Capons

[welderskelter]

Anybody doing caponizing on here? I like to incubate but dont like thrownig away roosters. I will probably have to learn how.

 

[Tex452]

Anybody doing caponizing on here? I like to incubate but dont like thrownig away roosters. I will probably have to learn how.

I don’t, but would love to learn how.
Capons used to be a thing, our county fair even had a capon show category, my brother showed them.
They grow so fast and get really big.
I bet it would work really good with dual purpose heritage cockerel’s.

 

[CoopBoots]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ss-a-complete-story.77575/#ams-comment-523210

This is a super informative article on the topic. Great pictures, description of the process, advice on medical care. I don't have any personal experience but if I wanted to try, I'd start here and then try to find full videos of someone experienced performing the procedure.

 

[Tex452]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ss-a-complete-story.77575/#ams-comment-523210

This is a super informative article on the topic. Great pictures, description of the process, advice on medical care. I don't have any personal experience but if I wanted to try, I'd start here and then try to find full videos of someone experienced performing the procedure.

I wouldn’t mind paying someone to do it for me, just finding someone that knows how is the problem.

 

[1Drumstickplz]

Anybody doing caponizing on here? I like to incubate but dont like thrownig away roosters. I will probably have to learn how.

My 91 year old daddy did that w his family back on there farm . We talked about it a bit but he said it’s been so long he couldn’t . It’s almost a lost skill. Amish folks may know they have incredible farming and stock capabilities

 

[FunClucks]

If you hunt on here, you can find some good threads on the process and maybe an Article or two. I read about it ages ago, and what I remember is you have to have the right tools, perform the surgery between 3-5 wks of age, and you may loose a few birds before you get it right. If you've got the stomach for it, go for it. There are various schools of thought on whether it's ethical, etc., which I will not comment on, as I feel that's an individual decision. If you don't caponize, you can process a heritage type bird anywhere from 12-16 weeks and have it still be tender most of the time, depending on the breed, bird, and how you raise it. If you do caponize successfully, they can grow for a year or so, and you just process as needed. It keeps the meat tender for longer without restricting your cooking methods as much. Also they don't do cockerel things, so it's a more peaceful flock experience. An experienced caponizer can do the surgery in moments, is my understanding, and they generally heal quickly. You also have to reliably tell who is male around 3-5 wks of age, any older is more stressful for the bird, and the surgery is less likely to be successful.

Never done it myself, but was very interested at one point, so I did a lot of research.

Good luck!

 

[Tex452]

If you hunt on here, you can find some good threads on the process and maybe an Article or two. I read about it ages ago, and what I remember is you have to have the right tools, perform the surgery between 3-5 wks of age, and you may loose a few birds before you get it right. If you've got the stomach for it, go for it. There are various schools of thought on whether it's ethical, etc., which I will not comment on, as I feel that's an individual decision. If you don't caponize, you can process a heritage type bird anywhere from 12-16 weeks and have it still be tender most of the time, depending on the breed, bird, and how you raise it. If you do caponize successfully, they can grow for a year or so, and you just process as needed. It keeps the meat tender for longer without restricting your cooking methods as much. Also they don't do cockerel things, so it's a more peaceful flock experience. An experienced caponizer can do the surgery in moments, is my understanding, and they generally heal quickly. You also have to reliably tell who is male around 3-5 wks of age, any older is more stressful for the bird, and the surgery is less likely to be successful.

Never done it myself, but was very interested at one point, so I did a lot of research.

Good luck!

When my brother showed them in county fair, the ag teacher came out and done it , I got to watch him, he did lose one bird, they had air sacks on the side and we had to pop them daily with a needle, it didn’t seem to bother the birds, they grow like crazy, but I don’t remember eating them but I know that we did, that was back in the early 70’s.

 

[Folly's place]

Abdominal surgery without anesthesia? Not a fan!!!
Mary

 

[FunClucks]

Abdominal surgery without anesthesia? Not a fan!!!
Mary

They definitely feel it. One of the reasons I haven't moved forward with actually performing this myself.

Doing it without anesthesia is actually safer for the bird - they have better survivability without anesthesia (due to difficulties in getting the dose correct and in administering it properly to a small chick). But I would imagine it's extremely painful.

 

[iwltfum]

Unfortunately it makes absolutely no sense economically when you add "anesthesia" or even pain relief into the equation.