caponing?

[ddtseggs]

does anyone capon there cockrels?

 

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

I caponize, but am still learning. I've done about 30 so far.

 

[Big George]

Wow 30, what is your success rate? I've wanted to do this for some time. How old and large have yours become and are you happy with the meat? Type of bird used? I'm in Indy also. Thanks

 

[HidingInTheHenHouse]

Just started doing it this summer, so haven't had much time to compare growth rates, tastes, etc. Success rate looks to be about 50%, including ones killed during the surgery, ones that died later, and probably slips. Sounds awful, I know, but the learning curve is pretty steep for me. You learn something new everytime you do the surgery.

I've done just about every type of bird. I ordered an assortment of roosters, so have one or two of lots of different kinds, as well as mutts I hatched out myself.

Some types seem to do better with the surgery than others. The smaller the bird, the harder time it has.

 

[wisdom_seeker]

Quote:
Ditto on the learn something new each time!

I tried to caponize another 20 "roosters" last Saturday!
As it turned out only 12 of them turned out to be actual roosters! The other 8 are hens that are white feathered "red sex link hens"
I started a new thread on this topic alone.

I will now look at the combs of the birds as the window to see what is happening inside the bird. With my last "production" run with capons it looks like I have about 3 slips to deal with. They have larger and brighter combs than the rest and I think I have heard a sad crow.

 

[Winsor Woods]

When you talk about "slips" do you mean slips with a scalpel, like you cut something you didn't want to? Or does it mean something different? Just curious.

Dan

 

[wisdom_seeker]

Quote:
A slip is not quite a capon. it has just enough testicle material left to still produce hormones but not enough left to produce offspring. Not good.

 

[Winsor Woods]

Quote:
A slip is not quite a capon. it has just enough testicle material left to still produce hormones but not enough left to produce offspring. Not good.

I'm glad I asked. I would have never thought of that. It doesn't sound good. Like the worst of both worlds.

Dan