I too add my condolences. I dread the day I lose a loved one.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
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