Castrating a Rooster

[howfunkyisurchicken]

My big Cochin roo would crow CONSTANTLY! But, he lived with another rooster. My Silkie boy hardly crows at all. Maybe once in the morning and one or two more times throughout the day. But, he's the only boy I have now, so he doesn't have to be very vocal to impress his girls. What I'm saying is: every rooster is an individual (even those within the same breed), so there's no guarantee you'll get what you're looking for. If you don't like the idea of fertile eggs (most ppl can't tell the difference anyway) or upsetting your neighbors with noise, why not just keep hens? They don't need the rooster.....good luck with whatever you decide

 

[TheCrazyClucker]

Castrating is rarely done successfully, personally I wouldn't want put any of my roosters in that position. It's really stressful for them, a large percentage of the chicks would die. I'm not sure if he would mount the hens. I do know the crow factor would go down a little bit, the rooster would crow less and the crows would be somewhat lower in volume, but I don't think it's worth the stress it causes to the cock. My Silver Laced Wyandotte/Sumatra rooster was given to us by our vet that had castrated it himself. Badger is as healthy as can be, so it might just depend on the vet or the strength of the chick. You can get a vet to do it, but there are only a few vets around that would be able to do it, and the fee is $200-$300 dollars. There are do-it yourself kits, but that's really tricky and most likely the cock will die.
I don't see anything wrong with eating fertilized eggs. I've never cracked open an egg and found a half-developed chick inside. I keep 10 roosters in my flock, and I'm sure at least some of the eggs I eat are fertilized, and I don't taste a difference in fertile eggs and unfertilized eggs. Anyways, eggs need to be incubated at a certain temperature in order to hatch.
If you are worried about the crow factor, some roosters will crow less than others. I really like the crow of my Silver Lakenvelder and Basque. Their crow is low-pitched, and not too loud, and they do it rarely, and that makes them more tolerable than the rest... If you were to get a rooster with neighbors around, I wouldn't recommend a bantam, since their crows are high-pitched, loud, shrill, and more likely to annoy your neighbors than the crow of standard-sized rooster.
Aside from fertile eggs and loud crows, having a rooster will mean that your hens are safe about 98% of the time. A rooster is known to fight to death for his hens, and I can declare that true, that's what my Silver Campine rooster did. So definitely any rooster, either castrated or not, will protect his flock. And trust me, Badger (the castrated cock) is the most protective rooster in my whole flock.

Hope this information was helpful!

 

[Gunther360]

They will not mount or protect the hens. Most will not crow. It is a big deal... Here is a link about caponizing male birds.. Not for the faint of heart.

 

[Gunther360]

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/caponizing.html OOps here it is.

 

[aart]

They will not mount or protect the hens. Most will not crow. It is a big deal... Here is a link about caponizing male birds.. Not for the faint of heart.

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/caponizing.html OOps here it is.

Welcome to BYC @Gunther360 !

Note dates on thread and previous responses ;-)

 

[Abingham]

Mine is castrated. He crows just like he always has, he still tries to mount hens. He still terrorizes the flock. He still tries to act as leader, and he still protects the coop. My boss (a vet) did the caponizing, rooster healed very quickly— faster than the dogs or cats- and there was minimal pain. We anesthetized him using inhalation gas.

 

[aart]

Mine is castrated. He crows just like he always has, he still tries to mount hens. He still terrorizes the flock. He still tries to act as leader, and he still protects the coop. My boss (a vet) did the caponizing, rooster healed very quickly— faster than the dogs or cats- and there was minimal pain. We anesthetized him using inhalation gas.

How old was he when the procedure was done?

 

[Abingham]

How old was he when the procedure was done?

About 8 weeks. A little late, but he is a pet, not meat.

 

[Backyard Bruce]

Mine is castrated. He crows just like he always has, he still tries to mount hens. He still terrorizes the flock. He still tries to act as leader, and he still protects the coop. My boss (a vet) did the caponizing, rooster healed very quickly— faster than the dogs or cats- and there was minimal pain. We anesthetized him using inhalation gas.

Not making judgements or anything of that nature, your bird your choice.

Curious as to the reason for castrating in the first place though and was that reason met with success.
You list all the traits that I would want to subdue that he kept, is there something I'm overlooking?

 

[Abingham]

Not making judgements or anything of that nature, your bird your choice.

Curious as to the reason for castrating in the first place though and was that reason met with success.
You list all the traits that I would want to subdue that he kept, is there something I'm overlooking?

This is our first flock. My friend has a rooster that attacks her-he is older than mine and of a different breed. I have little kids and did not want my rooster to turn on them like her rooster did. With dogs, you can often prevent aggressive behavior if you castrate before their hormonal behaviors become habit. I was hoping castrating the rooster would do the same. It’s hard to tell for sure, though, his caponizing could have rendered him a slip, but he is supposedly a gentle breed to begin with. I didn’t want to take the chance and I didn’t want to cull him for being himself. He is not people-aggressive, and he does not attack the hens he just wants to bump uglies and they aren’t having it! Slip being stated, I was present for the surgery and it appeared everything was removed.