GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[Deerfield Acres]

It came in! Thus far I like it. Easily adjusts for comfort, tilting lamp is easy to move while on, two different ways to charge, and super bright.

I will put it to use Wed if everything goes as planned (note to self: Call sitter.).

Oh that's great! I'll go ahead and roll the dice and order. Good luck!

So, I'm still wondering what the bungee cords are attached to? You stretch the bird with the hair bands and the bungee cords but how and what are the bungees attached to? The table? Each other under the thing the bird lays on?

 

[Kusanar]

Oh that's great! I'll go ahead and roll the dice and order. Good luck!

So, I'm still wondering what the bungee cords are attached to? You stretch the bird with the hair bands and the bungee cords but how and what are the bungees attached to? The table? Each other under the thing the bird lays on?

Earlier in the thread she showed the back of the table, she has several little hooks on the back for hooking the bungee cords to.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Earlier in the thread she showed the back of the table, she has several little hooks on the back for hooking the bungee cords to.

Okay, got it -- thanks a bunch. Speed reading strikes again!

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Crap my message from yesterday didn't post........

Update: Performed the precedure on 3 boys yesterday.

@dfr1973 and @Deerfield Acres I highly recommend this headlamp. It adjusted easily while on, has an adjustment for the light to bring it in and expand it, and the cloth band comfortable. My only issue was that the light pack got fairly hot, next time I think I will wear a bandana under it.

All went well, I am becoming more confident at knowing where to cut, although I had to stop and reajust the streatch on one guy. The last one I did had one huge testes for 9 weeks, almost peanut sized

. Well when I went to grasp it, it busted (I've told the story to a couple of my husbands freinds just to watch their faces BAHAHA I'm so cruel!

) I think I got all of the tissue. We'll just have to wait and see on that guy.
Can anyone tell me what I should look for to determine a slip? I understand he may crow but will they have normal comb development?

Checked on the fellows this morning. They are active and eating and drinking well. The Maybe Slip has a slight windpuff I'll take care of in a bit. I am pretty pleased with how they are doing.

One final note; Why does no one warn of the effect of caponizing on the back? Ouch!

 

[dfr1973]

One final note; Why does no one warn of the effect of caponizing on the back? Ouch!

I thought it was just me. I have a bad back to begin with, and that has delayed my attempts this week again. I did get "Puffy" slaughtered today ... in fact I just posted about it on my blog before checking email and seeing the mention on this thread. (BTW: how do y'all get that to work?)

Chicken trivia: when the cockerel is old/developed enough to start kazooing, each of his testes is about the same size as his heart. After a week and a half of kazooing, each teste (or remaining teste, in Puffy's case) is larger than the heart. Considering their hearts are 4-5 times larger than their brains ... cockerel behavior now makes much more sense to me.

Oh, Puffy's teste popped open like a zit when I tried to remove it, even though I was using the large spreader. This was after I *thought* I had it detached using the string.

I am going to use the rest of the larger cockerels as pre-deceased practice.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Tarabellabirds,

You are cruel, indeed! Something I would do.

Sorry I'm so slow to see this -- I've been out scratching in the dirt with the hens for several days. Finally at the end of a grow-bed, watering system project. I'll take pics when we get them all filled and planted for CK. Lots of work but enjoyable.

It sounds to me like your caponizing venture went really, really, well. One slip, but hopefully you actually got all of it out. I'm not sure how you tell for sure if you actually have one. But having processed lots of birds I had noticed those things really vary in size from bird to bird, and I mean there is a huge variance! Who knew? Glad to hear the light worked out so well. (dfr1973 too...)Who knew they would be so fragile too? That's a little nerve-wracking. I have 50 of them to do around the end of this month, beginning of next. I will probably do them in groups of 10. It will be nice to have the experience behind me.

DH or one of my boys is going to try to build me something with a very strong light I already have that I can swivel into position without wearing a light on my head. We'll see how that works. I really think I'd just prefer the head gear but whatever.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

@Deerfield Acres The only issue I see with a regular lamp is not being able to angle it when you are inside the bird. It helps to be able to tilt your head and have the light move with you.

