Decrowing Roosters.

[miquwid]

I think it is very reasonable I paid 400 to correct an eye problem on my dog. I wish I knew a vet around here I'm gonna keep asking though.

 

[smccuen]

Quote: Do roosters have a recurrent laryngeal (or comparable) nerve that could undergo ablation, something less intrusive/less expensive with shorter recovery time?
S McCuen, MD

 

[bluedogsonly]

I assume they do, they have a larynx. But that's not where the sound is produced. There are bilateral muscles attached to the trachea cranial to the syrynx which stretch the syrynx allowing the air to "squeek" through, making the noise. I have heard of vets in the past severing these muscles but from what I understand, poor results, and its still an intrathoracic surgery. The recovery time is actually less than a day, they just have to have a stitch removed after a day or 2. Good thought though.

Dr. James

 

[Victoria-nola]

Dr James-- I am very attached to my rooster and have now had a neighbor complaint about it. Since we aren't zoned for roosters (hens only), my only option is give him away or potentially, have his crow softened. I really love what he does for our small flock (8 hens), and he's got a great personality. All the other neighbors on the block are fine with the rooster except for this guy who is the newest resident and complains about everything. I'm very disgruntled with him, but I don't mean to burden you with all that. I already paid good money for him as an adult rooster because our first rooster was horribly mean and was drawing blood on everyone, so I was determined to have a nice rooster and it meant getting one that was already proven. He's a Blue Ameracauna and the girls love him. So do I. I've been plunged into depression with this happening now.

My question is, is this method something that you might be willing to share with another vet? My chickens see Dr Rich in Metairie, Louisiana, his office is West Esplanade Veterinary. I don't think I could afford to travel with my rooster to see you in OK but I would be willing to swing it if it could be done here.

It's Sunday and I got the complaint today, I'll be calling Dr Rich tomorrow to find out if they can do anything.

 

[SigningChickens]

Dr James-- I am very attached to my rooster and have now had a neighbor complaint about it.  Since we aren't zoned for roosters (hens only), my only option is give him away or potentially, have his crow softened.  I really love what he does for our small flock (8 hens), and he's got a great personality.  All the other neighbors on the block are fine with the rooster except for this guy who is the newest resident and complains about everything.  I'm very disgruntled with him, but I don't mean to burden you with all that. I already paid good money for him as an adult rooster because our first rooster was horribly mean and was drawing blood on everyone, so I was determined to have a nice rooster and it meant getting one that was already proven.  He's a Blue Ameracauna and the girls love him.  So do I.  I've been plunged into depression with this happening now.

My question is, is this method something that you might be willing to share with another vet?  My chickens see Dr Rich in Metairie, Louisiana, his office is West Esplanade Veterinary. I don't think I could afford to travel with my rooster to see you in OK but I would be willing to swing it if it could be done here. 

It's Sunday and I got the complaint today, I'll be calling Dr Rich tomorrow to find out if they can do anything.   

I wonder if you could ship the rooster to him? I was going to ask that myself. I love what a rooster does for my girls but I had to give him back to his original owner because the crowing gave me horrible panic attacks.

 

[Victoria-nola]

Quote:
That's a good idea and I'm considering all options at this point. I have another home he can go to, but I'm attached to him. AND, we like having a rooster with our girls.

About the panic attacks. Hrm... I can tell my neighbor that complained is all "on" about the rooster. Maybe the anxiety of worrying he will get woken up is part of what troubles him so much. That gives me a little bit of calmness and less bad feelings about the neighbor.

thank you

 

[thothsia]

Are you offering the surgery yet, or selling decrowed roosters yet? Personally I would love to buy an allready decrowed rooster if possible. I live in the suburbs on a big lot, but still too close to neighbors to leave a rooster outside. I want to raise and breed my own chickens for a number of reasons. The first reason is I will know what they've eaten and how they've been treated. The second reason is I had chickens when I was a kid and the yolks are a much deeper yellow and tastier because they eat natural food. And finally, I would like to have them as part of an emergency backup in case of a disruption in the food supply of some sort. If there ever is a long term disruption in the food supply it would be important to have a rooster so that you can continue to produce chickens in the future. Of course that is the ultimate in preparedness, and I am truthfully not really that worried about such an event, but a lot of people in this country are starting to think that way. So yeah, I think there is going to be a growing demand for this type of thing.

