Capon adventure

[Boilerman66]

Well now, out of the 2, one is a slip. I keep them up at Farmer Dan's place as I haven't a coop here(yet) so with me working odd hours this was the first i got to see them.

 

[kizanne]

nailikwj82 - Those capon pictures you posted could you give us some approx. breed/age/weight for your capons

such as Delaware, age 20 weeks, weight 5 lbs?

Thanks for your response as well. I have some birds that I intend to breed, some specifically to get some meat birds that are not CX's and to have a use for my extra cockrel's. I appreciate your help with this. I don't know if I'll ever get the guts to caponize them but I think that would be preferrable to killing them early with no particular purpose.

 

[enel 1]

in post 14 nailikwj82 states that size is more important than age and the size they prefer is 18 to 24 oz, so a little over a pound. my cx's are a pound at 4 weeks and my dp's a around a pound at 8 to 10 weeks.

 

[kizanne]

in post 14 nailikwj82 states that size is more important than age and the size they prefer is 18 to 24 oz, so a little over a pound. my cx's are a pound at 4 weeks and my dp's a around a pound at 8 to 10 weeks.

Well thanks for that. But I don't mean for caponizing. I was hoping for results. Like at 20 weeks what is the average size of one of his capons and what breed that is because of course larger breeds would probably have larger capons.

 

[Boilerman66]

I did leg horns, as that is what I had to work with. I will ask Farmer Dan how old they are and see if I can get a poundage on them. I am very busy at this time working 12 hours and with being single I got house duties also when I get home.

 

[kizanne]

thanks. Just curious how big they get and how fast. I will be having some cockrel around this place and would love to be able to keep them til eating size. But just wondering how much different are the results. My maran by 24 weeks dressed out to be 3.6 pounds which was nice but if I thought I could get another 1lb or so by caponizing that would be great if it is a small amount by 24 weeks then I'm probably not interested cause I don't have space to keep them past that.

 

[naillikwj82]

Bird comparisons:
Two sibling RIR's, processed at 20 weeks, #1 uncaponed, #2 caponed but was a slip. Feed and penning was the same. Processed table wieght (no feet, no neck, no giblets) #1 was 3#1, #2 was 3#13
The birds in the earlier pictures were Delawares and Buff Orp's, 14 weeks in the picture. This morning at 19 weeks I processed 5 birds. Three were slips, and two were capons. Processed table wieghts were (slips first...) 3#9, 3#13, 4#0, 4#4, 4#5. The first four were the BO's and the last was a Del. I have also this spring processed numerous cockerals/roosters for various local families while teaching them to do the same. Orps' and Del's have been a part of the mix, and it was very rare for any to exceed a table wieght of 3#2, most were 24+ weeks old.
I intend to hold our present capons through to the fall and expect to exceed 8#s table wieght. They will also be tender, and delicious!

 

[partsRheavy]

Just ate a portion of a Jersey Giant slip that I processed 2 days ago. Don't have the weight, but the chick arrived in the middle of last September and was caponed in November.

When processed, he had _one_ very large testicle (1 3/4" long) and a full comb and wattles. He was "arrested" while, um, shagging a hen. He hadn't spent very long crowing and carrying-on, because I've been monitoring the flock for this.

After processing him, I put him in the fridge with buttermilk, the juice from 2 oranges, and a small amount of red wine. Left for 2 days.

I was going to bake, then pressure cook the pieces, as earlier roos and slips I'd tried cooking were pretty tough even after wine/vinegar marinating. However, when I took the breast out of the oven,, it felt tender to the fork so I tried eating it as-is. It was good!! It was as tender as broiler chicken, but without the off-flavors that commercial chicken sometimes has. A friend tried some of the dark meat and said that it was also good.

 

[kizanne]

Bird comparisons:
Two sibling RIR's, processed at 20 weeks, #1 uncaponed, #2 caponed but was a slip. Feed and penning was the same. Processed table wieght (no feet, no neck, no giblets) #1 was 3#1, #2 was 3#13
The birds in the earlier pictures were Delawares and Buff Orp's, 14 weeks in the picture. This morning at 19 weeks I processed 5 birds. Three were slips, and two were capons. Processed table wieghts were (slips first...) 3#9, 3#13, 4#0, 4#4, 4#5. The first four were the BO's and the last was a Del. I have also this spring processed numerous cockerals/roosters for various local families while teaching them to do the same. Orps' and Del's have been a part of the mix, and it was very rare for any to exceed a table wieght of 3#2, most were 24+ weeks old.
I intend to hold our present capons through to the fall and expect to exceed 8#s table wieght. They will also be tender, and delicious!

Thank you this is very helpful. Now you just need to live near me to give me capon lesson

 

[McButterpants]

I am also doing La Fleche capons this year. The birds arrived 4.28 and were caponized at 4 weeks, out of 15 birds I had 12 survive. I will post pics they seem to be coming along nicely.