I've recently been introduced into raising chickens and poultry and I've come to admire these beautiful birds and the benefits that they provide. Recently, I've rescued a handsome rooster that we've named Chanticleer. I considered entering him into the poultry show because he's a beautiful bird. I was surprised and shocked to discover that he is automatically disqualified. The American Poultry Association requires certain breeds of chickens to be mutilated in order to be shown. 

Chickens, roosters in particular, have certain features on their heads, a tuft of flesh that sticks up on the top of their head called the "comb", and parts that dangle near their beaks called "wattle". The APA requires that breeders cut the combs and wattles off of certain breeds. This process is called "dubbing". 

This practice has similar origins to cropping a dog's ears. Dubbing was originally performed on roosters to make them better at cock fighting, which is now illegal in every US state and the District of Columbia. As such, there's no reason to remove the rooster's combs and wattles. On rare occasions, there are medical reasons which may necessitate it, such as roosters being prone to frostbite or roosters with combs so large that they have trouble eating or standing due to the extra weight on their head. However, this is not always the case for every rooster and should be made on a case-by-case basis.

The combs and wattles of a rooster help the bird regulate its body temperature. Most people who dub roosters do so without any anesthetic, using only sharp scissors and blod-clotting chemicals. The National Chicken Council admits that dubbing a rooster causes short term stress on the chicken, but recommends the practice anyway.

The RSPCA Australia opposes dubbing poultry intended to be exhibited at shows, and describes the practice as "a cause of pain and distress".

In the UK, the Farm Animal Welfare Council has stated "that removal of the comb offers no welfare advantages to offset the disturbance caused by the procedure and believe the practice should be phased out."

Also in the UK, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) writes: "Removal of the comb offers few, if any, welfare advantages in comparison with the disturbance and pain likely to be caused and should be avoided."

In the UK laws have been enacted that make it illegal for anyone other than a licensed vet to remove the combs of roosters.

In New Zealand, the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee stated in 2002 that the practice was not humane and that they were "working towards a strategy to prevent this practice."

In 2010 the European Food Safety Authority reviewed scientific evidence and concluded "that no mutilation with an effect on welfare as severe as those resulting from cutting off toes or dubbing the comb should be carried out unless justified by evidence for a substantial and unavoidable level of poor welfare in the birds themselves and other birds."

In Canada, farm animal advocacy groups have stated that "These mutilations are crude solutions to the problems created by modern methods of raising chickens and turkeys."

Scientific evidence also suggests that chickens select their mates partly on the size and prominence of a rooster's comb and wattles.

Join Chanticleer and I in telling the National Chicken Council and the American Poultry Association that this outdated practice needs to be retired and should no longer be a requirement for show birds, nor listed in the "Standards of Perfection" for game birds. There's no reason to mutilate a rooster because humans think it looks better that way.