GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[OldChurchEggery1]

Give me a holler if you need a mentor, I'm in Louisa.

Wow, thanks for the offer! It might be a while yet (I'm due to have a baby in a few weeks and that'll put a damper on travel plans) but I will definitely keep you in mind.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Wow, thanks for the offer! It might be a while yet (I'm due to have a baby in a few weeks and that'll put a damper on travel plans) but I will definitely keep you in mind.

Congratulations on the impending new addition to your family.

 

[bbsnooks]

Quote: How wonderful to have some one close.. and offer to help.
I looked and looked .. some had heard of it but fortunately I found Cora and Kass on this thread.. just in time. I would have had to sell <or some thing.> the bulk of my Roos due to the health of my hens.. and my sanity.
Once pretty feathers.. they are looking not quite as bad as that one black chicken picture that looks as if its been thru a tornado.. bald on the head - back feathers striped to the down.. - and my Salmon Fav.. is bare to the skin and torn.
I think i learned a lot.. real fast.. about having too many "intact" roosters.
Thanks Cora & Kass for all you've done..

I think it was invaluable to have the "Hands on " training..
If i remember ..< correct me if wrong> Cora/aka Poco was self taught.. Im just amazed at that. you ROCK !!!

Sheesh, I was hoping if their combs lost the red that'd mean they weren't slips. They might start comb growth then later?? Yikes.
I wonder what the percentage is of slips, anyone know?
No, I don't eat mine :-/ Just feed them

Ksane.. good point on the color... I wonder if the Comb color and form tell more about the health of the bird. < any input here?>
I've noticed some of mine that are "leaner's" post op..
-One non capon that got stuck under a board while i was away.. is in the coop with the others.. and his has darkened and leans to the side.
? other ?'s about the comb.. on capons.. Just curious if they have matured <mine are only 5 months.. > but have developed larger combs and sprouting tails - before capon procedure..

?- do the combs stay the same size or shrink.. - ?

?? do the feathers change after a molt??

 

[BCMaraniac]

How wonderful to have some one close.. and offer to help.
I looked and looked .. some had heard of it but fortunately I found Cora and Kass on this thread.. just in time. I would have had to sell <or some thing.> the bulk of my Roos due to the health of my hens.. and my sanity.
Once pretty feathers.. they are looking not quite as bad as that one black chicken picture that looks as if its been thru a tornado.. bald on the head - back feathers striped to the down.. - and my Salmon Fav.. is bare to the skin and torn.
I think i learned a lot.. real fast.. about having too many "intact" roosters.
Thanks Cora & Kass for all you've done..

I think it was invaluable to have the "Hands on " training..
If i remember ..< correct me if wrong> Cora/aka Poco was self taught.. Im just amazed at that. you ROCK !!!

Ksane.. good point on the color... I wonder if the Comb color and form tell more about the health of the bird. < any input here?>
I've noticed some of mine that are "leaner's" post op..
-One non capon that got stuck under a board while i was away.. is in the coop with the others.. and his has darkened and leans to the side.
? other ?'s about the comb.. on capons.. Just curious if they have matured <mine are only 5 months.. > but have developed larger combs and sprouting tails - before capon procedure..

?- do the combs stay the same size or shrink.. - ?

?? do the feathers change after a molt??

The comb color is definitely related to being a capon. I had some Bresse roosters that were about 12 weeks old when I caponized. You may or may not know about Bresse, but they get huge combs very early. I caponized them.....just learning then....and their combs shriveled to almost nothing. However, a few weeks later all but one started getting red again. So I butchered them. The one remaining capon is nearly 11 months old and has little pale nubs sticking up from his head. The slips had larger testicles than they did originally. When they regenerate they can do so with a vengeance.

My avatar is a capon and you can see the pale comb, but not clearly. I will try to get some better picture of the ones I have, and I have another one that was pale for many months that is just now starting to get some redness. I will get pics to show you.

 

[bbsnooks]

Up Date.. Caponizing in Kansas..
yesterday. I completed 7 more of the 5 mo. old Roosters.
. I think that puts me to 5@ work shop +23 here at home.
<for those considering this is different that doing on the young.. birds..
due to size of organ and size of hole that organ must come out of>

I lost 1/7 yesterday .. due to trying some thing new..
Problem i was trying to elude is - loosing testicles in abdomen after string cut..
Two of my previous batch.. have a free floater inside.
- adding to that problem is lost time.. while searching for the $#%&$ thing.
Un real that there is so much space to get lost in - along with minimal visibility.

