Capons DO crow!

[Sunny Side Up]

I'm sure a lot has to do with the age of the capon, the age at which it was caponized, if there were any bits left behind during the operation, and the individual bird. Perhaps not all capons will crow, but I'm here to tell ya that some of them do. Furthermore, some won't crow but instead make a sound never before heard from any other chicken you've ever known, something like a shrieking yelp, sort of like the sound of nails being pulled from a board. It might make you wish they would crow instead.

I want to share this information, because some folks think that caponization is the solution that will let them keep their roosters in yards where they shouldn't have crowing birds. I think it's just not a guarantee.

I caponized these cockerels in order to make them more meaty when it's time for them to come in for dinner. They were about 8-10 weeks old when I did them, they're around 6 months old now. And just this morning I heard one of them giving a genuine crow, and another one sounding like some rare jungle bird.

 

[CMV]

That's disappointing news. Interesting, though.

 

[vatterpa]

I thought you were supposed to do them earlier than that?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'm sure you can, and I probably will try to do the next batch earlier and see if that makes a difference. But I think the trade-off will be that the younger the cockerel, the more difficult it will be to locate & remove their tiny testicles. These capons I have now have developed secondary sex characteristics, the pointy hackle & saddle feathers, the iridescence, the long tail feathers. It does seem that most of them have smaller combs & wattles than they should, and maybe their feathering isn't as full as an intact rooster's.

There's a new batch of chicks a broody hen has recently hatched, I'm going to try to indentify the cockerels from that clutch as soon as I can, and plan to caponize them earlier. It will be interesting to see if that makes a difference.

But I've heard several people ask if they could caponize a favorite cockerel in order to be able to keep it in a yard where they don't want or can't have crowing chickens. I don't think it would be effective, especially if the bird is already mature enough to be crowing.

 

[Naughty]

I'd crow too - and loudly! if someone cut those off!

 

[columbiacritter]

Even early done capons will occasionally crow and show standard male characteristics. My grandfather regularly caponed his meat birds and he'd still have crowers or shreikers in the bunch. The main reason he did it was it cut way, way down on the fighting while they grew out and of course to add some meat to them.

He could do the deed on a bird as soon as it had most of it's feathers. Usually took him less than 2 minutes per bird, but he'd been doign it since he was in his teens.

 

[dogdollar]

Quote:
You'd just be crowing soprano !!!

DD