Colorado

[trsturself]

I too add my condolences. I dread the day I lose a loved one.

 

[CoMtnGal]

Hi folks,

Wow, busy spring!

I have some nice turkey poults from Porter's Heritage Turkeys available. Had to order the minimum and I don't need 17! They are Mottled Black (5 available) and Mottled Chocolate (4 available). I'm asking $15 each, firm, which is what I have paid with shipping. I also have some Magpie Ducklings from a breeder Dan Fenner, in Wisconson. Again, I don't need all that were sent. These are very nice, straight run, 2 weeks old, $7 each. Also a few nice Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks - $4 each1-2 weeks old, raised here. Probably best to email me: z blue heron A gmail DOT com. No spaces.

PS. I'm in Loveland, Co. off of Exit 255. I am probably not willing to travel to sell these beautiful birds.

 

[maggiemo]

On a happier note, here are some chicks my broody hatched out of some eggs from Wendell

They are two weeks old today.
5 made it. He gave me mostly eggs from Easter Egg hens and his Dominique rooster. I can't remember what color the hens were, but I am pretty sure a barred rooster is supposed to have all barred chicks. I have some light grey/blue chicks so I don't know what's up with that, maybe I'll get a barred grey bird?. Wendell also gave me a couple of 100% Dominique eggs and I sort of think one of these chicks might be a Dominique. I lost track of what colors the eggs were that the broody rejected and when she hatched them there were just egg shells crushed under her, all mixed up.
Anyway, here they are. I hope one or two are pullets!











I think this one, above here might be a Dominique?

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Wendell- I'm also sorry about your loss. It's never easy to lose one who was your soul mate. But just remember: you two will always be together in each other's hearts, the very thing that brought you together.

 

[Ashdoes]

I've got three Cream Legbar chicks. Two are three days old, and one is three weeks old. All pullets. PM if interested.

 

[Euarto Gullible]

Here's an update on my first attempt at caponization. If caponizing offends you, please stop reading. here.


Success! Under the extremely helpful supervision and assistance of a doctor friend who is used to overseeing medical students (who was intrigued and had never done this before), I attempted caponization on 4 cockerels. 3 Buff Orpingtons (6 weeks), 1 Olive egger (9 weeks).

Bird 1: Started with an unlucky Buff Orpington. Learned that the hook in my caponizing kit was a very dangerous tool and not good for much besides tearing the membrane. Not going to use that. Learned that the incision needed to be higher up toward the back. Success. This bird may be a slip. One of the testes split trying to get it out. Tried to get it all, but...

Bird 2: Olive Egger. It was immediately evident that a 9 week old was way easier than a 6 week old bird. Both of these testes were easy to find and came out intact. There's more room in the cavity to navigate, whereas the smaller birds, everything is tight. I'm pretty confident we got it all. This bird also seemed more resilient to the procedure.

Bird 3: This one escaped from the cage and ate a little bit while being chased down. We started on this one, and encountered a lot of blood, and sealed it back up without attempting caponization since we couldn't see anything. It's eating and drinking, but woozy. I learned that if a bird that has been isolated gets out and exerts itself and eats/drinks anything at all, no matter how little...let it go.

Bird 4: The last bird and the most effective caponization. This one went really well, and I'm almost 100% certain that he will be a capon.

I used an antique veterinary kit. Most of the tools were OK, but the hook was terrible and very sharp and dangerous. I wouldn't recommend putting anything sharp into the incision as that hook can easily puncture intestines and other organs. After doing this and using the blunt side of several different tools, I will buy a surgical spoon to dig around and lift the testes to where you can grab them. We used super glue to seal the incision, and it worked well. We started the procedure in the shade, but later moved into full sun and the natural sunlight was much better than the headlamp to see. I'm pretty sure I would have killed the birds doing it on my own, or at least had all slips (leaving parts intact where the rooster develops anyway). Unless you have a medical or veterinary background, I would definitely recommend doing this under the supervised guidance of somebody else who has done this or had that relevant training. At the very least, practice on dead birds and make sure that you have an assistant to help because having extra hands is really, really helpful, almost essential. I'm pretty sure I would need to caponize another 100 birds before I felt confident enough to get both testes from one side. That's a whole different level of difficulty.
I won't post photos because I don't want to offend anybody, but if you're interested in seeing them you can IM me.
All 4 birds are alive and eating and drinking, and walking around in their little shady chicken ICU. I will likely try again in a week or so when I have the surgical spoon.

