Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-22
CARING FOR THE HOME FLOCK
BY ii. w. RICKEY,
Poultry Specialist. Maryland state College.

Der Of roasters from his surplus cock
erels as side line.
The soft rooster is merely a capon-
lzed cockerel or "capon" a capon is
a cockerel the reproductive organs
OF winch were removed at an early
age and; as expressed by Lippineott.
s rendered more tractable. less
70 handle from every standpoint"
Capons are not quarrelsome. thew do
not nsht nor crow; in fact they
, lose the principal characteristics of
chicks. 'ooNe
me operation Of caponizing must be
performed when the cockereIs are
from three to four months old and
Welen between one and one-half to
Two pounds; just about the time when
70 develop. and when the testes are
sun comparatively small, and the
blood. iittie
For thirty to thirty-six hours, the
tney are usually kept in crates and
eiven no food Of any kind. not even
wafer to drink during the entire ne
TOO. In order to cleanse the digestive
~ 49, OF all food and waste material.
mat the plan followed by him If al
lowing the chicks to drink water for
q SNORT time. about eight or ten hours
oe1ore the operation was to be per.
I nrorss. assisted in the cleansing
,caponizing is not a dihicult OPERA
tlon and can be accomplished bv a
novice with little danger to the
chicken, provided directions are care.
fully followed. "ie e"ie
am Inc structure of the body should
young chicken for the table examine
tne interior Of the body cavity and
note the position of the different
organs. especially those Of reproduc
ton. in fact, 1t would be well to per
.oIm, on the dressed chicken, an OPP
Grafton similar to that performed on
the live ones and remove the testes in
the same way. 80
the chick to be caponized is placed
nat on its side. on the top Of a barrel,
board OF caponizing table; set at con-
various ways. AT the agricultural
experiment station of the Maryland
state College the legs and wings are
held firmly to the table by means of
strong Irvine fastened to cleats nailed
70 the table. The last two ribs near
feathers in this region are pulled out,
while other feathers that may inter-
fere are pushed back with wet
fingers. thus leaving a wide clean
surface upon which to work. The
skin and flesh Is pulled to one side,
and held with the thumb or fore
finger of the left hand against the
back of the last rib, a cut of from
one and a quarter to one and a half
inches long Is made with a sharp
knife. down between the last and
next to the last rib. The edges of
the cut are then drawn apart with an
instrument known as spreader,
leaving the intestines in plain view,
but covered by thin membrane,
which must be torn away before the
operation can be completed Up near
the backbone and partly if not
wholly hidden by the intestines are the
testes. 1t is at this point that we can
appreciate the advantages of the
empty intestines. where the testes can
be more clearly seen and more easily
removed, and with less danger to the
chick. After the spreaders are prop
erly set and the membrane covering
Of the intestines torn away with a
small hook, long forceps are used to
remove the organs and the removal
of both testes may be accomplished
with one operation. Some poultry
men, however. prefer to make an
opening on each side of the body and
through each take out one teste.
After the work is done the outer skin
is allowed to fall back into place.
thus covering the opening, which
heals quickly without treatment.
More explicit and detailed directions
with illustrations may be had free of
charge from the extension service of
the MARYLAND State College.