Caponizing

[Kassaundra]

Yeah, today Dawn and I successfully caponzied 4 roos, lost 1 bantam. He was so small. I think I made a bad call by trying to do him. The other boys are doing well and don't really know how lucky they are right now. Interesting was that 1 of them had huge black testes and one had 1 black and 1 yellow.

Thanks to Mcbutterpants for his advice and support.

Keep us posted on how they develop.

Mine aren't old enough yet, but I plan on keeping a video diary not of just the caponizing, but also the grow out.

 

[BunnyMomma]

Hi everyone! I have done several successful surgeries on ducks and chickens. I had a mallard hen that was injured by one of my dogs. Here injuries were fairly extensive, but were only skin tears. I found that if you are wanting to stitch up an injured bird that you can take a soft, dark colored sock and gently place it over the birds head. I usually put a small hole in the sock that the birds bill or beak is free so that it can breathe freely.

Then I take an ace bandage and secure the bird to a sturdy surface, such as a piece of wood. I put an old t-shirt or baby blanket on the board so that the bird is more comfortable. The dark sock will make the bird "go to roost" and fall asleep.When doing this I have noticed that the birds do not seem to be in any pain and will just sleep through the entire process. One time I did have a bird to make a small squawk, but it did not sound like a pain sound, more of a surprise squawk. I hope this makes sense.

If the bird is injured or if you are doing any surgery, I recommend using betadine to sterilize your tools and any wounds that require stitches. Be sure to keep the bird warm and as comfortable as possible, as cold temperatures may cause your bird to go into shock. Then use "very sharp" tools for making incisions and that will keep the pain minimal. A dull scalpel will be painful. If you are sewing up an injury, you can take plain white sewing thread and a small sewing needle and sew up any tears or injuries. Be sure to thoroughly clean any wounds from debris and pour betadine into the wound and apply plenty around the outside area as well. You can make a small ice bag from a zip lock sandwich bag and ice the skin for a few seconds to lessen the pain as well. Then just sew the wound together making sure that you make your stitches about 1/4 inch inside the edge of the skin. Gently pull the wound edges together and finish off the stitches with a knot. You can let this dry for a few minutes, usually about 10 minutes and then put some super glue along the center edges of the stitches and you will have a wonderful completed bandage. You do not need to remove the stitches as they will dissolve by themselves eventually.

Then I usually put the bird in a warm dark rubbermaid box with light food and water.It is important to keep them away from other birds that might pick at the injury. I have also made a body stocking for a severe injury once. I used a length of panty hose and cut a snug slip on shirt thingy with leg holes and make sure the wings are through the holes too. If a wing is damaged you can leave it underneath the stocking for a few days until the wing has healed. This might take a week to 10 days. If the bird has been injured by another animal, it is a good idea to add some antibiotic to it's water for a few days to ward off any infections. After a few hours give your bird some chick starter crumbles, not too much and keep him or her warm and dry for a few days. I have done this many times with success.
I have never caponized a rooster yet, but I plan on giving this a try later this summer. I have way too many Orpington chicks that I don't want to cull. Capon sounds delicious!
I hope you will forgive the lengthy post, but I felt that there were many questions here about how to safely sedate a bird to do minor surgery. I hope this will help you to get the job done without you or your bird suffering too much trauma!
Sincerely! BunnyMomma

 

[Kassaundra]

Lengthy posts especially full of useful info are always more then welcome.

Love several of your ideas especially the stocking wrap for allowing injury time to heal.

 

[BunnyMomma]

Thanks! I used that on a mallard hen that had some severe injuries. I had her all healed up and she finally was able to resume a normal ducky life! I'm looking forward to trying my hand at caponizing later this summer.
I have a question~ Is it possible to caponize an older rooster that is over a year old? I would like to caponize 2 of my Blue Orpingtons so that they will not be fighting with the other rooster. I got my stock from Terry Disney, "The Loft at Holly Lane" and they are so pretty. I have not had any problems with them fighting yet, but I'm afraid they will injure my hens during their romantic advances.

 

[Kassaundra]

Thanks! I used that on a mallard hen that had some severe injuries. I had her all healed up and she finally was able to resume a normal ducky life! I'm looking forward to trying my hand at caponizing later this summer.
I have a question~ Is it possible to caponize an older rooster that is over a year old? I would like to caponize 2 of my Blue Orpingtons so that they will not be fighting with the other rooster. I got my stock from Terry Disney, "The Loft at Holly Lane" and they are so pretty. I have not had any problems with them fighting yet, but I'm afraid they will injure my hens during their romantic advances.

Yes it is possible, my mentor has successfully done it. It is more dangerous to the roo, better blood supply to the teste. She has a medical cauderizing tool, that is the only way I would attempt on that old of a roo, is w/ a cauderizing tool and plenty of experience.

When done at that age they usually don't stop crowing, but will stop other roo behavior like mating and agression.

 

[BunnyMomma]

Thanks, for the advise. I will not attempt that until I have a bit of experience. I have had a lot of medical training in Nursing School and I have started IV's and drawn blood for labs etc. It will be fairly easy for me to learn how to do this. I have a bit of a pioneer spirit and there is only one thing I've tried so far that I will NEVER do again. I did clean some catfish that a neighbor brought to me. It was in the heat of summer and I gagged for a week. The smell was more that I could take! I used to love blackened catfish, and now even after 14 years I cannot eat catfish~

I have dispatched chicken and it does not bother me to clean or eat fresh chicken.
Fish just has that smell!

 

[PrettyLacedFeathers]

Does anyone have experience caponizing roosters near Orlando, FL?

 

[Kassaundra]

Yes it is possible, my mentor has successfully done it. It is more dangerous to the roo, better blood supply to the teste. She has a medical cauderizing tool, that is the only way I would attempt on that old of a roo, is w/ a cauderizing tool and plenty of experience.

When done at that age they usually don't stop crowing, but will stop other roo behavior like mating and agression.

I have a correction to make on this post. I posted the don't usually stop crowing, that was based on internet research, however based on my mentors personal experience they actually do usually either stop crowing entirely or drastically cut down on frequency and vigor of crowing.

 

[Anna6]

I am looking for some one in the San Diego SoCal area that knows how to caponize and is willing to teach us how to.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Thanks, for the advise. I will not attempt that until I have a bit of experience. I have had a lot of medical training in Nursing School and I have started IV's and drawn blood for labs etc. It will be fairly easy for me to learn how to do this. I have a bit of a pioneer spirit and there is only one thing I've tried so far that I will NEVER do again. I did clean some catfish that a neighbor brought to me. It was in the heat of summer and I gagged for a week. The smell was more that I could take! I used to love blackened catfish, and now even after 14 years I cannot eat catfish~

I have dispatched chicken and it does not bother me to clean or eat fresh chicken.
Fish just has that smell!

The smell of fish is why I will never give my chickens fish meal.....I'm not taking any chances on having my eggs taste fishy. I know people who have tried the high omega eggs from the grocery store and say they have a fishy aftertaste......not taking any chances with that.

It makes me nauseated just thinking about that fishy smell......

I learned to caponize this past year, and I am in NE TN. Where in NC are you?