Caponizing

[deerman]

20 week for a bigger and taster bird......you could do them at 4 or 5 week, but when, not if you lose a few ,at 6 weeks you can still eat the quail size .

plus some people may like eating old rooster NOT me....a capon nothing like a rooster . male after 20 weeks that are not capon will have a different taste, tough.

think after caponizing chicks have little set back, but will past their brothers that are not capon .


you could butcher at age of 12 week for smaller birds...but 25 weeks is about their peak.

let us know how it goes...and if you get good at you made want to do few cornish rock males...they would dress out like small turkey at 20 week.....maybe 10 lbs

 

[Minniechickmama]

I am not sure I would want to take them up to that size. We like our meat here, but I cook up a 5-6 pound CRX and we get tired of it before it is gone. I need to find more recipes to jazz things up with chicken.

I know what you mean about the taste of a bird that gets too old. I had to butcher several extra males this last fall and you can tell the difference in the texture and taste, and it isn't always for the better. I like the flavor of the CRX, but I don't like raising them because they are on the freakish side in my opinion. I am going to have quite a few extra boys as hatching as many as I am this year is going to prove. I know that I can pick out some with flaws early on and I need to do something to make them worth feeding. I figured this way I can get better tasting birds and maybe offer some to my friends and neighbors as well.

I have been reading a lot about it being banned to caponize birds, but I sure as heck don't understand why? It isn't banned for castrating sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, etc. Why wouldn't it be okay to do chickens? That is crazy.

Thanks for you help with this. I am really looking forward to trying this out. I have chicks in the brooder already and more hatching today/tonight/tomorrow. I am putting close to 50 in each week and the numbers are going up. You KNOW I am going to have plenty to work with. I figure I can at least do the crossbreed males I will have as I am putting all my green eggs in to hatch for Easter Egger pullets.

Take care and I WILL post my progress with my new endeavor.
-Minnie

 

[deerman]

depend on your breed ,my guess you would get about the same weight 12 week capon or 8 week old cxr , taste about the same.

the area that have banned it maybe because you need to cut open the body cavity .

with those kinds of hatching think you will like capon

 

[newduckie]

I am very fascinated with this concept. When I was a little girl, my grandpa did this and I remember them as big birds. I am sure some is due to the fact that I was small. I do remember he used them as Broody " hens" . He always swore they could hatch more babies because of their size and they are really good mamas. Good memories. I never watched him do it but I remember he always had a pot of boiling water at the ready for the ones that he missed on..

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

there are some great threads on here from last year about it. do some searches a few people kept some really detailed diaries, they were very interesting and informative. good luck!

 

[Minniechickmama]

Thanks, Katy.
Getting ready to try the first one this weekend.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

good luck! something I really want to try, but just don't have the time yet.

 

[ChickenJerk]

To save lots of money on this project take the scalpel in the caponizing kit and slit the throats of the males as soon as you can determine the sex. Then take the money and buy roasting chickens at the store.

 

[Minniechickmama]

That would defeat the purpose of raising food that I know where it comes from and how it is raised, and that I can reproduce myself.
Thanks for the advice, caponizing obviously isn't for you chickenjerk.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

wow that guy is aptly named.