GRAPHIC PICS of my day learning to caponize

[hellbender]

Does anybody here know what will happen if you caponize a rooster who already has a large comb/wattle? I've noticed that capons seem to have very small comb/wattles, like a hen's. If the rooster has already grown quite large ones (his are very large, especially for a 9 week old), will the comb/wattle shrink, or just stop growing?

See my post above.

 

[Kassaundra]

I been working on 5 birds every morning and this morning I came across something That was frist a dark testicle not black but very close.the other side was normal yellow color.Kind of weird got 5 more to do tomorrow than I will be done with this batch.

Nothing is wrong, depending on breed and line it can be very common. In my flock dark or bi colored testes are more common then "normal" colored

 

[Kassaundra]

I have some that are 9 weeks old that I would really like to try and caponize. Do you think that they are too old?

For future reference what has everybody here decided is the "best" age to caponize?

Not to old I prefer 7-9 weeks.

 

[Kassaundra]

Does anybody here know what will happen if you caponize a rooster who already has a large comb/wattle? I've noticed that capons seem to have very small comb/wattles, like a hen's. If the rooster has already grown quite large ones (his are very large, especially for a 9 week old), will the comb/wattle shrink, or just stop growing?

They will pale and not grow to the full rooster size, but if caponizing an actual fully mature rooster, I know they will pale, I do not know about shrink, Poco would know, she is the expert on caponizing older roos.

 

[animalsRawesome]

I don't figure 9 weeks would be to old but I think 6weeks would be better to start with.I am not a expert though.

@Kassaundra , @hellbender , @osbmail Thanks for the replies. I will plan on giving them a try this weekend then!

 

[hellbender]

@Kassaundra , @hellbender , @osbmail Thanks for the replies. I will plan on giving them a try this weekend then!

You're quite welcome. Another point: I know some folks do the job at three to 6 weeks but honestly, with at least one of my breeds and a hybrid using them, I can't easily tell their gender after 2 weeks and I don't want to work with a two or three week old chick so I just let it go 'til the gender is almost without doubt.

 

[dfr1973]

Not to old I prefer 7-9 weeks.

You're quite welcome. Another point: I know some folks do the job at three to 6 weeks but honestly, with at least one of my breeds and a hybrid using them, I can't easily tell their gender after 2 weeks and I don't want to work with a two or three week old chick so I just let it go 'til the gender is almost without doubt.

My preference is 8 to 12 weeks. Then again, it isn't always easy to tell on rose-combed Wyandottes, as I had a cockerel "hiding" out with my pullets up until he was 14 weeks old because he truly looked like a pullet. As I gain more experience, I may feel comfortable with doing them as young as 6 weeks, but right now they just feel to small and fragile, or maybe I still feel a bit clumsy.

 

[QueenMisha]

Wow! I just spent the last 2 hours putting together a DIY caponizing table, since I won't have a helper to hold down the birds... used an old board made of some kind of synthetic fiber (found it on the property, no idea where it came from) and used these things http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/05/05e156ab-a891-480e-a310-facf35415069_300.jpg of varying sizes as a method to hold down the wings and legs, with one side screwed into the board and the other loose so it can be bent up and down to tie down or release legs/wings. It fits perfectly for young roosters or bantams (I built it using the size of a 10 week old bantam roo, he's about the size a 3-4 week old LF roo would be). But the leg holders can also be bent and moved to angles that will hold the legs well on a 10+ week old standard roo (the size of a small adult hen), I just need to fasten the wings with a bungee cord instead. Shoutout to my two cockerels Little Dude and Dean Jr. for being super helpful measuring tapes/test subjects!

I also did my first walk-through of the process tonight. One of my little 10 week old mutt roos has been coming down with "the Marek's stumble" all week (the virus runs in my flock) and he had finally fallen and couldn't get up. I decided to cull him and harvest the little bit of meat he had, but just after I had skinned him it occurred to me to practice on him! The process was super slippery, I think because he was skinned, and the rib spreaders wouldn't really hold. But I did pretty good; only issues were that the cut I made was definitely too big, and the 2nd testicle broke in half before it came out. But overall I think if the bird had been alive it would have been a success, although he wouldn't had a LONG time healing because I just made the cut too dang big!

