Capon adventure

[Boilerman66]

The first go around was a disaster, the spreader in the kit is absolutely junk and when I tried to modify it to keep it from falling out it snapped like a dried twig and the "spoon" did nothing but cause hemorrhaging and couldn't see anything....long story short the 3 we tried never made it off the table alive and the 4th I left for another day.
Second go around went better. I made my own spreaders from 1/8" SS tig filler wire and used a probe to search around, also used hemostats to loosen and extract the testies.
5 out of 7 came off the table alive and one of them I managed to get both from one side.
First night 1 died, Second night another died, Third night another died...so now I am down to 2 ....given starting with 11 and ending with 2 I feel it was a bad go but practice makes perfect.
I will continue to modify my kit as I got a lot of surgical tools at my disposal as I once worked at a hospital and I would always bring home what they was tossing out.

 

[gabrielle1976]

What on earth are you doing

 

[WalkingWolf1]

He slept at a Holiday Inn Express. Saying a prayer for the birds.

 

[Darin115]

I think I would have quit after killing all of them the first time.

Darin

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I think I would have quit after killing all of them the first time. 

Darin

Me too.

 

[dracoe19]

From what I read it is a complicated thing that takes lots of practice. Usually the first go round isn't successful because you are still learning and it is difficult to do the procedure. I think you did a good job your first round and you are being as careful as you can. Sadly it isn't easy to get testies out of chickens because of where they are placed. Good luck on your next round! I hope you get a higher survival rate next time.

 

[chickmashnoon]

I remember reading about this in Storey's and they talk about twisting out the testicals, then sum up at the end that the bird "may be stresssed afterwards". MAY? OMG! of course the bird is stressed you just held him down, sliced him open with no pain killers, spread his ribs and twisted his testicals out! it's a wonder any survived! But they have created capons since the middle ages? i'm pretty sure. And they are supposed to be very tasty. Not sure I have the balls to remove balls, if ya know what I mean, but everything I have read does warn that it takes a bit of practice and to expect quite a few losses in the begining.

What kind of chicken are you trying to capon? I wonder if different breeds are easier to operate on and/or survive the stress better than others.

 

[Boilerman66]

I think I would have quit after killing all of them the first time.

Darin

Well some would, I am no quitter and when I set my mind to it I will pervail. I have my mind set on learning this craft.

 

[Boilerman66]

I remember reading about this in Storey's and they talk about twisting out the testicals, then sum up at the end that the bird "may be stresssed afterwards". MAY? OMG! of course the bird is stressed you just held him down, sliced him open with no pain killers, spread his ribs and twisted his testicals out! it's a wonder any survived! But they have created capons since the middle ages? i'm pretty sure. And they are supposed to be very tasty. Not sure I have the balls to remove balls, if ya know what I mean, but everything I have read does warn that it takes a bit of practice and to expect quite a few losses in the begining.

What kind of chicken are you trying to capon? I wonder if different breeds are easier to operate on and/or survive the stress better than others.

These where 6 week old Leg horns...I know it isn't the usual breed but it is what I had to work with.

 

[Boilerman66]

From what I read it is a complicated thing that takes lots of practice. Usually the first go round isn't successful because you are still learning and it is difficult to do the procedure. I think you did a good job your first round and you are being as careful as you can. Sadly it isn't easy to get testies out of chickens because of where they are placed. Good luck on your next round! I hope you get a higher survival rate next time.

Thank you. It is not as easy as you see in videos and the testies are like glued in tight. I will learn how to do this!