Caponizing a roo

[lightspeed]

They were Barred Rocks. I did the procedures myself about a dozen of them I lost no patients but did have two partial failures where for fear of their life I closed before I found the second gonads. I did the surgery at about10 weeks of age. The first harvest was at about one year the last two were caught at about two years when we culled the uncaponized males from the most recent hatches. I have to admit being pretty pround of myself for not losing any of them, But we got more crunched for living space so we cull roos before the effects of caponizing would give enough benefit to be worth the stress on the animals and myself.

Would you be willing perhaps to try for me? I am in south IN and if you aren't too far away, I could save a rooster and that would be more fair than just helping the hens. If the answer is no, that will be fine as well. Just asking since one never knows what one will come upon. I did not plan on having a bantam hen until she flew over my 6 foot fence at 2AM and smacked me in the head. Scared me because I really thought it could be a great horned owl. I was scared to grab it and couldnt see very well because it was dark.

 

[- Serama Mama -]

I found this website when I was looking into options for a friend's rooster; he was crowing way too loudly and she wanted to keep him but was running out of places to hide him inside her house so the neighbors wouldn't hear. This site gives a decent crash course on how it's done. When I got to reading about how certain practiced farmers could do it with a V shaped nick in a finger nail, I figured it was well beyond our capabilities:

https://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/caponize-chickens.html

It does mention a high mortality rate, especially for those first learning how to do it. And the methods described in there seem pretty horrific...I baby my chickens and so did my friend so it very quickly became "not an option" for us. But I'm definitely not here to judge or make assumptions about anyone who chooses to do it.

 

[jsr5]

I'd like to add that I didn't do it in the old times crude ways I first tied off the connecting blood vessel with a disolving suture then clipped the gonad off with surgical scissors. I was unhappy with the amount of blood loss from the just yank it with a string ior wire methods. My way would never be done in a farm setting it's just too time consuming to be practical. But for my small pet farm it was worth the investment at first I don't do it now though have contemplated doing a batch up again they are a really nice eating animal.

 

[aart]

They were Barred Rocks. I did the procedures myself about a dozen of them I lost no patients but did have two partial failures where for fear of their life I closed before I found the second gonads. I did the surgery at about10 weeks of age. The first harvest was at about one year the last two were caught at about two years when we culled the uncaponized males from the most recent hatches. I have to admit being pretty pround of myself for not losing any of them, But we got more crunched for living space so we cull roos before the effects of caponizing would give enough benefit to be worth the stress on the animals and myself.

2 years is a good time range to exhibit fitting in with the flock....along with intact males and females.

 

[LaFleche]

Ah.....wonders if the cock/erels miseries are because of the lack of testosterone or the chip chemicals have other effects that surgical castration would not have?
Would love to know more details about this....ages, timelines, etc.

The only detail I can provide: Suprelorin implant (Deslorelin) https://www.vetpharm.uzh.ch/WIR/00005777/3656_01.htm

 

[nicalandia]

Why people get up in arms about caponizing male chickens?

 

[LaFleche]

Why people get up in arms about caponizing male chickens?

In arms? I thought we were discussing the subject, trying to evaluate the pros and cons all the while considering/respecting the opinions of everyone taking part in this thread.

 

[NatJ]

Why people get up in arms about caponizing male chickens?

I do not know why the opinions seem so very strong on both sides.

But I also think the whole discussion is almost pointless if someone wants a veterinarian to caponize their cockerel, because so few vets will do it.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I dont like that it is an intra-abdominal invasive surgery, though, and I have heard it is done much more in European countries.

There's a much bigger market in Europe for capons for eating, as they supposedly make for a tastier bird. So it's not because they're trying to make pet chickens, rather it's a culinary thing.

 

[lightspeed]

I found this website when I was looking into options for a friend's rooster; he was crowing way too loudly and she wanted to keep him but was running out of places to hide him inside her house so the neighbors wouldn't hear. This site gives a decent crash course on how it's done. When I got to reading about how certain practiced farmers could do it with a V shaped nick in a finger nail, I figured it was well beyond our capabilities:

https://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/caponize-chickens.html

It does mention a high mortality rate, especially for those first learning how to do it. And the methods described in there seem pretty horrific...I baby my chickens and so did my friend so it very quickly became "not an option" for us. But I'm definitely not here to judge or make assumptions about anyone who chooses to do it.

It is an intrusive intra-abdominal surgery and I wouldn’t consider doing it myself; only by a practicing vet and then only during a small window in terms of age. If I had a roo at all it would be a pet (just like a hen) and I would not ‘cull’ ....I love my animals and could never harm them. The problem is that there arent very many people that are allowed to keep roos due to neighbors or regulations. It would be so nice to have a viable option that would allow for saving their lives too.