3IO POULTRY CULTURE 



chickens to be held for the early summer trade and marketed at 

 from seven to nine months of age. Most of these are sold not as 

 capons but as roasting chickens, both capons and pullets being so 

 designated. Except for the operation these capons are handled 

 in every way like the pullets grown with them. 



Cockerels of Asiatic breeds or of the large general-purpose type 

 are most suitable for capons. The operation is usually performed 

 when the chicks are about six or eight weeks old. It must be done 

 between the time when the testicles become easily visible through 

 the incision made in the side and the time when they begin to be 

 functionally active. After that the loss of blood and the shock to 

 the bird make it inadvisable. 



The operation. The testicles of birds, being located internally 

 and attached to the backbone a little below the middle of the back, 

 can be removed only through incisions in the sides. Instruments 

 for caponizing are made by manufacturers of surgical instruments, 

 and sold by them direct and also through poultry-supply dealers. 

 Directions for operating are furnished with instruments. The 

 operation is not particularly difficult for one who has a good eye 

 and a steady hand. While it may be learned by following instruc- 

 tions, few become proficient in it without personal instruction and 

 considerable practice. An expert operator will caponize from forty 

 to sixty birds in an hour. Chicks of suitable size do not seem to 

 suffer from the operation. The wounds heal quickly and often 

 leave no scar visible when the birds are dressed. 



Slips are capons which, as they grow, develop to some extent the 

 sexual characters of which it is the object of the operation to 

 deprive them. This is due, presumably, to defective operation, but 

 some good operators declare that with the greatest care they still 

 have many slips. Slips are not sexually potent, but as they become 

 hard-meated and "" staggy," they are marketed as soon as their 

 character becomes apparent. 



