Is it possible to neuter a bird

The issue is not the danger involved with castrating birds. In fact we perform these procedures with some regularity as a treatment for medically non-responsive testicular tumors. The issue is that castration rarely never in my experience resolves the crowing behavior in roosters. That is unless the bird is caponized castrated when very young prior to development of these behaviors.

For adult roosters that are already crowing, castration does temporarily stop the crowing behavior usually for a few weeks. I believe they temporarily stop crowing because they are recovering from surgery and are either in pain or uncomfortable we are still learning how best to manage pain in birds. However once fully recovered from surgery, the crowing behavior usually returns. The challenge is that you are going against a programmed behavior and once it starts it is difficult to stop.

This works best with drakes ducks displaying obnoxious male behaviors. You are essentially shortening and shifting the visible day length by placing the rooster in a dark room over night and letting him outside later in the morning rather than the crack of dawn. This does not always work, however it is a better alternative to euthanasia. Dear Dr. Echols, Wlould you consider surgical castration in a male hypersexual cockatoo with recurrent cloacal prolapse?

I have such a case. Long story short:. After looking for other causes of prolapse and coming to this diagnosis, I performed ventoplasty, open surgery cloacopexy horisontal incision, tacking to ribs and serosal scarification and suturing , instituted behavioural modification and activities at home, changed to pellets, some regulation of daylight exposure, all of which to a degree still being instituted by owners but might be room for improvement. Also put in a deslorelin implant,4,7mg, but only once.

Everything then seemed perfect for a year and a half, but now prolapsing again. Part two of my question I guess is in your experience will hormonal therapy help at all deslorelin or other. Not extensive experience with such here in Norway. Sorry for difficult question and possibly overstepping bounderies of discussion here. If there is better forum for this would much appreciate info by email?

These are a challenge! Here are my responses to your questions: 1. Yes, I have considered castration for these problems. In the past we used to castrate birds for a variety of behavioral non-cancer reasons.

However, castration never seemed to resolve the problem. Short term the birds seemed fine and then they later returned to the same behaviors. Research also supports that many behaviors are retained or, in some cases, amplified post-castration especially aggression.

These studies have not been conducted in parrots. Or, there is another hormone producing organ the adrenals that take over the function of the missing testes. Hormonal therapy, in my experience, only works when other aspects of behavior management are in play. It sounds like you have been doing this. However, I would add in foraging as the only source of food and physical exercise to dissipate some of this energy common with male cockatoos.

So far, we have had good luck resolving cloacal prolapses in male birds most of which have been cockatoos. This has been achieved through a combination of behavioral, dietary and environmental modification and often surgery many that I see have been prolapsed for at least several months and require surgery.

After nearly 25 years of practice, I have had two cloacal prolapse failures. At the time of both surgeries, I could see there was no cloacal muscular tone. I suspect that lack of muscle tone contributed to the failure. In both cases, the prolapse recurred.

These are important and fairly common problems in pet birds- especially male cockatoos. For those reading this post, I would recommend the following for your pet birds and maybe even more so with male cockatoos and prior to developing prolapse problems : 1.

You want your bird to be able to do productive activities on his own. Provide opportunities for as much physical exercise as possible. Remember, that many parrot species are designed to fly, explore, etc many miles every day.

Discourage breeding behavior in your bird. Some birds will display breeding behaviors with their favorite person, such as vent-rubbing, tail lifting, or regurgitating food.

Some single birds will display mating behaviors with objects in their environment, such as food cups, toys, perches, or mirrors. Mating behaviors include regurgitating food, vent rubbing, and tail lifting. If your bird engages in these behaviors with an inanimate object, that object should be permanently removed from her environment.

Rearrange the cage interior and change the cage location. Changing the arrangement or types of toys, dishes, and perches in the cage can also be very helpful. Give your bird optimal nutrition and provide full spectrum light. Producing and laying eggs robs your bird of the vitamins, proteins, and calcium she needs to stay healthy. It is especially crucial during the breeding season that she is on a complete and balanced diet, which in most cases will be a pelleted diet.

A seed diet supplemented with vitamins is not adequate. Ask your veterinarian to recommend a pelleted diet for your bird. Avoid removing the eggs which your bird has already laid.

The surgery techniques have not been perfected and are not always effective in controlling undesirable reproductive behaviors. Evidence suggests that within one to two years, other organs will compensate for the lack of testes and start producing testosterone a common factor in aggression. I understand the gonads will even grow back. Occasionally, hysterectomies spay are performed on female parrots with a history of chronic egg laying who don't respond to hormone therapy or other life-threatening, reproductive conditions.

Yes, in short, it WOULD dramatically improve their quality of life as long as we force their life to be devoid of all possibility to progress through the natural stages of development and behavior activities they would be free to follow if they were wild, in the wild. Natural Birdsmanship and truly understanding them teaches us to examine the natural behavior so we can better understand why we see the problems we see. Someone wrote that neutering, in particular, only makes a TOO impotent, and does not decrease the bird's sex drive.

Bokkapooh Ripping up the road Avenue Veteran. Im not sure if I like the idea of taking away their sex drive and fertility.. If you cant deal with the hormones perhaps another companion is for you. But then there are people out there who get an animal, say a bird, and they arent fit for them.

But then again maybe not. How many people do we seed keeping birds in SMALL cages with little to no toys, perhaps even old filthy toys and improper diet, and militated clipped wings and little to no exercise?

Would spaying and neutering really reverse behavioral problems? I don't think so. Many MANY young birds form 8months-4years of age are also known to begin behavioral problems like plucking and screaming. Sharpie Rollerblading along the road. I like the 'risk of bleeding' and 'high blood supply' comments. In fact, I'm gonna nominate them for an understatement award.

Bird's gonads ovary, testicle are pretty much adhered right on to the bird's aorta If the aorta gets nicked or ripped trying to remove the gonad, you've got a dead bird. In cats and dogs, the gonads are a healthy distance away and supplied by their own nice little, easy to tie off vessels, so it's MUCH safer. To spay a bird without killing it takes a lot of experience and some luck. It's a catch 22 though- to get the skills to have birds live through it you're going to kill some birds though inexperience.

Neutering refers to the surgical procedure in which both testicles are removed while your male pet is under general anesthesia. We use advanced pain management techniques in conjunction with anesthesia to make sure your pet is as comfortable as possible during the procedure and after they are discharged.

Proper pain management reduces some anesthetic complications during surgery and allows for a faster recovery following surgery. Skip Navigation Skip to Primary Content. Book Book Appointment.