How to caponize a rooster Warning Graphic pics

[Chickapooh23]

Thank you for posting this. It is a very difficult thing to think about, especially for those of us who hatch and raise our own chicks. I have been cursious how it was done and now I know. I had a really hard time with butchering the first time and now I can do it with little guilt so I think eventually this will be easy. I really am not happy with the size of 16-20 wk old cockrels either so learning to caponize is the next step. Thanks again. Teresa

 

[Supermommy486]

VERY interesting! I didn't know what this was either, but am eager to talk to my Grandpa and ask him if they ever did this.

 

[Holly31]

I talked to an old timer (90+) here in Vegas who LOVES birds, and he said his mother would caponize going in behind dthe 3rd rib, not between the last two, but one more rib closer to the head than the tail. I am going to try that because I have tried twice now between the last two and can't find the testicle. Birds are 8 and 9 weeks old now, so must try again soon! Have a second bunch coming in 4 weeks. This will be a lifesaver for me and my chicken overpopulation probelm (and grumpy husband problem).

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

I posted on the other thread mostly as a joke but find this referenced thread to be simply incredible information, and the pictures just awesome.

What I wanted to add is...I buy lots of those packages of ten pounds of rear quarters (for about six bucks) which I wash, and package separately before freezing.
They tend to be big, and tough, and I buy them mostly to make my own dog food...anyway...
Since they are big and tough apparently they come from old roosters...and since they do the testes are still in or near the cavity where the kidneys (I think) are.
They are very easy to see and look exactly like the picture. If you ever buy these big bags of legs and thighs with the back attached it will be very informative to look at them to see exactly what it is you are looking for, and where it is. At that point you are inspecting a food item and pain and suffering are not issues any longer.

 

[Turner]

Such an excellent tread - thanks to everyone who has participated. I have eaten Capon on and off over the years and it is SO good. I think this would also help someone who accidentally gets a rooster and cannot keep it because of the crowing etc. Nice way to keep a favorite as a pet!

 

[ISSOLA]

Is there a powder or pill med to crush and feed to cockerel, to make them slightly sedated before surgery/caponizing?

I can think of gaseous anesthetic like ether and chloroform, soaking a cottonball and holding/leaving it near the cockerel's nostrils, but that VERY UNSAFE, and I don't want to be using it without a benefit of a ventilation hood. I think it is illegal too to buy ether, if one does not work in a lab.

When I travelled cross country, the vet gave us sedative pills for the cats. Made my husband's driving concentration better. If the cats won't slightly sedated in the car, they would yowl and yowl and yowl....oy vay...

Can acepromazine ( the med the cats got) be used in chickens?

 

[Holly31]

I am a vet tech, so I will ask my vet this week if something is safe for chickens (he does birds); he has given me medication for my chickens before, like Baytril. I found that once the cock was laying there under the heat lamp, he settled down and didn't really seem to mind, (honest!) although I hate to say it cutting something open without anesthesia is technically vivisection. My problem was that I was too afraid of hurting him to go in long and deep enough to actually find the testicle. So I would stitch them up with one suture and then they'd be laying there sleeping for the longest time, like the lamp was warm and cozy. A little wierd.

If you gave something to the cock before surgery, it would take a while to digest out of the crop and then gizzard and then into his bloodstream, so therein may lie the problem with oral sedatives. I can't even imagine finding a vein on one to administer acepro or propofol or torbu, and I am not certain those are drugs that can be had by people other than veterinarians.

I DID, however, use a topical benzocaine on them before I started - Orajel. They seemed oblivious to the skin incision, but didn't like me opening their ribs. I hate doing this but the other solution is to sell them as cocks at 12-16 weeks for fryers. I hope we can find a solution by talking to enough people.

 

[Bossroo]

You know that millions of male calves and male lambs as well as male chickens have been castrated for centuries without any drugs and were none the worse for ware.

 

[eKo_birdies]

lambs and calves - external; chickens - internal. i see a slight difference...

as far as none worse for the "ware".. i doubt that. when done PROPERLY, sure... none worse for the wear.

ETA - i am not condoning the use of anesthetics when caponizing.

 

[ChickFarmer]

Castraiting any animal should be done humanely as practical, so it's all about minimising their pain. I do hate to think how much pain and discomfort cornish cross chickens are in when they suffer heart failure or sliped tendons. If I were to learn how to do this, I would first get a few of those inevitable "packing peanut" leghorn males and when they were the right size to be caponised I would dispatch them before caponizing them. That way I could learn to do it right. I think I would use a topical analgesic as it is neither difficult nor expensive and minimizes pain.