POULTRY— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



269 



POULTRY, Caponiang. — Caponizing 

 has been practiced but little in this 

 country, the practice being now confined 

 mostly to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 

 Mr. G. H. Leavitt, an experienced poul- 

 try breeder of New York, says that 95 per 

 cent, of the capons raised, are raised in 

 Pennsylvania, and that the same propor- 

 tion of experiments is successful. In most 

 parts of this country the practice is un- 

 known, even among those who breed fowls 

 for market. Both cockerels and pullets 

 may be caponized, the latter being called 

 in France poulardes. The effect of depriv- 

 ing them of reproductive powers is to 

 cause them to fatten more easily, with less 

 food ; it increases their size beyond what 

 would otherwise be attained, and makes 

 them more tender and more desirable for 

 the table. So much superior are capons 

 esteemed to be, that it is singular the 

 practice is so limited. The weight is in- 

 creased one-third, and the meat is much 

 finer and commands one-third more price 

 than other market fowls. Mr. Robert B. 

 Engle, of Masonville, New Jersey, who is 

 qualified to speak from experience, says : 

 " The operation is simple and easily per- 

 formed. An expert in the business can 

 castrate two hundred in a day, for which 

 we pay four cents each. The capons 

 fatten more readily than cocks, attain 

 greater weight, and their flesh is much 

 more tender and juicy, and is better flav- 

 ored, and consequently commands a 

 higher price, which in Philadeiphia and 

 New York, as compared with other prime 

 chickens, is as 35 cents per pound are to 

 25 cents in the Philadelphia market. The 

 difference in price ranges from six to ten 

 cents per pound, as to quality. . . I 

 believe that if all roosters that are to be 

 kept until full grown for market were 

 properly castrated it would enhance their 

 value from 30 to 40 per cent." 



Instruments for making capons may be 

 purchased for $5 per set, and consist of a 

 spring, with which the incision, made by 

 a sharp knife, is kept open during the 

 operation ; nippers and hook, with which 

 to remove the covering of the testicles ; a 

 tube containing a silk-worm gut, with 

 which the connection of the testicle with 

 the bird is severed, and a spoon for re- 

 moving the severed parts. The opera- 

 tion may be performed with more simple 

 implements, however ; as a sharp pocket- 



knife, a pair of forceps, a sharp-pointed' 

 hook, a horse-hair, and a teaspoon. The 

 operation is performed in the following 

 manner, as described by those familiar 

 with it : Confine the fowl to a table or 

 board, left side downward, by weights or 

 by straps which will securely fasten the 

 legs and wings, the latter being drawn well 

 over the back, and the legs extended back- 

 ward, the upper ohe drawn farthest out. 

 The head and neck should be left free. 



Fig. 283. 

 The position of the confined fowl is de- 

 noted in the accompanying cut. Pluck 

 the feathers from a spot an inch and a. 

 half in diameter, near the hip joint, and 

 on a line from the hip to the shoulder 

 joint. Draw the skin back, so that when 

 left to itself again it will cover the wound 

 in the flesh and make an incision between 

 the last two ribs, commencing an inch 

 from the back-bone and extending obli- 

 quely downward. The incision should 

 be about an inch long, and only deep 

 enough to separate the ribs, not wounding 

 the intestines. The proper location for 

 the incision is indicated by the line 

 through the circle in the cut. The wound 

 is kept open by a spring or otherwise for 

 convenience of subsequent operations. 

 Cut open the membrane covering the in- 

 testines, with care, pushing them with the 

 spoon forward toward the breast-bone 

 first, if they are not sufficiently drawn up. 

 The testicles will then be exposed to view. 

 They are connected with the back and 

 sides by cords and covered with a thi» 



