CHAPTER XI. 



CAPONIZING. 



Definition — Caponiziiig is a term applied to castrating fowls. In this 

 country the operation is practiced almost exclusively on male chickens 

 (roosters, cockerels), and sometimes on male turkeys (toms, gobblers). Such 

 fowls when castrated are known as capons. The capon bears the same rela- 



Fig. 114 — Restraint of the fowl for caponizing. A, A, Weights at the ends of the 

 cords; B, cords looped around the legs; C, cord looped around the wings. 



tion to the rooster that the steer does to the bull; the barrow to the boar, 

 the gelding to the stallion, etc. 



History — It is impossible to say just how long the operation of caponiz 

 ing has been performed. It seems quite certain, however, that the practice 

 was familiar to the Chinese more than two thousand years ago. Later it 

 was practiced by the Greeks aud Romans and through medieval times, by 

 the people of middle and southern Europe, and in recent years it has been 



