Calling all experienced caponizers!

[Sara L]

Definitely check out the linked thread, it has a lot of suggestions on tools to use and recommendations on how to complete the procedure with best results. One of the recommendations was to practice on a bird that has already passed so if mistakes are made initially you aren't harming anything.

Please don't give up on byc, there are some folks who make unnecessary comments in the meat bird section when they shouldn't be in here. Not everyone is like that and there are people here who do caponize their dual purpose roosters.

 

[bag12day]

Is there a reason why you are planning on caponizing your meat birds? I've just never heard of anyone doing that. My understanding was that caponizing is done for the purpose of bringing a dual purpose breed to an older age (8-12months) in order for them to put on weight without the added hormones of going through reproductive maturity, which make them flighty and fighty.

Sorry just getting back to this after some issues last week. When I say meat birds I am including dual purpose birds and we have been raising Kosher Kings, Freedom, red, and rainbow rangers and almost all of our laying hens are DP birds (Jersey Giants, Black Astrolorps, New Hampshire reds and Barred Rocks). I want to grow out a few Capons to see if the taste is substantially different (richer, bolder) in some of the meat birds and or DP birds. On a separate note after the wife had been attacked by this guy

a few times and yesterday went after the granddaughter in her stroller yesterday. That was the last straw so he got placed in the fridge about 3 hours ago. We were gonna wait until the big meat bird day in about 3 weeks, to take hi out but she said no more chances after he went at the granddaughter lol.
We might try Cornish X chickens in the fall but I have been reluctant just due to the health/ breeding concerns. Caponizing was something we talked about to take some of the males (DP or rangers) and see if they will improve flavor wise with some age.

 

[LaFleche]

On a separate note after the wife had been attacked by this guy

a few times and yesterday went after the granddaughter in her stroller yesterday. That was the last straw so he got placed in the fridge about 3 hours ago. We were gonna wait until the big meat bird day in about 3 weeks, to take hi out but she said no more chances after he went at the granddaughter lol.

 

[iwltfum]

Sorry just getting back to this after some issues last week. When I say meat birds I am including dual purpose birds and we have been raising Kosher Kings, Freedom, red, and rainbow rangers and almost all of our laying hens are DP birds (Jersey Giants, Black Astrolorps, New Hampshire reds and Barred Rocks). I want to grow out a few Capons to see if the taste is substantially different (richer, bolder) in some of the meat birds and or DP birds. On a separate note after the wife had been attacked by this guy View attachment 2157780
a few times and yesterday went after the granddaughter in her stroller yesterday. That was the last straw so he got placed in the fridge about 3 hours ago. We were gonna wait until the big meat bird day in about 3 weeks, to take hi out but she said no more chances after he went at the granddaughter lol.
We might try Cornish X chickens in the fall but I have been reluctant just due to the health/ breeding concerns. Caponizing was something we talked about to take some of the males (DP or rangers) and see if they will improve flavor wise with some age.

Ah, Gotcha. I thought you were referencing caponizing a fast growing meat breed. I'd love to know how it goes if you do it. I have read alot about label rouge and other french styes of growing out chickens for meat and I'm very curious.

For the last couple years I've only grown out freedoms, but I started with cornish x. I feel like if you're growing out ranger varieties successfully, I would have to suggest staying away from cornish x's. They are too fine tuned for growing in the specific and controlled conditions of large poultry houses IMO.

 

[bag12day]

Ah, Gotcha. I thought you were referencing caponizing a fast growing meat breed. I'd love to know how it goes if you do it. I have read alot about label rouge and other french styes of growing out chickens for meat and I'm very curious.

For the last couple years I've only grown out freedoms, but I started with cornish x. I feel like if you're growing out ranger varieties successfully, I would have to suggest staying away from cornish x's. They are too fine tuned for growing in the specific and controlled conditions of large poultry houses IMO.

We are pasture raising in tractors all of our meat birds and were thinking about caponizing some of the DP or rangers and tossing them in with our 30 or so layers for several months and see what we get. I kind-of agree with you on the CX but I have to answer a question just for my own curiosity... My one question if I can phrase it OK is does the organic feed $ we use for 9-10 weeks on the Pastured birds ( and they get about 30% of their nutrition from the good augmented pasture I plant) drop enough from the only 6 weeks of feeding CX to make a big difference in $ and subsequently is there a quality taste difference.
I have been told most CornishX don't pasture very effectively and I do spend some money building a good pasture base ( Crimson, yellow, Ladino, & red clovers, millet or oats, buckwheat, rye, rape, Austrian winter peas, purple vetch and usually in fall some additional brassicas like turnips and radish). I plant a fair amount of wildlife food plots and stuff for bees on my farm so I just add a little more to the chicken areas.

 

[Weetamoo93]

I'd love to learn to do this, too, as I'm raising dual purpose with the goal of birds for the table.

It would fantastic to have annual regional workshops for those interested in this dying art. The linked thread is great and I do hope to practice on culled cockerels sometime next year.

 

[chkncrazy]

So has anybody done this? Just curious My grandmother used to do this back in the 50s and 60s but she never taught me how, I never had a reason to on my own anyway with the red rangers and Cornish crosses that are out now but still curious on how it works and turns out lol

 

[newduckie]

We are going to put birds up for 24 hours tomorrow with no food or water and plan on caponizing Saturday. 24 hours just seems like way to long for them to be without water. Is that what everyone does?

 

[cluckmecoop7]

24 hours without water?

 

[Folly's place]

So dehydrated before surgery?
Mary