact rooster (minus crowing) then I personally wouldn’t have a problem with caponizing a rooster if I had to (as long as the vet who did it had a lot of experience and the surgery was low risk). But, only after I had observed the capon for myself to see that the quality of life was the same.
@lightspeed I think you should consider sticking to rescuing hens for now. Or, if you really want to rescue a roo, you might want to research house chickens.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I had capons. They were like gigantic hens.

 

[aart]

I had capons. They were like gigantic hens.

That didn't lay eggs

Where did you get them, or the procedure done @Sue Gremlin ?

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I don't know! I worked with them at summer camp. We bought them from a livestock dealer in Mass. They came to us as littles and we slaughtered them at the end of the summer at the end of year party. They were standard white rock meat birds, I swear they weighed 10 lbs at the end of summer.

 

[ladybrasa]

I’ve seen a capon and interacted with him for an extended period of time, as well as observed him in a mixed flock compared to a rooster who hadn’t been caponized

I’d really like to see their behavior too! I personally don’t think the changes are bad, but really how can I say? I haven’t read of anyone keeping capons past butcher, or rather to old natural age.

 

[One Lucky Momma]

... and we slaughtered them at the end of the summer at the end of year party.

Sounds like quite a party!