Post pictures of your capons

[bngowe]

Post pictures of your capons. I’ll start by posting a few of the capons I’ve raised.

Please include the breed, age, and if it’s a processed picture, the weight.
Tasting notes are also welcomed.

Seems to be uncommon to find pictures of heritage breed capons and I’m trying to figure which breeds are worth caponizing. I’ll list my own personal notes on the breeds as well.

 

[bngowe]

The answer is probably obvious, But whats a capon?

A capon is a castrated rooster. They are much more richer in flavor, and grow fat and tender. Literally the best tasting chicken you’ll ever have.

 

[strawberricatt]

The answer is probably obvious, But whats a capon?

It's basically a neutered cockerel. People usually caponize their birds for meat (capons grow very large). But some do it for the novelty or to alter the birds behaviour in some way (stops crowing, aggressive behavior etc...) Caponizing has to be done before the age of three months(correct me if I'm wrong) so the cockerels hormones don't get the chance to kick in before being caponized. Hopefully this explanation helped

 

[cassie]

This would solve the problem of unwanted roosters from a hatch. Is it a DIY procedure or is a vet needed?

Most vets don't have a clue about caponizing, and if they did, the price would be prohibitive. It is a DIY procedure. In years past, before the advent of the Cornish X, a lot of poultrymen caponized their excess males because capons brought a higher price at market than cockerels. The old poultry books tell how to caponize. Sometimes you can find someone to teach you. From what I have read it is best for the beginner to practice on dead birds.

 

[cassie]

Rhode Island Red capon at 19 weeks.
Initially I really liked this breed because it grew so quickly, feathered quickly and was very rigorous, but at a certain age (maybe around 16 weeks?), growth started to slow down, and instead of getting fatter, RIRs seem to get leaner and have more of a square shape to them. They are also a bit more aggressive to everyone else. If they continually grew larger this would be a great breed, but unfortunately they seem to become leaner rather than rounder. This is a hatchery stock so i think from years of breeding RIR to focus on the egg production, the meat aspect of this dual purpose breed has suffered. At 19 weeks, My RIR capon is still pretty scrawny looking, and still needs a lot more time to plump up.

This is just a comment and I am certainly no expert on capons. However, I recently acquired an old poultry book that talks about capons and I got a USDA bulletin entitled Capons and Caponizing. The bulletin is from 1932 and the book, Practical Poultry Management, was printed in 1933. The bulletin talks about marketing capons at eight to ten months of age. There are pictures of plucked capons ready for market. By today's standards, these chickens are scrawny. They are not plump and well muscled like the modern Cornish X. One thing I found interesting was that the capons, like most chickens of the time, went to market with the entrails intact and with at least some of their feathers. Feathers of capons were left on the last joint of the wings, on the tail, and about one fourth of the distance up the thighs and the neck. The heads and feet were not removed either. The bulletin did mention that clean plucking was becoming more popular. I am old enough to remember my mother buying chickens at the store and cleaning (drawing) them when she brought them home. This was in the late 1940's and early 1950's. My old cookbook, printed in the 1940's, has an illustrated section on how to draw (clean) chickens.

 

[bngowe]

Buff Orpington capons @ 13 weeks.
One of my favorite capon breeds due to temperament and growth / size (but sometimes I question this because they always look more plump and fluffier than they actually are). These are still too young to process. At 13 weeks they are still pretty scrawny, but their temperament is . They are decent/ good foragers, but i wish they foraged more. The breeds that forage a lot seem to have much better flavor once processed.
*side note, I purposely aimed at taking a picture of these two capons together to point out a comparison. The BO capon on the left is a slip. I’m certain of it because of the comb and waddle is slightly larger and is starting to gain a brighter red coloration. Notice how both have a hen-like appearance, but the one on the right is even more so and the comb and waddle is pink rather than red.

 

[Hyper_Chicken05]

The answer is probably obvious, But whats a capon?

 

[123RedBeard]

The procedure has been discussed here for quite awhile ...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/graphic-pics-of-my-day-learning-to-caponize.675898/

 

[bngowe]

Rhode Island Red capon at 19 weeks.
Initially I really liked this breed because it grew so quickly, feathered quickly and was very rigorous, but at a certain age (maybe around 16 weeks?), growth started to slow down, and instead of getting fatter, RIRs seem to get leaner and have more of a square shape to them. They are also a bit more aggressive to everyone else. If they continually grew larger this would be a great breed, but unfortunately they seem to become leaner rather than rounder. This is a hatchery stock so i think from years of breeding RIR to focus on the egg production, the meat aspect of this dual purpose breed has suffered. At 19 weeks, My RIR capon is still pretty scrawny looking, and still needs a lot more time to plump up.

 

[MissChick@dee]

The answer is probably obvious, But whats a capon?

A neutered rooster