.212 MAKING POULTRY PAY 



until June and are not commonly marketed until from 

 ■eight to fourteen months of age. Capons make more 

 weight for the feed they eat than do other fowls, as 

 their only ambition is to eat and rest, two things which 

 are favorable to the production of fat and growth. A 

 flock of capons are quiet, do not crow and are easily 

 taken care of. 



The best breeds to caponize are the medium sized 

 varieties such as Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, Rhode 

 Island Reds, etc. The Asiatics do not give as satis- 

 factory results unless kept until they reach maturity, 

 when they are so large as to be beyond the reach of 

 private families. It does not pay to caponize smaller 

 breeds, for they do not produce dressed fowls of the 

 highest quality. A cross of the Dorking or Indian 

 Game on Light Brahma, or a Pit Game on a Houdan- 

 Brahma hen, will produce very fine capons. A pen of 

 fine capons, mostly Brahmas, are shown in Figure 90. 



The Operation — Birds are three months old. 

 They are confined to the table by straps and weights 

 raround legs, wings and neck. A space of several 

 square inches is plucked clean, a slit made with a sharp 

 knife between the last two ribs one and one-half inches 

 long. The ribs are held apart with a wire spreader, 

 the intestines are moved back, the organs found and 

 removed by a twist with the spoon hook. Apt students 

 complete the operation in about three minutes. 



To avoid needless cruelty the beginner should 

 practice first with a dead fowl. The operation is best 

 performed on chickens about three months old, 

 although it will succeed if carefully done on older 

 birds, but the percentage or^eaths, slips and culls will 

 "be greater. 



As with many other operations, this is one that 

 can be learned most readily by seeing it done, and we 

 ■advise those who would undertake it to procure 



