Caponising a cockerel???

[Nicos]

OK- so I've been reading up on how to stop a cockerel from crowing.
One thing which is mentioned is caponising ( by a vet) where the cockerel is castrated. This is supposed to make him less aggressive.
Does anyone know much about the success rates of doing this?
I'm wondering if they are castrated early enough they won't start to crow nor start playing piggy back and 'bothering' the gals?
I realise my boys are too old now ( about 22 weeks)- and it needs doing from about 6 -12 weeks.
If anyone has a farm vet, could they ask about it, cos it may mean that say Lynda could keep Pingu if it turns out to be a boy.
Where I have googled they say their capon still crowed- but not at what age he was 'cut'.
Would they still look out for the girlies, or just become one of them ( minus the eggs!)

Interesting concept for a pet chook!

[Nicos]

Oh right.
Seeing as I have no patience I phoned our vet in UK and he said he doesn't know of any vet who would castrate a cockerel- it's generally left for exotic birds and would be very expensive.
It would stop them crowing if done young enough- and hormone implants which work a treat are now banned because of food regulations.
So - as he said, unless you have loads of dosh to waste the best way of preventing a cockerel from starting to crow is to eat it!

Poor things

[lynda66]

oooooooooooo i didn't know you could do that ...... goes off to find out how much it will cost

[BrideXIII]

i was under the impression that caponising was done by chemical castration?

does that mean the capons we buy at christmas aren't real capons?

[Snadger]

Ahhhh..........so that's where chicken nuggets come from! Lol

[Flummery]

Bet it makes their eyes water!

[BrideXIII]

eeeewww i don't like nuggets at the best of times............but now!

[Noodle]

Dont' capons put on loads of weight? I thought that was why it was done so that they got fat birds for the table. I don't know much abou tit, but was under the impression that it made them too big to stand in some cases, or this could just be if they are grown for the table. Might be something to investigate!

[Hilary B]

Dont' capons put on loads of weight? I thought that was why it was done so that they got fat birds for the table. I don't know much abou tit, but was under the impression that it made them too big to stand in some cases, or this could just be if they are grown for the table. Might be something to investigate!

The chemical version got banned because it used 'growth hormones' and those are no longer allowed in meat production. Like any other species, a castrated male will put on weight (male hormones use up a lot of energy). Old poultry-keeping books sometimes give instructions (with diagrams) on how to castrate, but birds keep things 'inside' (under the skin on the back) so it is pretty drastic for the poor B^%%£r! It isn't the op that makes a capon get too heavy for his legs, it is eating too much. The difference with a capon is that 'too much' is a lot less than it would be for a cockerel.