The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1894-11-16
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ALL ABOUT CAPONS.
How the Caponizing Is Done-Ees Breeds
to Operate On--Growth of Capons.

How the C~aponizing Is Done-Eest Breeds
to Operate On--Growth of CapOns.
T. Greiner of New York, whose ex-
poriments are always worth knowing
about, gives a very interesting account
of raising capons in a communication to
Country Gentleman. His first trial was
made last year with many precautions.
This year, however, he has got at it in
a business way and makes short and
successful work of it. He writes:
My way has been to shut up from 8
to IL cockerels at night, leave them with
out food and drink until the second day
following and then caponize them. As
soon as caponized the birds are placed
i'll a small pen with an earthen floor,
where they are well fed with soft food
for a few days, during which time they
are examined once or twice and reliev-
ed of "wind puff" if such happened to
occur, by a slit made into the pulled up
skin with the point of a keen bladed
penknife. In a week or less we give the
birds their liberty and let another lot,
just caponized, take their places. / find,
however, that the birds when skillfully
operated OH are so little affected by be.
ing %caponized that they will eat on the
operating table while undergoing the
operation. Whether kept in confinement
for a few days or given their liberty at
once, whether fed soft food or whole
grain, they are sure to heal up and re.
cover perf'.-,y in about a weeks time.
Usual ! open the birds on both
sides, fir -Ls it safer and more expedi-
tiOus thar so try to remove both testi-
Giles from n side. Only when the low
or ~testicle appears in plain sight and in
a favorable position do l take both
from n opening, but even then, con-
trary to the ordinary directions, l take
the upper one first, as l find no difficult
ty to remove blood (should any appear
by means of soaking it up with a little
piece of moist sponge, and thus bring
the lower t~esticle in plain sight again.
When l first began, ! used the horse.
hair canula. ! am now using thin tin
ned wire, such as beekeepers use for
fastening artificial comb foundations in
their frames, and find it far superior
to the manufacturers wire and to horse
hair as well. Its use simplifies and
shortens the task materially, for the
horsehair often breaks and frequently
requires repeated trials before it can be
slipped around the testicle.
For years l have kept the Black
Langshans, and l yet consider them the
best general purpose fowl. As winter
layers they are to hard to excel, but if l
were to make a business Of raising broil-
ers I think I would prefer Plymouth
Rocks. Leghorns are too small. For a
heavy, plump bodied broiler or capon
tho Indian game will be hard to beat,
and its crosses are also excellent, but as
egg layers the breed ranks very, very
low. We q caponize Langhans, Co.
chins, Plymouth Rocks, Games, Leg
horns, ETC., and their crosses with
about equal ease. Only the Brahmas
have given us some trouble Oh account
of the wormlike shape of their testicles.
Game Langshan crosses sometimes have
too much flesh on the ribs to show the
latter we'll, and we sometimes make the
incision more by guesswork than by
sight Or feeling of the exact spot.
Dealers in %caponizing supplies almost
invariably assert that capons grow fas-
ter and reach a greater weight than
ROSTERS, but such is not my experience.
l have not been able to discover much
difference in their respective rate Of
growth. But it is certain that capons
grow fatter and plumper, and that their
meat is much sweeter and more tender.
I dislike the smell and flavor of BOOSTERS
when it m along in the winter or
toward spring, but l can find no fault
with the taste of capon meat. The price
alone, compared with that of rooster
meat, proves the superior table quality
Of the capon.