Ever nuetered a rooster?

[cassie]

In the 'good old days' animals were not considered to think, or feel, or have emotions. We have learned better! 'Birds don't feel much pain' is a cop-out, IMO.
Rant over.
The issue is about surviving this surgery at all, and it's unlikely unless these cockerels are very young, and the surgeon is very experienced. I saw it done while in Poultry Science in college, and it wasn't pleasant, and the birds died.
Mary

I never said birds don't feel pain. I said they don't feel pain the way mammals do. I know because I stitched up a large gash on my big pet turkey's side and he just stood there. He was far more interested in the pan of corn in front of him than he was with me stitching and cleaning his wound. In fact he didn't pay a bit of attention to what I was doing. If that had been one of my dogs, cats, calves, pigs, or goats, it would have been screaming bloody murder. So would I if it had been me.

 

[KentuckyRooster]

In the 'good old days' animals were not considered to think, or feel, or have emotions. We have learned better! 'Birds don't feel much pain' is a cop-out, IMO.
Rant over.
The issue is about surviving this surgery at all, and it's unlikely unless these cockerels are very young, and the surgeon is very experienced. I saw it done while in Poultry Science in college, and it wasn't pleasant, and the birds died.
Mary

Birds do feel pain. I know for a fact they do. I'm probably going to dub my gamecock and I won't even do that without pain control, even though it's traditionally done without. Caponizing is internal. Majorly painful.

I guess you've never had to do anything painful to a chicken to save his life (or just doctor a small wound) but I have and heard him scream but it's not nice. If there's an alternative, we owe them to use it. Caponizing is not a nessecary procedure so there's no reason to do it. I don't have a big problem, I'm not gonna get in your face if you do it to a baby the traditional way, but an adult bird shouldn't be subjected to it.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Really? You think people should ride an intact stallion? Or that people who want a pet male goat should put up with a smelly raunchy buck rather than a wether? Or you think I should not neuter my pet male kitten and let him grow up and spray urine around the house? Ever smell tomcat pee?

I think if you don't like male behaviors then instead of taking its testicals off and trying to turn it into a male with nothing male about it then maybe you should just get a female instead.
I'm not on any crusade to stop castration i just believe in letting a male be a male but maybe that's because I'm a male.
Its just an opinion not an invitation to a debate.To each their own.

 

[cassie]

Birds do feel pain. I know for a fact they do. I'm probably going to dub my gamecock and I won't even do that without pain control, even though it's traditionally done without. Caponizing is internal. Majorly painful.

I guess you've never had to do anything painful to a chicken to save his life (or just doctor a small wound) but I have and heard him scream but it's not nice. If there's an alternative, we owe them to use it. Caponizing is not a nessecary procedure so there's no reason to do it. I don't have a big problem, I'm not gonna get in your face if you do it to a baby the traditional way, but an adult bird shouldn't be subjected to it.

Haven't had to do anything painful to a chicken to save its life, but I did have to do something to my pet turkey that should have been painful but apparently wasn't. I never said birds do not feel pain. I did say birds do not feel pain the same way mammals do. Case in point. My pet bronze turkey had a huge gash in his side. I decided it needed stitches. I got wound disinfectant and a needle and thread and proceeded to patch him up. He just stood there. Actually, while I worked on him he was eating the corn out of the dish I had put in front of him. He paid a lot of attention to the corn. He paid no attention at all to me disinfecting his wound and stitching him up.

 

[lena_]

This is an interesting thread, and I'll give my two cents. I have never personally castrated a cockerel, but I have watched the castration of my friends young peacock.
https://www.avianstudios.com/blog/bird-vasectomy-and-castration/ (An interesting article on the subject)

Personally I think that castration is not a terrible thing to do. There have been mixed reports on if it works for stopping crowing, but from what I have gathered, if you castrate at a young enough age it will stop testosterone enough for the birds to never crow. I wouldn't castrate my birds without knowing 100% the risks and benefits of the procedure. (I live in the country so do have the 'luxury' of keeping roosters)


If you do decide to castrate, keep us posted as I'd be very interested in the results.

 

[Beer can]

I have thought about caponizing a couple Jersey Giants just for the heck of it and keeping them for pets but I never have.

I got white Jersey Giant's for the purpose of hatching and making capons just haven't done it yet, had a couple of attempts and chickened out lol, maybe next time.
After I get some experience under my belt I would love to get some Malay's, think it would be super awesome to have a three foot tall Malay capon running around with the flock for some yard candy. Wouldn't be possible otherwise, Malay's can't be kept with other roosters, they'll kill them.
Love the comments I get with my JG rooster when people visit beings he's so big. Scares the heck out of FedEx and UPS, "he's not going to attack me is he?" Nah, he's a big baby, nicest bird I've ever had.
JG's are pretty calm, he isn't even aggressive towards other cockerels or roosters, will chase them off if they are 'tagging' his hens but never beats them up.
Would be awesome to have a not only big bird but a waist high one like a Malay.

 

[Folly's place]

Beer can, if you ever try this with a Malay, let us know how it goes! I also don't want only one rooster, but I thought that the Malay hens were pretty tough too. Would that caponized bird be mellow enough? Maybe not!
Mary

 

[lena_]

I got white Jersey Giant's for the purpose of hatching and making capons just haven't done it yet, had a couple of attempts and chickened out lol, maybe next time.
After I get some experience under my belt I would love to get some Malay's, think it would be super awesome to have a three foot tall Malay capon running around with the flock for some yard candy. Wouldn't be possible otherwise, Malay's can't be kept with other roosters, they'll kill them.
Love the comments I get with my JG rooster when people visit beings he's so big. Scares the heck out of FedEx and UPS, "he's not going to attack me is he?" Nah, he's a big baby, nicest bird I've ever had.
JG's are pretty calm, he isn't even aggressive towards other cockerels or roosters, will chase them off if they are 'tagging' his hens but never beats them up.
Would be awesome to have a not only big bird but a waist high one like a Malay.

Oh yes, I would love to have giant Malay capons. They would be terrifying but amazing to watch. If you do ever try this please make a thread about it, I would be very interested!

 

[Folly's place]

'Malay capons, the ultimate pet chickens'! Another glorious marketing opportunity, like the 'designer dogs'. You all saw it here first!
Mary

 

[lena_]

'Malay capons, the ultimate pet chickens'! Another glorious marketing opportunity, like the 'designer dogs'. You all saw it here first!
Mary

YES