GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[Shellz]

Well said! You should be proud of how far you have come along. Kudos to you!

 

[Kassaundra]

Today I had 3 w/ wind puffs. It is very straight forward and easy to spot, they get so fat and puffy, they also waddle. Two had puffs on both sides one had wind puff on one side. The fix was just as straight forward as you would think. Sharp scalpel find a spot on the skin that is blood vessel free, and in the puffy zone, take a small cut w/ the scalpel your goal is to just cut barely under the skin, there is a very thin membrane once you puncture that you will see, hear and feel the release of air, instantly. I found that on the chicks w/ the dual wind puffs I had to make a cut on each side. They didn't wince or make a sound, they were much more upset at being held like a baby (to expose the underside and keep them restrained) then the quick cut.

 

[Shellz]

Well done!

 

[Kassaundra]

Here is a pic of one of the puffers, this is earlier, I have deflated him and the others but didn't have a chance to take after pics.

 

[Shellz]

Nice looking bird! I've never seen a naked neck like that before.

 

[Kassaundra]

Nice looking bird! I've never seen a naked neck like that before.

Thanks, I have some pretty unusual looking mutts of NN, EE, houdan, spitzhauben, astralope (sp) and one other I can't think of mixes. I love mixes

 

[Shellz]

Yes, mutts are so interesting! I have 3-5 day old mutts now. I'm too busy to post on mutt club, but have them on the chicks thread.

 

[BCMaraniac]

this has been a pretty popular thread for caponizing. Great info.
I have done quite a few now, and learned a hard lesson last week. I had about 35 set aside to caponize. We started around noon on Wednesday (because I get off early that day) and with a helper it took us about 3 hours set up, clean up and all BUT we lost about 5. Terrible percentage of loss. I have done several hundred by now for myself and friends combined and havent had that high of a mortality rate since the first ones i was learning on. But my brilliant helper figured out what we were doing that caused the problem.

We only cut from one side, their right side and have had great success. We go for the lower testicle first then the closer one. When done under the right conditions its much quicker, less stress on the bird and usually less blood, but I will say it took a lot of patience to learn how to get both from one side.
A few (5 to be exact) cockerels got out of the pen and my kids had to chase them to get them back in. We laughed at the fun they were having, especially when my wife jumped in to help. When caught they would bring it to me and we would strap it down to wait its turn. On my table I have two areas to strap them down so all a helper has to do is take one when im done and replace it with another while i move on to the next patient. A few just seemed to bleed so easy. I didn't even nick the artery, just moved the membrane around it and it would bleed, QUICKLY. later looking back we figured it was the ones that had gotten out, gotten chased and spiked their blood pressure up.
Even though they make look calm they were primed for an explosion. Let me make a huge suggestion: if you have to chase one, set it aside till the end to give it time to calm down. Even if it needs to wait an hour or two. its not worth loosing the chicken.
And for those that are saying "DUH!" yes i know im a little slow on the uptake, but hopefully this will help someone who didn't think about it.

I have really enjoyed reading about caponizing, and the individual experiences of the posters.

I developed interest in this because of all of the extra cockerels I was accumulating, so I read everything I could, and assembled tools. I do not know anyone who does it, so I learned by doing. It has not been without failures. I lost my first bird to a massive bleedout, but it was a very quick demise. I have had some slips, and I have had some bleeding that resulted in stopping altogether. However, I have had success as well.

Thanks for your post about making a single incision on the right side and removing both testicles. On July 4th I was going to caponize, so I decided to go in on the right side first, just in case I could locate the second testicle. With the first two I had to go into the left side as well, but on number 3, after I had identified and partially loosened the right testicle, I did a little careful exploration and found the left testicle and successfully removed it. I was then able to do the same thing to the fourth one. Number 5 began bleeding. I stopped, and closed the wound, and he is doing well. All of the last ones I did were White Giants, and for whatever reason, they seemed to stress more than the others prior. I am planning to caponize 7 more tomorrow, and will be trying an elevator that I made. Hopefully it will help with the process.

