GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[trifecta]

As far as legality, it should be fine for a private owner to perform the procedure on their owner livestock, in the same manner which many farmers castrate their own calves and lambs.

The sticky situation becomes when someone performs the procedure for someone else... depending on the state, this is potentially practicing veterinary medicine without a license; however this is going to vary state by state depending on definitions in the practice act.

I LOVE the restraint setup. I had a really hard time when I did my 4 roos.... I think they were way to small for a beginner, and I had a hard time locating the testis. However, they all survived, but all we slips. The pictures are great.

 

[chickenzoo]

Hummm. .very interesting. I know this is in the meat section but I think a lot of people would keep roosters if they didn't crow..... Crowing is the number one reason I am given when people want chickens but even thou they like roosters don't get them. I wish I could talk my livestock vet into doing it...he is very cheap and although doesn't do birds,has helped me with mine.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

Kizanne, while I think you're quite correct that pretty much everything described in this forum is FAR better than anything that happens to your standard store bought chicken, I can see why cutting open a living awake roo causes a strong respose of horror. I have to say I was pretty dubious about caponizing, especially when I kept hearing what a high death rate it has. It seemed far kinder and cleaner to just bleed them out and process them instead of submitting them to what sounds like vivisection, resulting in pain, shock, and likely infection.
I'm really happy to see this thread, and to see that it CAN be done cleanly with a very high sucess rate. I'm still a bit leery on just how painful cutting and fishing around in their body is, I'd like to see what studies have been done on their pain response and if there is an easy way to numb the area. (Ice, perhaps? It would also shrink down blood vessels, resulting in less blood loss.) You're right in that knocking them out is dangerous, birds don't react the same way we do to gasses, which is why I'm not surprised if other things are different about them like how/where they feel pain.

I think using ice a a painkiller for doing this procedure would probably work quite well. My mom's orthopedic doctor (who is EXTREMELY wll respected for his skills) uses ice almost exclusively in his office to numb areas where he is going to drain fluid or give injections into joints. These types of procedures are normally fairly painful, but when the area is iced down first it is as good as a local anesthetic with NO side effects. Just be sure to use a freezer gel-pack and put a thin cloth between the pack and the skin. Ice for about 10-15 minutes and you're good to go.

 

[Kassaundra]

I think using ice a a painkiller for doing this procedure would probably work quite well. My mom's orthopedic doctor (who is EXTREMELY wll respected for his skills) uses ice almost exclusively in his office to numb areas where he is going to drain fluid or give injections into joints. These types of procedures are normally fairly painful, but when the area is iced down first it is as good as a local anesthetic with NO side effects. Just be sure to use a freezer gel-pack and put a thin cloth between the pack and the skin. Ice for about 10-15 minutes and you're good to go.

The ice pack idea is an interesting one on a couple of levels, not just for pain control, but cooling the area like that would constrict (shunt) the blood causing even less blood loss. Definately an idea to consider.

 

[Gryphon]

See, that right there is why I like to question everything. Just because people weren't using ice on the birds 100 years ago doesn't mean it wasn't a good idea, it's just that ice was hard to get a hold of! For all we know if it was readily available then that would have been part of the lore passed down.

 

[MacGuyver]

I like that idea a lot. It should help significantly too. I mean, most of the pain is going to be from the incisions.

 

[chickers]

I'm thrilled I found this thread. I don't keep meat birds, but I do have a rooster I'd like to get neutered. So far I haven't been able to find a vet who was willing to do it, not even UC Davis.

Does anyone here know of anyone in the Nevada Sierras, Sacramento, Reno, or the SF Bay Area who would be willing to caponize a bird?

Thanks for any help.

 

[galanie]

Kassaundra, GREAT pictures! I've watched the videos of the chinese capon guy and seen countless pictures of the process but I think yours are the best for instructional purposes. For those interested I'd also recommend the Chinese Capon fellow's pictures and video: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...n-steps-of-castrating-a-cockerel-graphic-pics

 

[Kassaundra]

Kassaundra, GREAT pictures! I've watched the videos of the chinese capon guy and seen countless pictures of the process but I think yours are the best for instructional purposes. For those interested I'd also recommend the Chinese Capon fellow's pictures and video: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...n-steps-of-castrating-a-cockerel-graphic-pics

Thanks. Yes I have seen the chinese capon pics and video they are amazing. His tools look cool too, I've tried a couple of times to understand how to order them or how much they are, but have not ever recieved an answer. The site it sends you to is all in chinese, and if you have the computer translate to english it doesn't translate the ordering info.

 

[galanie]

You can email him but yes, it does take him forever to answer.