GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[Ken Cook]

Ok, I just made my 1st attempt. I had a 50% sucess rate. I had two survive out of four. The 1st one I lost was cut too close to the back bone and quickly blead out. The other, I just couldn't find the testie and it started bleading after a lot of probing. I think the cut was to far back on that one as well. I caponized both after they blead out for more practice.

I cleaned the two unlucky ones and I'm going to make lunch with them, so nothing goes to waste here.

I have 10-15 to do in about 3 weeks and I think I'll do much better.

There is no way I could have done it without this thread.I want to thank Kassaundra for the photos.

 

[Kassaundra]

Ok, I just made my 1st attempt. I had a 50% sucess rate. I had two survive out of four. The 1st one I lost was cut too close to the back bone and quickly blead out. The other, I just couldn't find the testie and it started bleading after a lot of probing. I think the cut was to far back on that one as well. I caponized both after they blead out for more practice.

I cleaned the two unlucky ones and I'm going to make lunch with them, so nothing goes to waste here.

I have 10-15 to do in about 3 weeks and I think I'll do much better.

There is no way I could have done it without this thread.I want to thank Kassaundra for the photos.

Your welcome

 

[triplepurpose]

I realize this thread is old now, but I just stumbled upon it today. Awesome, Kassaundra, thank you for posting these pics and the detailed descriptions.

 

[missnu01]

Does anyone know the legal ramifications from doing this procedure? It is clearly a surgical procedure done by someone without a medical license which I thought was a felony.

Just to clarify, I have no problem with it being done, I have never done it, and would consider doing so if I had someone to show me how but I would be concerned with the legal aspect.

None of that counts when you are talking about livestock, simply because they are only living to one day be killed and cut apart for food.

 

[bhaus]

I'm getting my supplies together for late March. Been reading and planning a long time. Have some chicks ordered for the first of March.

 

[Kassaundra]

I'm getting my supplies together for late March. Been reading and planning a long time. Have some chicks ordered for the first of March.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[elsfieldchickens]

great pictures

 

[Kassaundra]

great pictures

Thanks

 

[Knittycat]

Subscribing! Thanks for the info! It's great!

 

[bhaus]

I lost one of the chicks I picked up this week. So, though it is a few weeks early, I took this as an opportunity to practice.

Result: 4 days is way too early as my tools are ridiculously oversized.
Had this been a live bird, this would have been a slip almost for sure (I removed both testicles from one incision) and most likely a loss.

That said, here is my set up.
I used an old cake pan with a few layers of paper towels.
This was set upon a heating pad to warm the working surface.


Based upon others' discussions here, I assembled my own caponizing tool set.
I chose the 3.5" Gelpi Retractor (eBay for $5 or $6) as I thought they would be sufficient spreaders and would provide more space.
They are very sharp , so I ground down the tips (see right) and rounded them off with a file.


I also made an extractor tool as was shown & demonstrated earlier.


I removed feathers (though the skin is quite fragile). After studying images in this thread and others, I cleared the area and made the incision. I did use Isopropyl alcohol to wet the feathers and area first. This also may help make blood vessels more visible in live birds, as previously mentioned.

Below is the incision with spreader. The spine/back of chick is at the bottom of picture.
The testicle is at the bottom of the incision adjacent to the muscle/red tissue.
To the right is a close up of same image. I was able to find the other (right) testicle after rupturing the dividing membrane, but it was difficult to find and harder to remove. Tools were just huge relative to body cavity.



This shows just how tiny these organs are at 4 days - like a small grain of rice.



This was my first attempt with caponizing - and I found it incredibly valuable to practice and learn on a sacrificed/lost bird first. I was pleased that the incision inside the last rib opened right to the left testicle, though it was closer to the spine than I even expected. Once located it was fairly easy to remove with the extractor
.
I will probably proceed with my other four birds at 3 weeks of age. I think the extra size will be a dramatic improvement. Though contending with actually movement will be something new.

Definitely want to thank Kassaundra and the other posters for the discussions and suggestions.