We bought 5 supposedly hens that have just reached maturity. Unfortunately two of them turned out to be male.

Can you keep 2 cockerals together? We don't have room for another pen or to separate their grazing.

They are getting aggressive with people and we have a small toddler.

Can you castrate or the equivalent cockerals to make them less aggressive?

-- Emma Hilton (emma.whitfield@cps.gov.gsi.uk), April 08, 2002

Answers

Yes, but ... but for them it's a major internal operation (or rather, the operation is external, but it involves bringing their ins out to work on, then putting them back again. Go to the "Older Messages" section at the end of the current threads, go into the "Poultry (General)" section, then search on "capon". On the theory that all information is intesting, and all learning is a step forward, then OK - it's an education. However, I don't think you'd want to undertake it.

Best way I know of to desex an agressive rooster is to eat him. If you really want to keep one rooster to three hens, then keep the gentlest one (he may not be as agressive when he doesn't have competition), but you don't need either, and it would take about eight hens minimum, maybe twice that, to keep a rooster so busy that any one hen didn't get overworked and torn up. If you want to hatch eggs, just buy a dozen fertile eggs when/if one of your hens goes broody.

Alternatively, just let your rooster out for a "Saturday night" (or Saturday all day) special. Possibly even better, a couple of afternoons, mid-week and weekend.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), April 08, 2002.

I have a bunch of roosters that free range during the day with the hens. They all roost together in the pens at night and I don't have a fighting/attacking problem. Some other folks have the problem. You have choices ~ one of the roos goes into the soup pot, you sell/give it away, or keep it separate. I have never hand fed any type of food and I keep the hoppers filled with feed. I feel this is why the roos have never attacked any of the humans or critters. These instructions are from 1922, but it's still done the same way today. It's not as easy to castrate a rooster as it is other critters since the testes are located inside the bird's body.

How To Castrate A Rooster

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), April 08, 2002.

I'm not sure that I'd characterize caponizing as major surgery but after reading several different texts on the process and examinining the photos I think I'd really like to have an experienced hand give me some training on how to do it.

If your roosters are getting aggressive with people then they're approacing sexual maturity and they're quite big enough to eat which is what I'd do.

.......Alan.

-- Alan (athagan@atlantic.net), April 08, 2002.

Please make them go away-as in give away, kill, sell, take to the animal shelter. I know what a big rooster can do to a toddler and it ain't pretty. The birds are not doing you any good and think of the peace of mind you will have when they are gone. Your child health and eyes are at stake.

-- Bonnie in indiana (queqid@att.net), April 08, 2002.

Gee, doesn't Rogo have the best chicken links! wow, good stuff!, I've done it on a dead bird, it is awkward to get get everything situated at first, and after reading the link, I know it will be easyer with the right tools [usually the case isn't it} so now I need add a caponing set to my list.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), April 08, 2002.

Caponizing Kits

Larry's Poultry

http://www.larryspoultry.com/catalog.htm

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), April 09, 2002.

Easiest way I know is with a .22 or a hatchet....make a single large, clean incision at the neck.

-- Oscar (owill@mail.whittier.edu), April 12, 2002.