How to caponize a rooster Warning Graphic pics

[Holly31]

Wow, Tanith, thank you so much for the info and photos. I can see how going in too far cranially could be a nightmare. Also, it appears that the testicle is about 1 cm long and 5 mm wide which is a small target, only likely to be seen if you know right were to go. I will have to do this by necropsy before I try it live, for certain. It appears deeper than I expected, also, and more dorsal than I expected.
On your freezer patient, which incision proved to be the closest to the target - ? I have heard/read anywhere from caudal to the last, the second to last, and the third to last rib and anywhere from the lateral midline to 1 cm ventral from the backbone. Your indication seems to be about 1 cm south of the backbone and caudal to the SECOND to last rib. Would that be about right?
Thank you again so much for your help on this, and I will pursue some iso from a black market or maybe even dare to ask our surgeon for 2-3 ml, altho he thinks I'm crazy to do this. He does not have roosters in his backyard, however! If I can't get this going, I will have to go back to buying females from the mail order.
Many many thanks again for your instructions and hints!

 

[TanithT]

I posted two more images that may help fix the anatomical location of the successful incision. I don't know chicken anatomy very well, except when it comes to eating the stuff, so what I did was snipped one plucked fryer in half down the backbone, took cheat photos, then made my incision on the second one based on feeling for the bone junctures closest to the anatomical point the testicles were located in the other animal. With more time for dissection and flaying to study the external anatomy, this could probably be improved some, but I expect the folks who have been home caponizing for hundreds of years should already have the optimal location pretty well down. So I expect the images posted at the beginning of this thread will be more helpful, though they are much larger incisions than I would tend to make for going in to locate and remove a small organ. If I had my druthers I'd do it keyhole with endoscopy, but I expect not too many folks own an endoscope. An extremely powerful and extremely small-point flashlight, penlight or exam light will definitely be a help though.

In my experience .5cc iso in a quart bag held the animal at stages ranging from what appeared to be a good surgical plane of anesthesia to relatively light (pain and stimulus responsive) anesthesia, so both analgesia and controlling for iso percentage in a more reliable way would be an absolute must if you were to undertake this for an actual procedure. I have done a great many minor procedures in reptiles under drop box iso, but never, ever, anything like open abdominal cavity surgery. I can't really recommend it, but I'm aware that the alternative seems to be no anesthesia at all, which I can recommend even less.

I don't know if the vet will hand out iso for this as it is not likely to be considered an ethical use of the drug. It's possible that you could find one who considers home caponization WITH iso to be preferable to home caponization WITHOUT iso, and would be willing to give you some on that basis. I don't know. You know the veterinary code of ethics as well as I do, and backyard abdominal surgery by amateurs is way, way out of the ballpark. I think you'd be lucky not to get thrown out on your keister from most clinics, or reported to the ASPCA, if you stated your plans to do this.

Before anybody local to me gets any bright ideas, no, I am absolutely not personally willing to do this on a live patient or hand out any drugs. I have no ethical issues doing it with dead ones and taking pictures though, if it helps minimize harm for folks who are bound and determined to do it to live ones.

 

[TanithT]

After establishing 24 hour survival with normal behavior after complete recovery from approximately 15 minutes total of open drop box anesthesia, I processed this rooster with interesting results. He had one normal and one abnormal, half discolored testicle.

I need to clarify that this is *not* intended as a do it yourself tutorial so much as sharing what I found in a few quick and dirty dissections of animals I was killing and plucking for my dinner. I am *not* an experienced caponizer. I'm sure you will do much better following the example of someone who is actually working on live patients and is familiar with chickens. I am neither. As I was processing this guy for dinner, not histology, I used mostly kitchen knives, so please don't point and laugh at the ragged margins on my decidedly non surgical incisions. Butcher knives tend to do that, and I decided not to bother using another scalpel so I'd have less to clean up.

I did notice that when you either remove the leg or pull it back out of the way, behind the last rib there is a lovely open triangle of abdominal muscle with no bone at all in the way, and if you go in though this triangle, you get more or less directly to the testicle. In a dead or deeply anesthetized patient with no muscle tone, you can easily extend and fix the leg to move the thigh out of the way and expose at least the leading edge of this triangle. I do not know whether this would yield poor results in a live patient as there may be a risk of pulling the muscle. I would also attempt to conserve the skin when cutting to maximally cover the thigh, as a wound here on a more mobile portion of the animal would heal less well. There may well be a good reason that traditional caponizers go in between ribs, not past them.

But, five more chicken anatomy pictures up on the same link. http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk271/danceswthcobras/Chicken anatomy cheat sheet/ Thanks to you guys, I'll be eating cut up fryers for awhile instead of freezing them off whole. LOL

 

[Holly31]

More great shots - thanks so much! Enjoy the dinners!

As an aside, I checked the AVMA regarding caponizing. There is just about nothing on their whole website. However, I did locate a summary by state of exemptions from "veterinary medicine" and not all are exactly the same, but all DO seem to exclude Accepted Livestock Practice Management from the technician license revoking felony practice of "veterinary medicine". In fact, the state of Washington specifically lists, among a dozen others, caponization of poultry. Most all the states indicated that an owner may "treat" it's own pet as long as it does not cause (here's the operative word) unjustifiable pain. Owners are allowed to castrate all their own animals in every state, and I think that fell under Livestock Management Practice Management in some of the summaries. I don't think the summary was whole or very well defined, but I get the distinct impression there is nothing illegal about caponizing roosters. There was no indications related to analgesia and anesthesia. Probably have to go to the revised statues for that info by each state.

I am going to get ready to DO my 3 cockerals this weekend. All last minute posts will be thoroughly read.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Good luck, Holly!

