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I don't think that you could rely on caponizing as a certain way to prevent the males from crowing. Perhaps if you did it early enough, and were able to remove every bit of the tissue, the birds would grow up and not crow. These guys that I caponized did eventually develop a crow. Although...

I have some more mixed-breed chicks that I hope to caponize as soon as I can find the time. They're about 7 weeks old now, and I'm fairly certain I can tell their sex with accuracy. Growinupinfl, that's a great picture you posted, but that's not what you're going to be seeing in the small...

I just butchered 5 of the birds I caponized earlier this summer. They were caponized when they were around 10 weeks old. I lost track of their age, maybe they were 30 weeks old? Some of them had tiny little bubbles of leftover testicle tissue remaining, I guess I didn't get everything out and...

Have you seen this video shared by BYC member Chinese Capons? http://www.56.com/u59/v_MjUzNDM2OTY.html I am really impressed with the skill & speed with which this man gets the job done! And look at how simply he restrains the chicks! I don't know what he's using for tools there. He must...

I forgot to mention that this time we also tried putting one of my kids' socks over the birds' heads while we were working on them. The sock was small enough to stay put on the bird but still loose enough for comfort. It seemed to calm them to be in the dark like that.

Thanks for the extra info, Holly. I will be on the lookout for better tools, although we're doing all right with the ones I have. I will look at the craft store for those bead tongs, I was wishing I had something like that during the last session. I dropped one boy's bean back into his cavity...

Quote: I wish you success with your caponization efforts, don't "chicken out" now! How big were the testicles you removed? In the young cockerels I did at around 10 weeks of age they were still very small, about the size of a small dried bean. They were fragile, I had to be careful when...

Quote: Congratulations! Good for you! I gave each bird a stitch in the intercostals with 3-0 catgut and two in the skin with some 3-0 PDS I had (both are not permanent so no suture removal necessary). Could you please 'splain this in more detail, or show pictures? We used superglue to...

Hooray for the BYC family! For a long time now I have been wanting to learn how to caponize my surplus mixed-breed cockerels. Although I could have rallied the courage & obtained the tools & information all by myself, I really wanted to find someone else to help me through it. Thanks to BYC...

That's fine, I know that nothing grows like a Cornish Cross! But if this procedure would help a bantam cockerel add some more meat to his frame it would be worth the effort.

I wonder how good the results are when you caponize young bantam cockerels. Will they grow to the size of a unaltered standard roo? Or can their small bodies handle the extra growth & weight? I would like to know since I sometimes have extra unwanted bantam roos and they are barely big enough...

Quote: I disagree with you because I don't think it's inhumane or cruel. I wouldn't treat any chicken, any livestock, not even any pest or predator animal in that manner. But when caponization done by someone with knowledge & experience I think the bird only feels mild discomfort -- a small...

Quote: Just like other castrated livestock, cattle, hogs, sheep & goats, the point of caponizing is to have a larger meatier animal who is also more docile for easier handling. When the procedure is done correctly it shouldn't cause much pain, suffering & stress to the birds. Once it's done...

Most of the birds I have for processing are the mixed-breed roos that result when I give my broody hens eggs to hatch. The mixed-breed pullets make nice reliable layers, and the roos are allowed to run around & get in the way until they're about 20 weeks old and big enough to butcher. They...

Someone else more knowledgeable could give you a better answer, but I think it has something to do with their hormones/lack of hormones that diverts more of their energy into growth and less to reproduction. In the same way that other castrated animals, cattle, sheep, horses, & dogs, put on...

Quote: Yay for you! Could you give us the link to the set you won? Do you mind telling us what it cost? Can I borrow it? Huh? Can I?

Did you glue the very edges of the cut skin together or overlap it somehow? Do you have to dry the edges? Are they wet with blood or serum, or already dry enough to glue? How much glue must you use? And what brand/style? (gel, liquid, brush, etc) And did you ever have any scary moments when...

THANK YOU so very much for posting this! I have been wanting to learn how to do this since most of my meaties are home-hatched mixed-breeds. This would be a great way to get them to grow bigger for the table. Where did you get your tools? Could you please post pictures of them? Must you...