-- so this time it happened again.. 3 times and i finally just stuck my fingers in there.. to feel.
I often found them down near the tail and my solution was to < unrestrain> lift the tail up.. so it would fall back into visual range.
various methods of spoon.. double spoon - spoon & finger - and the grabber were tried to extract testes whole.
however the grabber on this size testicle often tears the organ.
with the smaller/ younger birds.. some come out with the string with the attaching membrane when the string its pulled out - nice & easy.


My trial and ERROR came when i thought i could grab just a little of the membrane near where the thread would cut..
so that post "threading" i would still have a hold of the testes so it wouldn't get lost.
Many times there is some there that i've used in the past to pull them out with.
I tried 3 different places to hold membrane near the attachment site with hemostats.. checking each time with a mini 1.2.3. test pull with the thread to see if any thing is caught that shouldnt be - like intestines-where the string cuts..
- well i thought wrong.. using the hemostats at that location caused a unrecoverable bleed. I suspect ti caused the string to move closer to the major vessels when it was severed.
-- I've now decided its preferable to search with fingers<regardless of sanitation> because the string alone works to sever the gland.

Also.,. Big finding..
I had one boy with 3 testies.. 2 on right side one large one just behind it very small.. .
but i did take photos .. will post them some time soon. dont know how clear they will be.. couldnt get flash to work..
< darn smart camera.. human not so smart to get it to work.>


Lessons I learned..
Trash cans and Laundry baskets can be used for pre and post op.. ( if you dont have another set up..)
6 of mine are in the bathtub on a feed bag.. with food and water this am.. one went in the plastic laundry hamper with big air holes over night due to e his flighty nature. The feed bag.. gives them traction and a place to poop.. and the walls of the tub keep them from getting out.. ( except for the smaller flighty one).

I see that the Roosters or at least one, seems to be picking on the capons.. and that may be why they are staying in the coop.
One of the Marans i'v seen chasing several of the capons. They seem to take refuge in the coop. Today most came out side for Ffeed.. and i still throw some in the coop for the stragglers.

The color of the capons comb's compared to same breed roos have lightened.

I'm Finally able to let the hens out.. - the're still running for cover some times ...
I take them to a "girls only" pen but the make shift nest box is not getting used.
Egg production has sharply dropped. could be various reasons but with most of the "boy's" changed to capons.. Im hoping things get back to normal soon.

I was able to find the camera connecter for computer but had a system stall on old xp laptop.. going to send this now and add photo's later.

 

[Kassaundra]

Sounds very productive, in procedure and in learning.

 

[RogerShoaf]

The comb color is definitely related to being a capon. I had some Bresse roosters that were about 12 weeks old when I caponized. You may or may not know about Bresse, but they get huge combs very early. I caponized them.....just learning then....and their combs shriveled to almost nothing. However, a few weeks later all but one started getting red again. So I butchered them.

At this point could you have gone back for a second bite at the apple?

Seems to me that if the goal was to get a capon, you could have tried, and if you failed your end result would have been the same, but if you succeeded you would have learned something in the process.

 

[Maggiesdad]

At this point could you have gone back for a second bite at the apple?

Seems to me that if the goal was to get a capon, you could have tried, and if you failed your end result would have been the same, but if you succeeded you would have learned something in the process.

From a feed conversion standpoint, you want to do them just once, when they are young. The young ones recover quickly and resume carcass gain sooner. If they are slips, process them when they start showing, there will still be better fat distribution then an uncut male.

 

[RogerShoaf]

From a feed conversion standpoint, you want to do them just once, when they are young. The young ones recover quickly and resume carcass gain sooner. If they are slips, process them when they start showing, there will still be better fat distribution then an uncut male.

I am not talking about feed conversion, I am talking about the decision to recaponize a bird where you know you had a slip 2 weeks after the first failed attempt.

Still a lot of growing potential left in that bird.

 

[BCMaraniac]

At this point could you have gone back for a second bite at the apple?

Seems to me that if the goal was to get a capon, you could have tried, and if you failed your end result would have been the same, but if you succeeded you would have learned something in the process.

I suppose I could have, but in my experience, albeit limited, the slip often has an extremely large testicle that has regenerated, and it is very, very friable. I and others have observed this at slaughter. Also because of the scar tissue which occurs inside the abdomen from the first surgery, the regenerated testicle is sometimes completely stuck up against the back and extremely difficult to get loose, even when eviscerating the bird.. Besides, I don't really have any desire to operate on a larger bird. I just butcher and be done with it. The caponization has allowed the bird to get bigger and it is still more tender than a rooster of the same age.