Does anyone caponize or decrow roosters in Oregon? Not near Portland.

[JessicaThistle]

Hi,

I see you solved your rooster problem. I live near McMinnville, OR and have had 4 of my roosters caponized by Dr. Tina Johnson at Newberg Veterinary Hospital. I know Newberg would be quite a drive, but if you are ever in a similar situation, you might consider them. It is a major surgery and one neither I nor my vet can believe is still cruelly "practiced" without any type of anesthesia. Even under the skilled hands of a veterinary surgeon, things can go wrong and one of my guys didn't make it.

I had them done as soon as I realized they were roosters - at about 10 weeks. They are docile and get along just fine with each other. One crows (he was older, probably 12 to 14 wks when caponized), but his crowing is very infrequent. When he does it is only for 10 minutes or so in the morning. He isn't loud at all. I can't even hear him when I'm in the house. A lot of trouble to go through for a rooster, but I'm vegetarian and it was worth it to me as they turned out to be wonderful pets.

Thank you. I was hoping for someone closer to me. I was in contact with a poultry vet here locally who said she didn't do it and didn't feel it was worth doing as it didn't always work. Then she tried to bill me for the email as if it was a consultation. I didn't ask for her opinion. I asked if she performed caponization. It seems strange to me that we "fix" so many animals to prevent overpopulation and yet fixing a rooster is a big deal. I don't get it. I support using anesthesia to reduce the pain and that's why I was looking for a vet to perform it. It's unfortunate this isn't offered more.

I was lucky to find a good home for the roos that I had. Unfortunately, I rescued 7 chicks from the side of the road a couple of months ago and may be forced with another round of roos to contend with. We'll see how it goes.