It's good to see all the true caring & respectful sharing here

 

[Holly31]

Hello Chickeners,

I was serendipitiously given the gift of a dead hen this morning, and she volunteered to show me where the gonads are kept, at least in an adult and only on the left side. However, as Tanith says, necropsies are your friend, and it was very enlightening to work a bird feeling no anxiety or discomfort whatsoever. It seems to me that ovaries are in about the same place at testicles, at least according to anatomy charts of pigeons and parrots. Seems no one cares about the chickens' gonads.

Going in caudal to the last rib was too far away to the rear of the bird to be in the target zone. Going in caudal of the 3rd from last rib hit the lung field. Apparently the exact place to go in was just CRANIAL to the last rib (not caudal to second) and directly in front of the iliac crest, parallel to the plane of the crest and backbone, to start the incision and cut ventrally about 1 inch or less along the cranial border of the last rib. Depending on the size of the patient, this would obvioulsy vary, but I was able to find half a dozen nice proto-eggs and a shooter-marble sized yolk so I was in the right place. I feel much more confidant now that I have PERSONALLY found the target zone and how to define it.

This girl, Annie-Booboo, my only Ancona, didn't die in vain, and after 4 years of long reliable employment could still do something for me besides lay an egg.

New question: How do I post pix?

 

[Holly31]

SUCCESS - ! There be Capons among us ! They are not crowing, but they are growing. There has been a little peck order sparing but very little, and less when they moved to a larger pen. I have found a few things out:

be sure you are caponizing a roo not a pullet.
get some serious instruments, not that junk in the Nasco kit.
The rooster berry was white, about the size and shape of a dry navy bean with consistency of maltomeal. Watch that pieces don't break off, or go back in for them.

I gave each bird a stitch in the intercostals with 3-0 catgut and two in the skin with some 3-0 PDS I had (both are not permanent so no suture removal necessary).

My instrument recommendation if you are going to do this yourself:

Skip the Nasco $45, it is not worth it even with the book, there is more useful data here.
Use a # 3 scalpel handle and # 15 blades; 3-0 absorbable if you are going to suture
Get a 4 inch blunt tip 3/2 Weitlaner retractor for the ribs.
Get a 7 inch sponge forceps, straight, serrated, rounded, to grasp, and twist the testicle, and remove it
Have a large pin or needle on hand if the air sac is not hit by the scalpel
Use bungee cords to hold the bird, not clothesline. I will be making a capon board with little C clamps to attach the small bungees to
Start on the bird's left side first, right side on the table
Use a Coleman headlamp for extra light (this takes some practice)

I think with more and more practice, this will get easier on all of us. I still can't find any one who will help me with anesthesia. I am thinking of choloroform or whisky - thoughts? All the above instruments can be found on eBay for less than $50 total, including suture material and needles. Try Walmart for Bungees.


The extra rooster problem is SOLVED.

 

[vegaschick]

Quote:
I pm'd you regarding the other way...the craigslist way.

and check out this link to post pics. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=504
because I need to see what that rooster berry looks like!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:

Congratulations! Good for you!

I gave each bird a stitch in the intercostals with 3-0 catgut and two in the skin with some 3-0 PDS I had (both are not permanent so no suture removal necessary).

Could you please 'splain this in more detail, or show pictures? We used superglue to close the incision and the birds have been puffing up like balloons. Each day I have to poke them with a needle to release the air. Someone recommended putting in a stitch which would not only close the incision, but allow air to be released. Are your birds puffing up?

My instrument recommendation if you are going to do this yourself:
Skip the Nasco $45, it is not worth it even with the book, there is more useful data here.
Use a # 3 scalpel handle and # 15 blades; 3-0 absorbable if you are going to suture
Get a 4 inch blunt tip 3/2 Weitlaner retractor for the ribs.
Get a 7 inch sponge forceps, straight, serrated, rounded, to grasp, and twist the testicle, and remove it
Have a large pin or needle on hand if the air sac is not hit by the scalpel

Thank you for including this list. Is eBay really the best place to obtain these? Are these the exact names of the best instruments to use? I want to be sure I'm buying the right thing. The forceps I have look like those sponge forceps, and work all right, but I'd like to find better retractors. Also, the ones I have require both hands to set the clamp to hold the handles shut, I'd like to find one-handed models.

Use bungee cords to hold the bird, not clothesline. I will be making a capon board with little C clamps to attach the small bungees to

I set my birds on a folded towel on a milk crate, and zip-tied a bungee to their legs & to their wings, then placed the bungee hooks in the slats of the crate. Let us know & see your capon board when you finish it. How did you attach the bungee to your birds?
The moyel who came to our house and circumcised our oldest son had a special plastic form he used to set the baby into to help hold him still, sort of like a gingerbread boy mold. I wonder if someone has made, or could make such a form to use for making capons.

Start on the bird's left side first, right side on the table

What is your reasoning for this?

Use a Coleman headlamp for extra light (this takes some practice)

I agree, the most difficult part I found was being able to see inside the bird, especially with my over-40 eyesight!

The extra rooster problem is SOLVED.

Amen!​

 

[usachicklostinfrance]

Hello,

I have just joined this site as the art of caponization is dead here. Yes, they sell capon at xmas, but I had to order my kit from USA as impossible to locate here or in the UK. It is so nice to see some pictures and know that what I did today was right, although 2/3 died! The testes were very fragile and the last 2 came out in 2 parts. Very frustrating!! I'm thinking now that I left them too late to do. I think they are about 12 weeks old. Not sure as it was very hard to understand the man on the market where we bought them. A very strong french accent, I might add in French!! I was a veterinary nurse in England, so I know they didn't bleed to death. There was just a little subcutaneous oozing! Any advice would be welcomed. I want to raise my own birds for the table for my family. I have left the remaining 2 as roosters. I lost my nerve today.