Capons and Poulardes . 
35 
other being afterwards sought for and removed in a similar manner. Care must be taken that 
the testicle does not slip away among the intestines after it is detached, when its detection and 
removal from the body may be difficult ; but even if this accident should occur it is not often 
followed by serious results, though occasionally it does excite inflammation. 
Both testicles being safely removed, the edges of the wound are brought togethei and kepi 
in the proper position by two or three stitches with the waxed thread. These are made in the 
usual surgical mode, each stitch being detached, and separately tied, not sewn as a seam. In 
making them the chief thing to guard against is to avoid even pricking the intestines with the 
needle, much less including any portion of them in the stitch, which last would inevitably result 
in the death of the fowl. When all is done rightly there should be little bleeding or suffering ; and 
the whole being safely over, the bird should be put under a coop in a quiet place and given only 
soft food, such as sopped bread, and water. After a few hours he may be put by himself in a 
run or yard ; but until perfectly healed must not be allowed to perch, but obliged to sleep on straw. 
For three or four days the soft food alone must be continued; and when entirely recovered the bird 
may be either set at liberty if wanted to rear chickens, or put up to fatten. 
Pullets are also converted into poulardes by depriving them of the power of producing eggs. 
In France it is usual to extirpate the ovary, but this is needless ; the operation recommended by 
Mr. Yarrell of simply dividing the oviduct with a sharp knife being quite sufficient. The flank 
is to be exposed in the same manner as in the preceding case, but the incision should be made 
close to the side-bone. The lower bowel will then be seen, and close beside it the oviduct, which 
is then easily drawn forward by a blunt hook and cut across. This entirely stops the development 
of the ovary, and causes the bird to attain a great size 
The Chinese operate somewhat differently to the French. The chickens to be caponised are 
fasted for at least twenty-four hours, as this is thought to diminish bleeding. The bird is then 
placed on its left side, with the wing folded back and kept under one foot of the operator, who 
works without an assistant, while its legs are kept fast under the other foot ; or sometimes an 
assistant is employed. The feathers are now plucked from the right side near the hip-joint, and 
the incision is made between the two last ribs, going just deep enough to divide them. Several 
rude instruments are used, and the testicles are usually removed by the sawing of a rough loop 
or ligature of cocoa-nut fibre across their attachments. In one respect, however, their process is 
better, the wound not being stitched up, but the skin being forcibly drawn on one side before the 
incision is made ; so that when the whole operation is completed and it is released, it covers of 
itself the wound in the flesh, and avoids the irritation which stitches sometimes produce. 
Generally speaking, it may be said that either capons or poulardes exceed in weight about 
one-fifth what the same birds would have been if fatted in their natural state ; but the flesh is also 
whiter and more delicate, and the development plumper upon the table. In the case of pullets 
we must say we think the operation unadvisable, the birds being valuable for laying ; but the art 
of caponising cockerels might be extended in England with great advantage, as fowls thus treated 
remain tender even if kept to the age of eighteen months, when they make enormous fowls, and 
may be employed in nursing chickens meanwhile. Hence the process becomes of considerable 
importance to all who consider poultry-keeping from a commercial point of view. 
Before being killed, all fowls should be fasted for at least fourteen hours. Several methods 
of killing have been mentioned in the quotations already given. M. Soyer recommends breaking 
the neck, which is done by taking the head in the right hand, with the thumb against the back 
of it ; seizing the neck with the left, the same arm supporting the fowl ; then a quick jerk with the 
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