"Ritchie, Harrison and Harrison state in "Avian Medicine: Principles and Application" that, "The authors and editors consider devocalization a cruel and unethical practice; therefore, a procedure will not be described. Birds with vocalization patterns that are unacceptable to a client should be placed in new homes."
De-voicing, de-clawing and other similar surgical procedures in zoological bird gardens to companion animals are considered by all the British veterinary associations to be unethical and inhumane.
Any veterinarian found acting against this honorable code would be subject to disciplinary action followed by expulsion from the veterinary fellowship. The general consensus of gathered information from the Internet, the avicultural fraternity and large animal welfare organizations about the subject of de-voicing parrots (as with other species of birds, dogs also), both here in England and the USA, is that this practice is considered barbaric, immoral, unethical and inhumane. Birds are, by nature, very vocal, raucous creatures. They use different tones and sounds to communicate with each other and to express their exuberant nature. They can mimic our language for reason of integrating into a human flock. The ability to mimic is used as a substitute for the safety they would otherwise find amongst their wild flock. De-voicing robs a bird of its inherent characteristic. The psychological damage is irreversible. This must surely authorize a unanimous agreement that this procedure is inhumane from such a respected quarter of the veterinary profession as the AAV. "
You might as well eat him.
No I don't. One downside about living in Phoenix is that there are few vets even willing to look at farm animals. So even something minor costs a whole lot out here. If I remember correctly, you have to actually put the bird to sleep for this, and chickens aren't so good at coming out of that... lots of risks, lots of $$$, probably sucks for the rooster (though less than becoming dinner, I'd imagine).. Please keep us posted on what you find out, as I'm sure you aren't the only one who'd love to have roosters.
Replies
De-voicing, de-clawing and other similar surgical procedures in zoological bird gardens to companion animals are considered by all the British veterinary associations to be unethical and inhumane.
Any veterinarian found acting against this honorable code would be subject to disciplinary action followed by expulsion from the veterinary fellowship. The general consensus of gathered information from the Internet, the avicultural fraternity and large animal welfare organizations about the subject of de-voicing parrots (as with other species of birds, dogs also), both here in England and the USA, is that this practice is considered barbaric, immoral, unethical and inhumane. Birds are, by nature, very vocal, raucous creatures. They use different tones and sounds to communicate with each other and to express their exuberant nature. They can mimic our language for reason of integrating into a human flock. The ability to mimic is used as a substitute for the safety they would otherwise find amongst their wild flock. De-voicing robs a bird of its inherent characteristic. The psychological damage is irreversible. This must surely authorize a unanimous agreement that this procedure is inhumane from such a respected quarter of the veterinary profession as the AAV. "
You might as well eat him.