I'm wondering a couple of things. One, if the caponizing makes them more like hens, (which I don't doubt in the least) but hens get tough as they get older, wouldn't the capons also get tough? I've eaten some older hens, and they were crock-pot meals. And took quite awhile to get tender. So those who have raised capons and eaten them, please chime in on this.
The other thing is, would a crochet hook work for fishing out the testes? It's blunt, all edges are rounded, so there wouldn't be any accidental puncturing or cutting of anything. That hooked wire looked like the end of the wire could be a little sharp, you know, like any cut-off piece of wire can be. Of course, even with a blunted instrument you'd still have to be careful not to tear the wrong bit of tissue. Like an artery instead of the spermatic cord.
We bought a pair if feeder pigs earlier in the spring, and helped castrate them. In pigs, the testes are internal, as well, though in the usual location, you don't have to find the right pair of ribs, etc. Anyway, they did just fine, healed very quickly, and it didn't seem to be all that traumatic for them. I think they were much more traumatized by being chased and caught in the first place, and taken from mom.
The point being, since this experience, I'm think more about the possibility of caponizing birds, it doesn't sound as bad as it once did, to me. And fewer rooster fights, with a much expanded window for butcher times, appeals to me very much.
