GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[Maggiesdad]

You hit it right on the head, Roger. I know chickens and dogs and cats are different but my experience has been years of working for a (very good) vet and helping in surgery. He liked to explain step by step through his surgeries no matter how many years we'd been listening. And he always stressed to get ahold of the vas deferens as far back away from the testicle as possible before severing it. I made a special point of doing that the day we had the caponizing clinic at Poco's house. I bought a cauterizer but I think the area you've got to work with is just so tiny it would be hard to get in there with it and not accidentally cauterize the intestine. However making darn sure you've got the entire testicle and making sure to cut as far back as you can from that (I believe) is the trick to avoiding slips. When you use the straight "grab and pull" technique there's just no way to control making sure you get every piece of that tiny chunk of testicle. It feels like the piece of fat in a can of pork and beans lol
I've got 3 Brahma boys I'm doing today, the 1st ones I'll be doing alone. You've made me feel better though. At least my 1st set 2 months ago was done under the watchful eyes of 2 mentors. You're beyond brave to attempt it alone the 1st time!

Small space has been my experience, too. No room for grabbers, work lighting and cautery tip, too. Some testes are just attached tighter than others, some are easy. Experimenting on cockerels that you are processing anyway, and have already killed, is next best thing to having a mentor. That still doesn't prep you for wriggling patients and pulsing arteries, tho...

 

[Kassaundra]

I agree some testes are easier then others. I have had a run of birds that have connected testes on both sides, so no way to get the string behind to get a good start on the "wire method". That was the problem we ran into the class day I believe most birds testes were connected at both ends so I think most ended up doing the grab and pull. So how about it guys, how many slips did we end up with from the class day?

 

[RogerShoaf]

You're beyond brave to attempt it alone the 1st time!

Actually bravery has little to do with anything. I want to eat good tasting chicken. I wont be doing this alone either. My kid's school teacher and I are going to partner up and see if we can do it.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Actually bravery has little to do with anything. I want to eat good tasting chicken. I wont be doing this alone either. My kid's school teacher and I are going to partner up and see if we can do it.

I taught myself.....I did lose my first bird, however. None since, even though I had slips. Once their combs started getting red, I processed, and I could still roast them. They had much more tender meat than a cockerel of the same age.

 

[Ksane]

Alright, finished the 3 Dark Brahma cockerels 30 min. ago. All 3 are alive and dining on the best tasting chick crumbles they've ever tasted (*they think lol).
I can't believe it but I forgot the MOST important tool!!! The grabber tweezers! I'm so mad at myself. I did NOT get 6 full testicles as you'll see, and that's why. I tried and tried and couldn't get the string around the testicles, I tried on each and every one. They were connected all along the back side of the testicle just like at the Caponizing clinic chicks. If I hadn't forgotten the MAIN tool I honestly don't think I'd have had any slips!!! Because I located the testicles immediately as soon as I pushed the intestine out of the way. I ended up having to grab them with tweezers and wonder why it seemed so much more difficult than at the Caponizing Clinic-DUH!! I took a picture of the tool that you mustn't forget.
Mine are pets, not for processing so I've shut my eyes and just squinted when feeding and cleaning up after these 3 boys since I got them Saturday because I didn't want to get attached, pick a favorite or even be able to tell them apart. Didn't work. I guess I just don't have the gene that enables me to keep tiny furry babies at a distance. So my goal was live chicks, I decided that with the 1st incision. I keep looking into their boxes, I can't believe all 3 of my boys lived!! I've got 20+ roosters here. I was determined these boys weren't going to give their life to avoid 3 more. I was ready to stop at any point.
If you don't get all the testicle pieces are they *always slips? Or is it possible to get enough of the testicles that the rest of it just dies off?
Kass, I've got 4 of the 5 Barred rocks I did on Clinic Day, they're 12 wks or so now and all combs are pale with no comb or wattle growth. The 5th one inadvertently got taken home by someone else or something so don't know about him.
Just a couple pics. The tool is the one you NEED and I flippin' forgot. Feeling pretty stupid right now but having 3 live boys makes it ok.
Oh-I used tissure adhesive and I LOVE it. It's the actual 3M tissue adhesive that vets use, not plain super glue. I held the edges of the incisions together and glued them lightly, blew on it and let go. The one picture is of the incision, you literally can't even see the incisions. I like that. I also stood up and that worked better for me because I could move around. A strong head lamp is a must also. My husband got me a 100 lumens at Walmart and that seemed to work just fine.
Click on the pics for full sized versions-

 

[BCMaraniac]

