Caponizing questions - not for meat bird

[aart]

I know accidental roosters are a thing that happens a lot.

Typical male to female ratio with hatching is ~50-50.

 

[Nicky S]

Financial I think plays a big part. We have some pet chickens that will never become dinner, they are pampered and spoiled, if they get sick, we do what we can for them, but I wouldn't take them to a vet. Unfortunately for us, they are still farm animals, no matter how much we love them, I cant bring myself to spend $500 on a chicken. Plus, we have no avian vets nearby, so I am looking at an hour plus drive each way to the closest one.

Yes of course, everyone’s situation is different and I totally get that. After my experience I’m not sure I’d recommend a vet trip anyhow…like all professions there is a wide range of abilities! I didn’t end up seeing a specialist in my case - I thought I was, but it turned out it was a regular vet who treats chickens, and I wasn't impressed to be honest.

 

[Nicky S]

Typical male to female ratio with hatching is ~50-50.

We lucked out with our home hatch. But our first run was supposed to be all girls sexed in the hatchery…but only 90% accuracy actually gives you pretty high odds of getting a boy (should have thought about that first too)

 

[3KillerBs]

We lucked out with our home hatch. But our first run was supposed to be all girls sexed in the hatchery…but only 90% accuracy actually gives you pretty high odds of getting a boy (should have thought about that first too)

Unfortunately, unless you buy sexlinks or autosexing breeds you have to plan for what to do with an "oops" cockerel.

In my chick orders so far I've gotten very close to exactly 10% males when ordering sexed pullets.

 

[NatJ]

I think the whole thing is very confusing and I don't get why specialists are so reluctant if regular people with no training are learning relatively quickly.

People doing it with meat birds might be willing to have a few of the first birds die as they learn.

A vet dealing with people's pets is going to have a very unhappy customer if they lose even a single bird.

The people who would be accepting if the cockerel died are not the ones who will pay the vet to do the surgery in the first place.

 

[3KillerBs]

The people who would be accepting if the cockerel died are not the ones who will pay the vet to do the surgery in the first place.

Excellent point.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

Alright, so i just successfully completed 4 birds. 3 were females (YAY) and one male, successfully caponized. I actually wrote it all up as an article to give you detailed notes and go into detail about the tools and why I do it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/caponizing-tools-and-process-a-complete-story.77575/

I think the article is still pending admin approval, but should be available in a bit.

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot of animals are sterilized without anesthetic. They lead healthy active lives immediately getting up. I think this is a case where a human's imagination is making it worse than it is.

If you have ever cut yourself accidentally with a sharp knife, there is surprising little pain. The injury may be sore, but not life threatening for a day or two. People in agriculture take very good care of their animals, because they like them, but also because they are the source of money. They would not participate in a procedure if it caused terrible pain and days of suffering.

It is more like a kid and a bike wreck. Lots of tears, a skinned knee, but with in minutes, clean them up and they are running around just fine. The knee might be tender, but in no way does it interfere with their mobility, eating or even noticing it most of the time.

Good luck,

Mrs K

 

[Nicky S]

Alright, so i just successfully completed 4 birds. 3 were females (YAY) and one male, successfully caponized. I actually wrote it all up as an article to give you detailed notes and go into detail about the tools and why I do it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/caponizing-tools-and-process-a-complete-story.77575/

I think the article is still pending admin approval, but should be available in a bit.

Thanks so much - and congrats on a a successful session!

 

[Nicky S]

A lot of animals are sterilized without anesthetic. They lead healthy active lives immediately getting up. I think this is a case where a human's imagination is making it worse than it is.

If you have ever cut yourself accidentally with a sharp knife, there is surprising little pain. The injury may be sore, but not life threatening for a day or two. People in agriculture take very good care of their animals, because they like them, but also because they are the source of money. They would not participate in a procedure if it caused terrible pain and days of suffering.

It is more like a kid and a bike wreck. Lots of tears, a skinned knee, but with in minutes, clean them up and they are running around just fine. The knee might be tender, but in no way does it interfere with their mobility, eating or even noticing it most of the time.

Good luck,

Mrs K

This is how I’m trying to think of it, but I will say it’s keeping me up in the middle of the night . I keep reminding myself that if one of them got a nasty gash I’d just be concerned about treating it, not if they’d be traumatized by it because they obviously wouldn’t. Of course we can’t know what they are feeling, but I think they are definitely better at dealing with pain than we are. Thank you for your encouragement!