we have three pet chickens, which we had at a day old. they are now aproximately 20 weeks old and my young daughter's chicken has turned out too be a cokerel. we do not want to send the 'chicken' back to the farm to be roasted as my 5 year old has built up a good relationship with it. it is not aggressive to date, but unfortuately is making a racket from 4 am onwards and then throughout the day. the neighbours are complaining. do you have any ideas? also we have the other two chickens and do not really want lots of chicks being hatched....as we intend to keep the three birds as family pets. could the rooster be castrated and if it were would this mean that the crowing would be reduced? could you please advise? many thanks! Christine Foster

-- christine foster (jcpdvfoster@tinywrold.co.uk), July 20, 2003

Answers

As I said, good advice is rarely what people want to hear. Imagine that, roasting a rooster!

Little bit farm

-- Little Bit Farm (littlebit@brightok.net), September 13, 2003.

yes you can,, but it wont make much of a differance in crowing.

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), July 20, 2003.

What you are talking about is caponizing. Caponizing will help cockerals put on more weight for butchering. Please be careful with you daughter and the rooster. as he gets older he will likely get aggressive. Especially if he views your daughter as a rival. About the only thing you could so is talk to a vet about having your rooster devoiced. However it is rarely done. Stan is right, Caponizing will not prevent crowing. My advice is to pick a family pet that is more socialized to people. Hens can be Ok, but even they have their moments. Chickens are meant to be kept on farms, where they have a utilitarian purpose. They are fun to look at, but are not really good for children to handle and play with. Please keep in mind that a bird always goes for the eyes when they attack. A spur on a rooster can rip open a leg or arm. This may not be what you want to hear, but good advice rarely is what people want to hear.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little Bit Farm (littbit@brighterok.net), July 20, 2003.

Hi,

Don't listen to this nonsense, if your cockerel is well loved and looked after it will not get aggresive, We have a pet cockerel and hen, and they have been with us now for a year. Dave our cockerel is really noisy, he starts crowing at 1 am and doesn;t stop till the morning, but we are used to it now and I wouldn't dream of devoicing him. Don't send him back to the farm, he will be roasted for sure.

-- Tali (Talicious@hotmail.com), September 13, 2003.

I wanted to add that We have just had our beloved Roderick the rooster die of old age and miss him terrible - he was a wonderful chook who kept the girsl safe and ran a very tidy hen house

He would feed from our hands and was a very gentle fellow.

I do remember as a child a real mean rooster but he was caged and I wonder if that exagerated his behaviour

Roddy always free ranged.

I particularly loved the boy bonding i obseved between my husband and Roddy, Roddy is sadly missed.

-- Diane Golden (golden@paradise.net.nz), March 23, 2004.