Alright, finished the 3 Dark Brahma cockerels 30 min. ago. All 3 are alive and dining on the best tasting chick crumbles they've ever tasted (*they think lol).
I can't believe it but I forgot the MOST important tool!!! The grabber tweezers! I'm so mad at myself. I did NOT get 6 full testicles as you'll see, and that's why. I tried and tried and couldn't get the string around the testicles, I tried on each and every one. They were connected all along the back side of the testicle just like at the Caponizing clinic chicks. If I hadn't forgotten the MAIN tool I honestly don't think I'd have had any slips!!! Because I located the testicles immediately as soon as I pushed the intestine out of the way. I ended up having to grab them with tweezers and wonder why it seemed so much more difficult than at the Caponizing Clinic-DUH!! I took a picture of the tool that you mustn't forget.
Mine are pets, not for processing so I've shut my eyes and just squinted when feeding and cleaning up after these 3 boys since I got them Saturday because I didn't want to get attached, pick a favorite or even be able to tell them apart. Didn't work. I guess I just don't have the gene that enables me to keep tiny furry babies at a distance. So my goal was live chicks, I decided that with the 1st incision. I keep looking into their boxes, I can't believe all 3 of my boys lived!! I've got 20+ roosters here. I was determined these boys weren't going to give their life to avoid 3 more. I was ready to stop at any point.
If you don't get all the testicle pieces are they *always slips? Or is it possible to get enough of the testicles that the rest of it just dies off?
Kass, I've got 4 of the 5 Barred rocks I did on Clinic Day, they're 12 wks or so now and all combs are pale with no comb or wattle growth. The 5th one inadvertently got taken home by someone else or something so don't know about him.
Just a couple pics. The tool is the one you NEED and I flippin' forgot. Feeling pretty stupid right now but having 3 live boys makes it ok.
Oh-I used tissure adhesive and I LOVE it. It's the actual 3M tissue adhesive that vets use, not plain super glue. I held the edges of the incisions together and glued them lightly, blew on it and let go. The one picture is of the incision, you literally can't even see the incisions. I like that. I also stood up and that worked better for me because I could move around. A strong head lamp is a must also. My husband got me a 100 lumens at Walmart and that seemed to work just fine.
Click on the pics for full sized versions-

Congratulations! No fatalities is a good thing, even if you have slips. You will do better next time. The learning curve can be steep. How old were these guys....or should I say guylets now..LOL?

 

[Ksane]

Congratulations!  No fatalities is a good thing, even if you have slips.  You will do better next time. The learning curve can be steep. How old were these guys....or should I say guylets now..LOL?

They're 8 1/2 wks. Honestly their testicles were identical in size to the 6 wk old Barred Rocks we did at Poco's. I'd be anxious to hear what a 12 wk old is like. Not sure when the point is in there when they're too old to easily do. I know 5 months is too old for me to ever attempt.
Edited for sp

 

[BCMaraniac]

They're 8 1/2 wks. Honestly their testicles were identical in size to the 6 wk old Barred Rocks we did at Poco's. I'd be anxious to hear what a 12 wk old is like. Not sure when the point is in there when they're too old to easily do. I know 5 months is too old for me to ever attempt.
Edited for sp

Brahmas are slower to mature, correct? That could explain why the testicles are the same size even though the bird is older.

The oldest I have caponized is 13 weeks and the youngest is 4 1/2 weeks. I definitely prefer the younger ones. The 13 week old birds I caponized....Bresse....had pretty large testicles.....I was glad when that was over. I had 4 and ended up with 3 slips. They tasted good, and were tender enough to roast in the oven.

For me personally, if I have one older than that, I will just butcher when they get old enough to get some meat on their bones. I don't want to caponize any older than 3 months......but that's just me. I know that Poco has caponized much older birds, and I am sure others have too.....It's just not for me.

 

[bbsnooks]

They're 8 1/2 wks. Honestly their testicles were identical in size to the 6 wk old Barred Rocks we did at Poco's.

YEA! Ksane..
congrats! on the good job.

your closing on the suture looks fan tastic ! I'm going to look into that vet bond..
? I'm wondering if - Vet bond - dry's out like superglue does? seems my would dry up before i needed to use it again and ended throwing most of it away.
? is it a one time use .. or will it last a while?

Did I hear you say you have 20 Roosters??
and ? how many are capons.. ?
and how many hens?
are they Free range or in separate pens.. Just curious?

I'm down to 6 roosters for breeding and protection
and 1 slip
and ?? 17 or so Capons

About the capon update from coco's - I was expecting 1 or 2 slips from my 5.. but i may have gotten lucky.
So far they have no reddening of the comb / waddles but they'll occasionally do the eye stare and neck feather flare dance. so? not sure yet..
Its encouraging that their comb color is all the same.

One of my 5 month red sex link is a slip.. He was one of the first 5 i did at home..
He is just this past week showing mating behavior and reddening of the comb/waddle. but It looks like the others are true capons.

I also have 2 broody hen's on the're own nests and 30 in incubator. so many more opportunities to come I'm sure.

Head lamps.. I found this jewelers lamp w/ magnification..
I cannot vouch for quality i have not purchased it.. but may consider for the magnification.
I too had trouble getting the string around too.. and many times i believe it was due to another membrane covering the testies.
there seemed to be 2 ( layers.. of membrane) one on the back side of the intestines. ( easy to find and remove) and one Possibly that attaches the tissue to the back wall of the ribs.

any how i may consider the jewlers lamp in the future for magnification.

 

[Poco Pollo]

For the folks who ordered tools: I got a message from FedEx today. They will deliver a package from China on Monday. I will leave the property gate open with a note to leave the box in a secret hiding place. If the delivery is made on time, I can PM buyers and send invoices for shipping costs Tuesday night.

Ksane: Good work! I know a determined woman when I see one.