 

[trsturself]

Here's an update on my first attempt at caponization. If caponizing offends you, please stop reading. here.


Success! Under the extremely helpful supervision and assistance of a doctor friend who is used to overseeing medical students (who was intrigued and had never done this before), I attempted caponization on 4 cockerels. 3 Buff Orpingtons (6 weeks), 1 Olive egger (9 weeks).

Bird 1: Started with an unlucky Buff Orpington. Learned that the hook in my caponizing kit was a very dangerous tool and not good for much besides tearing the membrane. Not going to use that. Learned that the incision needed to be higher up toward the back. Success. This bird may be a slip. One of the testes split trying to get it out. Tried to get it all, but...

Bird 2: Olive Egger. It was immediately evident that a 9 week old was way easier than a 6 week old bird. Both of these testes were easy to find and came out intact. There's more room in the cavity to navigate, whereas the smaller birds, everything is tight. I'm pretty confident we got it all. This bird also seemed more resilient to the procedure.

Bird 3: This one escaped from the cage and ate a little bit while being chased down. We started on this one, and encountered a lot of blood, and sealed it back up without attempting caponization since we couldn't see anything. It's eating and drinking, but woozy. I learned that if a bird that has been isolated gets out and exerts itself and eats/drinks anything at all, no matter how little...let it go.

Bird 4: The last bird and the most effective caponization. This one went really well, and I'm almost 100% certain that he will be a capon.

I used an antique veterinary kit. Most of the tools were OK, but the hook was terrible and very sharp and dangerous. I wouldn't recommend putting anything sharp into the incision as that hook can easily puncture intestines and other organs. After doing this and using the blunt side of several different tools, I will buy a surgical spoon to dig around and lift the testes to where you can grab them. We used super glue to seal the incision, and it worked well. We started the procedure in the shade, but later moved into full sun and the natural sunlight was much better than the headlamp to see. I'm pretty sure I would have killed the birds doing it on my own, or at least had all slips (leaving parts intact where the rooster develops anyway). Unless you have a medical or veterinary background, I would definitely recommend doing this under the supervised guidance of somebody else who has done this or had that relevant training. At the very least, practice on dead birds and make sure that you have an assistant to help because having extra hands is really, really helpful, almost essential. I'm pretty sure I would need to caponize another 100 birds before I felt confident enough to get both testes from one side. That's a whole different level of difficulty.
I won't post photos because I don't want to offend anybody, but if you're interested in seeing them you can IM me.
All 4 birds are alive and eating and drinking, and walking around in their little shady chicken ICU. I will likely try again in a week or so when I have the surgical spoon.

Thanks for the update! I've read some other threads on it and seen pics but it's nothing like getting your hands in there and doing it yourself. Like I said, you are going to have to lead a class after a little more practice. I won't have any for awhile (my breeders are only a few months old) but I think this would be a neat thing to have a skill of.

I like this old Sears instructions on caponizing. http://www.afn.org/~poultry/capon.htm

 

[Euarto Gullible]

Thanks for the update! I've read some other threads on it and seen pics but it's nothing like getting your hands in there and doing it yourself. Like I said, you are going to have to lead a class after a little more practice. I won't have any for awhile (my breeders are only a few months old) but I think this would be a neat thing to have a skill of.

I like this old Sears instructions on caponizing. http://www.afn.org/~poultry/capon.htm

I wonder what the "elevator instrument" is (patent pending)? That was what I felt I needed, was something like that. My friend, who is an OBGYN, said I should look into getting a gyn curet. I looked up that instrument and it looks the exact same. Interesting, huh?
I'm going to caponize more next week with a friend, now that I feel more confident. I like my birds, and while butchering them deliberately doesn't bother me, killing them on accident does. Like a lot of things, it doesn't matter how many videos you watch, the first time you do it, you're going to be awkward, and the deficiencies of your caponizing tools will become immediately evident. I would most definitely help other people learn this, once I become competent at it. You know, eating my extra cockerels has been a labor of love. Some are really good, but most of them are tough and don't have a lot of meat. I feel guilty longing for a tender grocery store broiler chicken with every bite. I like my roosters, and I want eating them to be an outstanding culinary experience, so that their lives are celebrated properly, instead of being an unpleasant chore.

 

[mes]

I have an approximately four week old buff-laced brahma cockerel in N. Colorado available. PM for more information please

 

[Ashdoes]

What do I buy to dust the chickens for bugs? Preferable something I can get at Big R. I have some new chicks coming and I want to do a total cleaning in the barn and the chickens.