GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[BCMaraniac]

No issue with mixed flock here - the roosters just ignore these guys. The hens will rap them on the head if they get too close when everybody is
picking up treats. Otherwise they are out foraging just like everybody else, they just never get in a hurry.

The Am. White Bresse was delishious!

With no threat of competition and no possibility of sex, why bother with them??

I have an American White Bresse slip in the fridge resting.....I can't wait to try it, but I am sure it won't be as good as the capon. Did you do anything special to finish it out?

Oh, one more thing.....how old was your Bresse when you butchered?

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
Some of my cockerels will mount anything - rocks, buckets, my boots - I don't see why they wouldn't try mounting a capon. The boys don't seem to care if the mountee is willing. Or even alive.

We'll see if I am brave enough to master caponizing over the next few years. Tools are on order. Nerve is not in the catalogs. It may take a while to muster enough to try it on a live bird.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Some of my cockerels will mount anything - rocks, buckets, my boots - I don't see why they wouldn't try mounting a capon. The boys don't seem to care if the mountee is willing. Or even alive.

We'll see if I am brave enough to master caponizing over the next few years. Tools are on order. Nerve is not in the catalogs. It may take a while to muster enough to try it on a live bird.

Roos like that probably would. If I had one of those, I don't think I would keep my capons with it. The beauty of the capon is that it doesn't normally get stressed by anything or anyone, so it just meanders about minding its own business and just forages and focuses on eating and gaining weight, not running about to avoid aggressors. I just have mine all together by themselves, so I don't have to deal with such issues. At my house it would have to be a mighty fine roo to be able to avoid the freezer!

 

[Kassaundra]

Wow, I don't have any roos like that, mine are pretty easy going.



Those wanting to learn caponizing and don't have a mentor close by, if you can find a buddy close who wants to learn, you can do it together, it really helps w/ the nerves of first starting.

 

[Kassaundra]

Wow, I don't have any roos like that, mine are pretty easy going.



Those wanting to learn caponizing and don't have a mentor close by, if you can find a buddy close who wants to learn, you can do it together, it really helps w/ the nerves of first starting.

 

[Maggiesdad]

Another benefit of the capons is the amount of fat these guys have on them, on their rear and around their gizzards. I've been saving and rendering that for my home fries w onions.

Oh My Goodnesss...

Mmmmmmmmm

 

[BCMaraniac]

Another benefit of the capons is the amount of fat these guys have on them, on their rear and around their gizzards. I've been saving and rendering that for my home fries w onions.

Oh My Goodnesss...

Mmmmmmmmm

How old was the Bresse......and did you weigh it?

 

[Maggiesdad]

He hatched Jan 8th. He wasn't as big as his brother, just 4lbs as he slid into the roaster pan. But well proportioned and really tasty.

I will definitely raise them again, but next spring's capons are slated to be EOs and BCMs.

Are you loaded w opinions on how to breed a BCM flock for improvement? I'm just getting my feet wet...

 

[BCMaraniac]

He hatched Jan 8th. He wasn't as big as his brother, just 4lbs as he slid into the roaster pan. But well proportioned and really tasty.

I will definitely raise them again, but next spring's capons are slated to be EOs and BCMs.

Are you loaded w opinions on how to breed a BCM flock for improvement? I'm just getting my feet wet...

I haven't even gotten the socks off of my feet yet.....

My husband loves the BCM eggs, so after I got 4 layers, I got a BCM rooster and two more pullets, a black and a blue. I am more interested in the meat quality than the egg color or even bird color, so that will be a trial and error effort for me. From everything I have read, breeding for egg color can breed down the size of the bird...but I don't know that to be so. I have Americana White Bresse breeding stock as well.....5 pullets and two roosters, and hope to begin breeding next year. I may also see how those two breeds cross as well.

The capons I am growing out now are white DP's and a couple of Am WB, along with mixed breed birds from my layers. Hopefully, after tomorrow, I will have 5 mixed breed poulards as well, since I just got back from putting up 5 pullets. I will be looking for a needle in a haystack tomorrow....well actually a piece of dry spaghetti or a broomstraw...LOL

 

[MagicChicken]

Wow, I don't have any roos like that, mine are pretty easy going.



Those wanting to learn caponizing and don't have a mentor close by, if you can find a buddy close who wants to learn, you can do it together, it really helps w/ the nerves of first starting.

Mine are generally easy going. The ones who will mount anything are actually pretty gentle about it. They're just... desperate for relief. I've eaten the most aggressive ones and the ones most likely to mount my boots. The rest are kinda cute in their desperation And a couple of them will get lucky once I get the breeding pens set up.

These guys take so long to mature I'm going to have to be careful who I caponize. I can caponize the ones with obvious color disqualifications early on. But the chicks I thought were some of the worst when they were younger have turned out to be some of the best now that they're older. It's going to be an interesting decision process when the time comes.

Thanks for starting this thread. It has been an interesting and informative one. I'm working on finding a buddy to learn with me.