Also what do you guys prefer when deciding how long to withdraw feed/water? The caponizing booklet which came with my Nasco kit is vague on that matter. It states 12 hours for water in most places, but says anywhere from 18-40 for food! Is longer better? Is there a certain point when all the food is out of them and any more time is just unnecessary unhappiness?

I'm hoping to do my first capons sometime next week! I've got around 6 boys lined up for the process, 3 bantam and 3 standard, all around 10 weeks. Plus a little rooster who I may do very soon if the other 6 turn out well... I've heard that younger is better, but I thought I wouldn't be willing to do a bird any younger than 6 or so weeks because I don't wanna accidentally go through all that trouble to cut it open and find out it's a hen after all. But this little roo is a little under 3 weeks old and already crowing! I heard him 3 times today (he's still in the brooder, only a few feet from the kitchen where I've been all day long), and one of the times I actually SAW him reach his little neck up and crow. I may do him when he's around 4-5 weeks, since he's a bantam cross and still quite small.

 

[hellbender]

Wow! I just spent the last 2 hours putting together a DIY caponizing table, since I won't have a helper to hold down the birds... used an old board made of some kind of synthetic fiber (found it on the property, no idea where it came from) and used these things http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/05/05e156ab-a891-480e-a310-facf35415069_300.jpg of varying sizes as a method to hold down the wings and legs, with one side screwed into the board and the other loose so it can be bent up and down to tie down or release legs/wings. It fits perfectly for young roosters or bantams (I built it using the size of a 10 week old bantam roo, he's about the size a 3-4 week old LF roo would be). But the leg holders can also be bent and moved to angles that will hold the legs well on a 10+ week old standard roo (the size of a small adult hen), I just need to fasten the wings with a bungee cord instead. Shoutout to my two cockerels Little Dude and Dean Jr. for being super helpful measuring tapes/test subjects!

I also did my first walk-through of the process tonight. One of my little 10 week old mutt roos has been coming down with "the Marek's stumble" all week (the virus runs in my flock) and he had finally fallen and couldn't get up. I decided to cull him and harvest the little bit of meat he had, but just after I had skinned him it occurred to me to practice on him! The process was super slippery, I think because he was skinned, and the rib spreaders wouldn't really hold. But I did pretty good; only issues were that the cut I made was definitely too big, and the 2nd testicle broke in half before it came out. But overall I think if the bird had been alive it would have been a success, although he wouldn't had a LONG time healing because I just made the cut too dang big!

Also what do you guys prefer when deciding how long to withdraw feed/water? The caponizing booklet which came with my Nasco kit is vague on that matter. It states 12 hours for water in most places, but says anywhere from 18-40 for food! Is longer better? Is there a certain point when all the food is out of them and any more time is just unnecessary unhappiness?

I'm hoping to do my first capons sometime next week! I've got around 6 boys lined up for the process, 3 bantam and 3 standard, all around 10 weeks. Plus a little rooster who I may do very soon if the other 6 turn out well... I've heard that younger is better, but I thought I wouldn't be willing to do a bird any younger than 6 or so weeks because I don't wanna accidentally go through all that trouble to cut it open and find out it's a hen after all. But this little roo is a little under 3 weeks old and already crowing! I heard him 3 times today (he's still in the brooder, only a few feet from the kitchen where I've been all day long), and one of the times I actually SAW him reach his little neck up and crow. I may do him when he's around 4-5 weeks, since he's a bantam cross and still quite small.

I'm stunned...on many levels. When you say"harvest the meat"...do you mean to eat it?

 

[shortgrass]

Wow! Just up late night researching and stumbled across... THIS!!! Thank you Cassandra for sharing your experience! Now I have a possible way to keep from "murdering" my daughter's banty roo

I have to add for all the, "you people are cruel" posts lol, I was raised in a farm... I hand castrated my own bull calf Norman when I was 8, bottle fed him, then my folks had him put in the deep freeze lol...oh he was delete cious and call my friends at school thought I was "horribly cruel" Food supply; everyone thinks that food just appears in packages at walmart lol? Someone has to do this stuff,right as well be us

Wonderful discussing, excellent pictures, thank you so much!