I called a lot of local vets a few years ago, trying to find someone who would decrow my rooster. I got a lot of judgement from the nurses who took my phone call. Most of them told me in a very condescending manner that it was cruel. I don't think it cruel at all. Many humans go in for very painful, elective surgery just to correct their appearance. The only thing cruel about it is the fact that the rooster doesn't have a choice in the matter. But I'm 99.9999% sure that if the rooster could talk and I could ask him if he would rather have decrowing surgery or have his head chopped off, his feathers plucked, his guts cut out and his flesh grilled over red hot charcoal and then chewed and digested by an upper primate, that he would most definitely choose to have the surgery. To those judgmental people I ask, if you had cancer and having surgery would save your life, wouldn't you have the surgery?

 

[miquwid]

I personally don't care what people think I need to do what is best for my pets and family and we are going to need a decrowed rooster to live in the city. We are prepared for disasters and would like to breed our own chickens in order to keep the flock going. Plus if disaster does strike having a quiet bird just might be in your favor.

Don't get me wrong in a perfect world we would need the surgery but like debarking a dog another animal needs to be quieted for certain families.

 

[shmccarthy]

This is a great idea, and it's long past due that it become a common skill practices by vets everywhere.

Roosters, at least some of them, can be fantastic pets.

The notion that it's cruel to do this to an animal is ridiculous.

What an animal is designed to do by nature as a wild animal is a nonsense when discussing what it is allowed to do living as a domestic animal.

Hell we curbed all sorts of human impulses when we decided to stop living as animals.

Animals that live with humans likewise will have to sacrifices some of their attributes designed for living as wild animals.

In order to stay alive a rooster would probably happily decide to be decrowed.

Some who disagree think they have some sort of special right to decide the matter based on their own values and they don't.

Good point. I completely agree with you!
I live in rural Michigan and am allowed to keep as many roosters as I wish but I only have 2 for my flock right now. I had more but they were crowing at 2am and the neighbors down the street coul hear it. They never complained, just mentioned it and we rehomed them. I wouldn't pay more than $100 as I am only 19 and have a part time job, but I would've possibly the procedure if it meant keeping at least one of those roosters.
It seems like a lot of people that have had the procedure done, have claimed it doesn't affect the roosters other behaviors.
This also seems like a good choice for someone that has chickens in an urban/city area, got an accidental roo somehow and got attached to it. ***Dr. James, does this affect the roosters other vocal abilities?*** anyways, there are still predators in the city, my rooster doesn't need to even sound the alarm before my hens do usually.
I am all for this surgery as I'm all for other pet "modifications" as some people call them. We usually crop our dogs ears, as ones with larger floppy ears are more prone to infection (as we found out with the first Great Dane that we didn't crop) as with tail docking, it's a good choice for excited/overly happy dogs. Now I wouldn't dock my lab's tail, as it helps him swim, but he could use it... He has such a bad case of happy tail, his tail is almost always broken. He pulls off..makes it his mission to remove bandages or anything we put on it to help him. One wag to hard against a wall or corner, and it's broken. He can't help it either. His nickname is the happiest dog in the world.
We've had declawed cats, when we used to keep them indoors. We have never removed the claws of a cat that would be outside at any point in its life.

TL;DR
This is just a big spew of random information but what I'm trying to say is there are practical reasons to "modifying" certain aspects of a pet. They aren't wild animals anymore and there are definitely only certain instances in which this could improve the animals quality of life (examples above). And there are only certain instances on which I feel these are completely necessary.

 

[Victoria-nola]

Just to update on my request, my local vet isn't aware of this method and doesn't do any others (and I can see why), so I'm pursuing having Dr James see him. I am very grateful because the first issue I had when the neighbor barged in here threatening to call zoning is that the hens love him and now he'll be ripped away from them, and they don't get any say in the matter. We have a wonderful, peaceful flock with him and don't want to lose that. Our first rooster was mean to humans but it turns out he was mean to the hens too, as we now know watching a roo in action who has the gentler approach. So we'd rather not lose him.