BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[CanadianBuckeye]

SURGICAL RESULTS.

As promised, here are the dismal results of my effort to caponize very young Dominique cockerels. Not promising at this point.

I have mentioned that dad taught me to caponize at an early age and I hesitate to brag but I'm actually pretty good at it. I have big hands but my fingers are long and dexterous. In working with birds that are 5 to 6 weeks old, my record is pretty good but I think it will be a while before I attempt to work with very young cockerels again.

To make it short, I cut the vessel in two of the chicks...dispatched them immediately.

Two 'slips' that were banded in white and to new capons, banded in blue, all four put into the same brooder with the other chicks th keep them safe and known to the flock.

Not what I consider a success.

However, in my defense, I was in a bit of a rush and shouldn't have done them that particular day. Dad I put them back and began in a more relaxed time period, I MAY have done better. This experience has not put me off caponizing at 3 to 4 weeks as opposed to my usual 6 weeks. I intend to order 25 Austra-Whites in the spring and hone my skills.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I have the experimental chicks in a small cage where they can interact with their bretheren and not be picked on when they are returned to open population.

Turk, what was the biggest hurdle caponizing the very young chicks? Are the testicles too small, or the chicks too small to handle easily, or ???

 

[Turk Raphael]

Turk, what was the biggest hurdle caponizing the very young chicks? Are the testicles too small, or the chicks too small to handle easily, or ???

I think the primary problem is that I hadn't done ANY work for sometime and I was a bit unsure. I just need to practice. I'll finish the rest that I don't keep intact before leaving when they are at an age I'm comfortable with and as mentioned, I intend to get in a lot of practice in the coming Spring.

I may order two or three batches of 25 chicks, to arrive 2 weeks apart or something to that effect.

This is not really required...I just want to improve my skill set.

 

[alisar]

Our breeding pens are finally done and I moved in this big guy and his Bresse/Trader Joes girlfriends in with him. The problem is he turned out way more giant than I thought he was going to be, all the girls come up to his shoulders!

 

[weavers rocks]

W 26 week old cockerel form pen one This year

 

[Kev]

Our breeding pens are finally done and I moved in this big guy and his Bresse/Trader Joes girlfriends in with him. The problem is he turned out way more giant than I thought he was going to be, all the girls come up to his shoulders!

Handsome guy, where did he come from?

 

[alisar]

He's from Ideal Poultry. Bought twenty, culled down to two earlier this year, I kept this one because I like his almost laced/spangled feathers
I'm going to see how the kids turn out from this cross and hopefully I can just work with picking the meatiest ones. I'm always tempted to cheat and get a bunch of red broiler pullets or something to inject some frankengrowth. I regret eating all of the bresse/tj cockerels. They were huge, fast growing, and absolutely delicious!

 

[Kev]

He's from Ideal Poultry. Bought twenty, culled down to two earlier this year, I kept this one because I like his almost laced/spangled feathers
I'm going to see how the kids turn out from this cross and hopefully I can just work with picking the meatiest ones. I'm always tempted to cheat and get a bunch of red broiler pullets or something to inject some frankengrowth. I regret eating all of the bresse/tj cockerels. They were huge, fast growing, and absolutely delicious!

the good news, hens also contribute to meat....

Most whites are genetically black- makes for cleaner crisper whites.

Black is also dominant, so expect the chicks to probably come out all black, feathering out with variable amounts of brown/red as they grow out.

Would love to see the bresse crosses.. and thanks for the information on the stock. Nice birds for sure.

 

[alisar]

The Ideal NN cockerels were a really mixed bag. There was one extremely tiny dwarf one shaped like a grapefruit I was tempted to keep but I had to keep focused, this was for a meaties project! Some really scrawny thin ones too. The good thing is they were cheap and the culls make for some pretty good soup

Here's a picture with his Bresse mix lady friends. There are a few easter egger girls in there too.

 

[Kassaundra]

Going to interrupt our regularly scheduled chicken talk to show off a visitor to my house today.

 

[Beekissed]

Stunningly beautiful, K!!!! Thanks for showing us!