 

[Kassaundra]

I have really enjoyed reading about caponizing, and the individual experiences of the posters.

I developed interest in this because of all of the extra cockerels I was accumulating, so I read everything I could, and assembled tools. I do not know anyone who does it, so I learned by doing. It has not been without failures. I lost my first bird to a massive bleedout, but it was a very quick demise. I have had some slips, and I have had some bleeding that resulted in stopping altogether. However, I have had success as well.

Thanks for your post about making a single incision on the right side and removing both testicles. On July 4th I was going to caponize, so I decided to go in on the right side first, just in case I could locate the second testicle. With the first two I had to go into the left side as well, but on number 3, after I had identified and partially loosened the right testicle, I did a little careful exploration and found the left testicle and successfully removed it. I was then able to do the same thing to the fourth one. Number 5 began bleeding. I stopped, and closed the wound, and he is doing well. All of the last ones I did were White Giants, and for whatever reason, they seemed to stress more than the others prior. I am planning to caponize 7 more tomorrow, and will be trying an elevator that I made. Hopefully it will help with the process.

So glad you were able to complete it. And getting them both from the right side is the gold standard, one I have not been able to learn yet, so kudos to you on that too. How old are the birds you are having success with the one sided procedure?




Mine are all still healthy and running around like growing chicks w/o a care in the world. I too know I have some slips, but that will be a good learning time too, I plan on seeing what kind of size difference w/ the same raising standards there is between uncut, slip, and capon. Though the numbers may get skewed some b/c I'm betting the slips and uncut go to freezer camp long before the capons have to.

 

[BCMaraniac]

So glad you were able to complete it. And getting them both from the right side is the gold standard, one I have not been able to learn yet, so kudos to you on that too. How old are the birds you are having success with the one sided procedure?




Mine are all still healthy and running around like growing chicks w/o a care in the world. I too know I have some slips, but that will be a good learning time too, I plan on seeing what kind of size difference w/ the same raising standards there is between uncut, slip, and capon. Though the numbers may get skewed some b/c I'm betting the slips and uncut go to freezer camp long before the capons have to.

The ones I did on the 4th were one day shy of 8 weeks. I didn't caponize today(I forgot and fed them yesterday evening), so I am planning on doing it tomorrow afternoon. Five of them are out of the same hatch, so 8 weeks old. Four of those are White Rocks, and one is a White Giant. I also have two six week old mutts out of my layers from a hatching with one of my Black Copper Marans who went broody for the first time. I chicknapped them from my broody tonight without incident. I am trying the different ages to see what works best.

Going after that second testicle was nerve-wracking. I could see blood coursing through those large vessels, and knew if I got into one of them that it was over.

You mentioned getting both testicles from the right side was the gold standard. When I looked at the pictures at the beginning of this thread, I thought your mentor went in from the left side of the bird and got them both. To me, it seemed that going in from the right side was less awkward, but spotting that left testicle seems to be easier to visualize with the left approach. One thing that I have thought about in terms of which approach would be best for getting both testicles is whether or not a person is right or left-handed.

I know I have slips, as well as intact cockerels, and I, too look forward to seeing the growth difference, but will likely dispatch some of them early as well. One of my first ones, which were blue copper Marans, is already doing the kazoo crow. They were my first attempts, so I know that I performed badly.

I am really hoping that I can get a better grasp on things tomorrow, because I have 4 American Bresse cockerels that I have to caponize. I bought straight run chicks, so I have extra cockerels, but they were pricey, and I don't want to mess them up. Two of them are two weeks older than my mutts, so 8 weeks, and 2 of them are a week younger, so 5 weeks. I am going to have to do them next weekend, because the older ones will be 9 weeks old.

Thanks again for starting this thread. I will update after tomorrow's adventures.