Gave my bird away, then got him back... Now he looks different!!!

[CUDA]

I find it strange that people have such strong opinions on something that they obviously don't have any first hand experience with? If it hurts a cock to be dubbed so bad, I wonder why after you toss one back down on the ground right after dubbing, all they want to do is crow, top hens, and generally act "cocky"...

As for frostbite, long earlobes, wattles, and tall straight combs can get frostbitten very easy under the right conditions. I can just about guarantee almost everyone here that has a large straight combed rooster that spends any time out in the yard in the winter has had some degree of frostbite. Remember how your rooster had very sharp points when it was just a stag, and now they are kinda rounded off? That is because the tips get burnt off in the winter. That is a very minor frostbite, but still frostbite. There was a nice article in a fairly recent issue of backyard poultry magazine on dubbing if anyone is interested in learning about this.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Dubbing is a common thing...and so not just for cock fighting. People do it for various reasons like the hens pecking the combs to the point the bleed alot, frostbite, for looks, etc... I personally love a huge comb and waddle but some don't like it and I don't believe for one second that it causes them much pain at all. It is a very simple and fast procedure. We have done it for people. It isn't fair to judge folks who dubb IMO Just get more educated on dubbing -

 

[c_soto1990]

I think he looks b-e-a-utiful,I like the look of a dubbed bird. when I went to puertorico I bought all my roos dubbed. I only dubbed one myself,its safer when there are all roos together.In a fight the comb and wattle is the first thing to go,and its more painful then being ripped open by a dull beak then by a sharp pair of scissors. Its not bad like people say,they need to expose themselves to it. After its done they walk around like nothing happened.I bet some of the people that say its cruel, have dogs with cropped tails and ears.Its only cruel if done inhumanly.

 

[tigerlilly2588]

Thats terrible!!! He was so beautiful before! I have also heard that people do that kind of thing when they fight their birds!( so there is less blood loss i think, can't remember exactly) Also I saw a program on amimal planet about that where these cockfighting people were doing that very same thing, and they docked the spurs only on the ones they were using as target practice for the bigger ones, so they couldn't fight back. Thats just horrible! And who really ONLY keeps roosters...I agree, it seems incredibly suspicious to me!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I totally agree. I have read that they hardly even bleed, if you know what you're doing. This rooster's dubbing looks very good (from what I can see). I would highly doubt he suffered at all from this.
Dubbing is required for showing in some breeds, and there are some that dub their roos 'just because'. If they had nothing but roos, whether they had them purposely for fighting, I would think there would have been fights. The OP said that the roo can drink and eat better without having those huge wattles hanging down, so what's the big deal? A lot of people do this on CHICKS, so I don't see any problem.
I live in southern KY, and I have frostbite problems with my OEGB and phoenix. I wish I knew someone that could do as good a job on my roosters!

 

[Metanoia]

Tail docking in dogs used to be the norm as well...
I can't see there is a reason for this unless the bird is getting frost bite
He certainly doesn't look better for it.

 

[wvcruffler]

I wonder if perhaps the other roosters he was put with may have been gamefowl and buggered or bloodied him up. At that point it may have made more sense to go ahead and dub him. I had a maran rooster several years ago have his comb ripped apart in a skirmish and I did actually cut it the rest of the way off. I used a disposable bovie, so it didn't bleed much. I just did the torn comb. He looked.....interesting. Anyway, perhaps this is a result of the all rooster flock.

 

[Chicks R Friends NOT Food]

I'm not trying to join any debates, but I tihnk he looked better before. At least they didn't cut his beautiful feathers off, and he doesn't need comb massages anymore. Very pretty boy none the less, hope you get some more nice offspring from him.

 

[fowltemptress]

Eh, I think the dubbed look is rather ugly, but that's just a personal preference. I am happy to read that after the dubbing he's having an easier time drinking water and whatnot. I can see how it must have been a relief for him to be free of those huge wattles.

 

[Cara]

Ok ok, we get it. Dubbing isn't just for dubious purposes, although its origins in show birds go back to that very reason, just as ear cropping and tail docking in many breeds of dogs was done to provide less parts for the other dog to grab hold of. But dubbing and the spurs being removed? It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure that one out.