using a contraceptive implant (made for dogs) to stop crowing...Anyone ever heard of this?

[leighks]

Do you have an update? We are considering keeping a rooster we hatched but do not want to upset the neighbors. Roosters are allowed though. We would consider it if the rooster still has a protective instinct (to alert the hens of hawks, not physically protect them) and also grows the beautiful plumage roosters are known for. We do not want to breed so sterilization would be ok if it is a side effect. Lastly, did their demeanor stay docile? Thank you for any information you can offer!!

I am not the person who posted the above response, but I did give my rooster the hormone implant when he was a little over a year old- mostly because he became aggressive. The vet said he was already full of hormones at this age and had already started with his bad (aggressive) habits, and the implant works best prior to the start of sexual maturity, but we gave it anyway. He was already crowing before the implant, but after the implant he crowed less. His plumage was not affected. His aggression decreased for maybe a month, and he stopped mounting the hens for a few weeks. Within 2 months he was totally back to the way he was before the implant. We waited too long to have great success, so if you can give it early (like maybe 4 months??) hopefully you have better success. Good luck!

 

[aart]

I am not the person who posted the above response, but I did give my rooster the hormone implant when he was a little over a year old- mostly because he became aggressive. The vet said he was already full of hormones at this age and had already started with his bad (aggressive) habits, and the implant works best prior to the start of sexual maturity, but we gave it anyway. He was already crowing before the implant, but after the implant he crowed less. His plumage was not affected. His aggression decreased for maybe a month, and he stopped mounting the hens for a few weeks. Within 2 months he was totally back to the way he was before the implant. We waited too long to have great success, so if you can give it early (like maybe 4 months??) hopefully you have better success. Good luck!

I don't think it's meant to be a one time application?

 

[leighks]

I don't think it's meant to be a one time application?

Correct, it should be done every 4-6 months, but seeing how we didn’t even get 2 months of efficacy with it, it wasn’t worth the several hundred dollar expense to repeat it in our case.

 

[bhawk-23]

I am not the person who posted the above response, but I did give my rooster the hormone implant when he was a little over a year old- mostly because he became aggressive. The vet said he was already full of hormones at this age and had already started with his bad (aggressive) habits, and the implant works best prior to the start of sexual maturity, but we gave it anyway. He was already crowing before the implant, but after the implant he crowed less. His plumage was not affected. His aggression decreased for maybe a month, and he stopped mounting the hens for a few weeks. Within 2 months he was totally back to the way he was before the implant. We waited too long to have great success, so if you can give it early (like maybe 4 months??) hopefully you have better success. Good luck!

Thank you for sharing your experience. We are still on the fence about a rooster but knowing we have options is encouraging. We do not have a *need* for a rooster as we have no interest in breeding. It's more for kinda selfish reasons as they are beautiful to have around and possibly an earlier warning for ariel threats. But we have safe spaces for the girls and a dog we send out when they start making a ruckus. In all, purely selfish on my end and why it's a hard decision. Is it worth the risk of upsetting neighbors with crowing so we can have a beautiful rooster?? I'm definitely going to research further and check out costs for this implant. I guess as long as he has a good, safe home with a lot of hens, being selfish may prove to be a good outcome for an otherwise destined for the freezer rooster? Hmmmm... Hahaha

Thanks again!

 

[Leo1]

Do you have an update? We are considering keeping a rooster we hatched but do not want to upset the neighbors. Roosters are allowed though. We would consider it if the rooster still has a protective instinct (to alert the hens of hawks, not physically protect them) and also grows the beautiful plumage roosters are known for. We do not want to breed so sterilization would be ok if it is a side effect. Lastly, did their demeanor stay docile? Thank you for any information you can offer!!

Not working on my guy. He's got insane amounts of testosterone, though...I mean INSANE! I may have to have him put down because he's so violent and I can't get him to settle. I've tried everything. So, I don't think he's a good test subject.

 

[bhawk-23]

I researched for our state and called the chicken/avian vet. It is illegal in IL because the state classifies them as "food" animals even though some are pets. Unfortunately this is not even an option for us

 

[DanielleGut]

Wow very interesting stuff!! Please keep us updated!!

 

[mossyotter]

Hi everyone,

I have a 3-year-old hen that over the past 3 months has started looking and behaving more and more like a rooster. She's now got saddle feathers, growing iridescent tail feathers and tiny spurs starting. She looks like a young rooster now.

Long story short, she's been crowing for a couple months. Started irregularly and not very crow-like and now she full-on sounds and crows like a rooster all the time. The avian vet says it's probably a tumor on her left ovary (mature female birds apparently only have one functional ovary). I've decided to try the Deslorelin implant. If it doesn't work we will have to get rid of her because of the city laws here.

I thought people might be interested in the results, so I thought I'd post updates as it goes. I'll post some pictures separately later.

I'm thinking of doing this with my hen who, similarly is three years old, and started crowing, not laying, though her feathers haven't changed. Any update with your hen?

 

[mossyotter]

Just sharing an update here for anyone in this position. We had
Suprelorin injected into our crowing hen and… she stopped! Nothing else changed about her - tho she did molt slightly. She started crowing again about 5 months later. We decided to rehome her as, living in the city, it wasn’t going to be sustainable for us to continue the injections throughout her hopefully long life.