Anybody ever caponize a rooster...

[chad]

...without killing him? We think we have about 50/50 pullets and cockerels in this batch of ten that hatched out on our place June 29. We'd like to get the use of the 5 males but expect that Spike, the head rooster, will take exception to their presence.

So does anybody have an experience with caponizing? Care to share?

 

[plester01]

??????????????????

What does that mean?

 

[MissPrissy]

Caponizing is the removal of the cockeral's testicals. It makes for a better eating bird of the males. I do have one in my freezer right now.

I don't know how to do it myself but sure would be willing to learn if I could find someone close to me that could show me what to do first. I learn better by seeing then doing it for myself.

Here is an illustrated example

http://www.umaine.edu/umcecumberland/caponizing_illustrated.htm

and here is another

http://www.afn.org/~poultry/capon.htm

Good luck.

 

[chad]

Caponizing is the process of removing a rooster's testicles, essentially neutering him. It results in a non-aggressive, and very tasty, bird. Here is a link: http://www.umaine.edu/umcecumberland/caponizing_illustrated.htm - to the U. of Maine Cooperative Extension web page that shows pictures of the procedure. But as we all know there's a big difference between looking at pictures and actually getting "hands on." So that's why I'm asking if anybody's had real-world experience with this procedure.

 

[plester01]

That is an interesting idea. Question? Other than doing it for eating purposes can it be done so that Roosters can live together peacfully??

 

[chad]

Quote:
Well, that's our hope, that we can keep them around long enough to get big enough to slaughter without Spike fighting with them.

 

[plester01]

Sound good to me. I also do not know how to do it but I think that I will look into it. Thanks for the idea and good luck!

 

[SpottedCrow]

To be completely honest, you're more likely to kill your cockerels, than to caponize successfully.
To caponize successfully the bird has to be no older than 6 weeks. Then you have to open him up and make sure that you take out the right thing. His testes have a tendency to look like his kidneys. At which point he will bleed to death.
And if you don't get both testes, you'll get a slip which means you didn't do it right anyways. He'll still act like a roo, which was the whole purpose of the operation in the first place, to make him NOT act like a roo.
I looked into this extensively when my Leghorn cockerel started to crow.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I would never do surgery on a bird or animal without anesthesia, cutting them open and cutting out internal parts while they are awake and conscious, so my answer to your question is that I haven't done it. It isn't because I'm too squeamish, it's because I consider it cruel. I realize that other people view it as acceptable.

My personal choice was to just give the males their own pen, separate from my main flock and not worry about a few extra ounces of meat or extra days before butcher. When I'm really serious about raising chickens for meat, I just order broilers.

 

[chad]

Well, you make a point, WW, and we do try to handle all our livestock as gently and humanely as possible. We had just gotten done raising and slaughtering a bunch of broilers when these 10 were born unexpectedly, so we're trying to figure out what to do with the boys (the girls will be layers, like their mama).