Yes the testes are extremely fragile, more so as they get older.

My boys are doing great. I took care of Maybe's windpuff and moved them all out with the others yesterday. They are healing up beautifully and no issues, just a wait and see if Maybe crows!

On another note, my second capon is looking ready to butcher but since he pals around with capon #1 (kids named him Frosting and love him.) I hate to seperate them. I have of yet to taste capon meat LOL!

 

[Kassaundra]

If using the elastic / hair bands to restrain they are attached to the table edge using a simple clamp.

Like this about $3 at Lowes.

 

[Neuport]

I thought I would share my experience.

We started raising chickens this spring at my 9 y/o daughter's request.

We bought 2-3 each of 4 different varieties. I suspected one was a cockerel and in my reading came across caponization. It intrigued me since I worked on a ranch when I was younger and have been developing medical devices for nearly 30 years. I read the first thread and immediately thought of a better way (a tissue snare which is common in my work), drew up sketches and ordered materials for a prototype. I then read several of the old books on the subject and this thread and realized it had already been done several times. My only contribution was making it the right size, with proper medical device materials for function and durability, and keeping the cost relatively low.

Saturday, little Nacho (now named Nada) went under the knife and this is what we extracted.



The black one came from the left side and the yellow from the right. The first incision was on the left side and a little low and too far posterior. After opening the cavity, I immediately saw the right yellow testicle. When I realized I was seeing the other side I shifted my position and it slipped out of view. It took me a minute to find the left one. I was looking for yellow. Eventually I realized that it was right in front of me but black. I was worried it was something else; gall bladder, kidney, I didn't know. Eventually I decided it had to be it and it came out easily. I turned the bird over and did the other side much more quickly. To be sure of the black one, I dissected both under the microscope. They were identical except for color. I knew the literature had said they could be yellow, white, gray, black, etc. But I expected it would vary by bird/breed not by side of the same bird! Has anyone else experienced this?



Here is the instrument set I put together. The bottom row is the essentials. I use a scalpel with a #15 blade (not shown) because of their small size and sharp point. The spreader needs some work. I modified it a little before the surgery and plan to do some more before the next surgery. The pick worked fine for tearing the membrane. The snare was perfect. It is made of telescoping stainless steel tubing. The balls are fixed to the tubes and facilitate easy gripping and pulling the inner tube to collapse the loop. The loop is nitinol wire. I used the superelastic form which means that it can be deformed many times and always snaps back to it's original shape.

The top row are nice to have. The forceps are there as a general purpose instrument and are used along with the needle driver for suturing if needed. I had not planned to do any suturing but I had a 3-0 silk suture nearby just in case. I was glad I did. Since my first incision was misplaced a bit and both it and the second incision ended up larger than they should have been I ended up suturing the skin on both sides. The scissors were used for cutting suture and these particular ones are designed for suture removal later if needed. I actually used a set of Mayo scissors that I had and I had several other instruments nearby if I needed them. Afterward, I selected those in the photo as what I consider a good complete set.


Below is a closer picture of my snare with it pulled apart for cleaning. If there is any interest in these, or a complete set of instruments, I would consider building snares and putting together sets for resale at a reasonable price. Also, if anyone has a particular rib spreader that they think is superior for this application, I would be interested in your thoughts since the one I used was only fair. I am also interested in other instruments you think I should have in my set for my use or for a commercial set.


Finally, I also boiled down everything that I read into a single sheet to post on the wall for my reference. If there is interest, I might redraw the figures and make a nice wall chart of it.

 

[Kassaundra]

Glad your procedure went well and your daughter's pet is now safely a pet. I have seen all color combo's of testes never seen an actual pattern to how they are colored, right, left side are equally likely to be a different color, some testies themselves are half and half.

Your snare looks great.

The retractor you used I have used and a few others, this is the one I think is best