Effects of late caponization?

[romea]

I would love to hear back from people who had male chickens successfully caponized (castrated - with no 'slips') after they had started crowing. Has the surgery made an impact on their vocalizations over time? Did it impact their overall look, reversing some of their dimorphism (namely their distinct plumage)?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I don't think you will find many people who have actually done this as it's an invasive surgery, especially on an mature bird. I would assume with the removal of the hormones you would see changes like less crowing, and feathers not being as showy.

Here's some other threads on it,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/caponizing-adults.428265/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/breeding-raising-and-processing-capons.731582/

 

[Mrs. K]

It must be done very young, to influence crowing and even then not 100%. If he is already crowing it is too late. Truthfully I don't know, but several years ago there was quite about it, and that is what several people said.

One was a lady that did her cockerels very early.

Mrs K

 

[romea]

I don't think you will find many people who have actually done this as it's an invasive surgery, especially on an mature bird. I would assume with the removal of the hormones you would see changes like less crowing, and feathers not being as showy.

Here's some other threads on it,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/caponizing-adults.428265/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/breeding-raising-and-processing-capons.731582/

Thank you for unearthing these threads! Very interesting!
As for the invasive nature of the surgery: yes, I understand that. Same goes for the spaying of female companion animals which is (thankfully) pretty standard.

With that said, after reading through the article on caponizing adult birds, a mature, fully grown rooster appears to potentially make this surgery more complicated - but I am referring to young roosters of around 4-5 months of age who have just started crowing. (Unfortunately I can no longer edit my initial post to make that clearer. )

 

[romea]

It must be done very young, to influence crowing and even then not 100%. If he is already crowing it is too late. Truthfully I don't know, but several years ago there was quite about it, and that is what several people said.

One was a lady that did her cockerels very early.

Mrs K

I am coming across mixed info on the 'severity' of the crowing in late caponizations.
If it doesn't reverse the behaviour, making it less frequent and less loud is still a benefit. The question (for me) is how much lesser in frequency - both time- and noise-wise - can be expected.
I am fishing for some first hand knowledge...