- Jul 28, 2011
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I've found the best way to learn about caponizing is to use Google Books and read the literature from the early 1900's, which is largely in the public domain. A couple authors of interest are George Pilling, S. K. Burdin, and George Beouy.
It was done in ancient Rome and in China and was done a lot in medieval and renaissance Europe. There weren't any CornishX then! It is still practiced and accepted in France, where the capons (chapon) are often raised free-range using traditional methods. http://www.chaponnage.fr/Chaponnage.html
It's pretty rare in the US these days and the gourmet market has recently lost Wapsie Produce in Iowa, which used to the biggest commercial capon producer in the US. (business closed and processing plant was torn down last month). I'll post the links if anyone's interested.
The biggest risk to the bird is cutting the artery that lies "back" of the testicle. The sensation of pain in chickens is different than in mammals. One of the old-timers noted that a chicken freaks out when she's just being picked up to be moved to the henhouse or whatever but that a cockerel shows no response when the peritoneum (membrane covering intestines) is cut.
It's less rough on the bird when the person doing it is experienced. The old-time authors presented it as a trade-off of argumentative, scrapping roo's (with tough meat) vs. quiet capons with good meat. I've never eaten a capon, but on-the-hoof they are really sweet chickens that like to just hang out and enjoy the sunshine (before it gets %^&* hot).
I guarantee there's a learning curve!! This is like PoSc 305 (where PoultryScience 101 is raising chicks and collecting eggs and keeping raccoons out and PoSc 205 might be where chicken math hits and you're building a 2nd coop and some meatie pens).
It's _certainly_ NOT like brooding baby chicks where you can bring some little cuties home, keep 'em warm and fed and watered and they will probably survive if you take care of them _at all_ and listen to their peeping to see if they're hot or cold...... Nevertheless, a lot of ppl have problems even just rearing little fuzzies.....if someone can't take care of chicks they have no business trying this.
The problem is when so many of the little cuties develop little combs, macho stances, and that tell-tale roo stinkeye around 8-9 weeks......
The revival of traditional breeds that put on flesh more slowly than CornishX but range and survive better has brought this issue to the forefront.
In the old days in the big chicken-raising areas around Philadelphia and New York, good fast caponizers with low mortality rates would visit farms for a modest fee during late spring and summer. The farmers would get high prices for the capons during the holiday season.
The 1900-era literature I've seen indicates that capons will possibly brood chicks, but NOT eggs. Some of the sources recoommended waiting until the chicks were 2 weeks old before giving them to the capon. Once again, Google Books is your friend.....
It was done in ancient Rome and in China and was done a lot in medieval and renaissance Europe. There weren't any CornishX then! It is still practiced and accepted in France, where the capons (chapon) are often raised free-range using traditional methods. http://www.chaponnage.fr/Chaponnage.html
It's pretty rare in the US these days and the gourmet market has recently lost Wapsie Produce in Iowa, which used to the biggest commercial capon producer in the US. (business closed and processing plant was torn down last month). I'll post the links if anyone's interested.
The biggest risk to the bird is cutting the artery that lies "back" of the testicle. The sensation of pain in chickens is different than in mammals. One of the old-timers noted that a chicken freaks out when she's just being picked up to be moved to the henhouse or whatever but that a cockerel shows no response when the peritoneum (membrane covering intestines) is cut.
It's less rough on the bird when the person doing it is experienced. The old-time authors presented it as a trade-off of argumentative, scrapping roo's (with tough meat) vs. quiet capons with good meat. I've never eaten a capon, but on-the-hoof they are really sweet chickens that like to just hang out and enjoy the sunshine (before it gets %^&* hot).
I guarantee there's a learning curve!! This is like PoSc 305 (where PoultryScience 101 is raising chicks and collecting eggs and keeping raccoons out and PoSc 205 might be where chicken math hits and you're building a 2nd coop and some meatie pens).
It's _certainly_ NOT like brooding baby chicks where you can bring some little cuties home, keep 'em warm and fed and watered and they will probably survive if you take care of them _at all_ and listen to their peeping to see if they're hot or cold...... Nevertheless, a lot of ppl have problems even just rearing little fuzzies.....if someone can't take care of chicks they have no business trying this.
The problem is when so many of the little cuties develop little combs, macho stances, and that tell-tale roo stinkeye around 8-9 weeks......
The revival of traditional breeds that put on flesh more slowly than CornishX but range and survive better has brought this issue to the forefront.
In the old days in the big chicken-raising areas around Philadelphia and New York, good fast caponizers with low mortality rates would visit farms for a modest fee during late spring and summer. The farmers would get high prices for the capons during the holiday season.
The 1900-era literature I've seen indicates that capons will possibly brood chicks, but NOT eggs. Some of the sources recoommended waiting until the chicks were 2 weeks old before giving them to the capon. Once again, Google Books is your friend.....
