334 
MAKING CAPONS. 
MAKING CAPONS. 
The following article on making capons, is the 
best within our recollection. It is taken from the 
directions accompanying the sets of instruments 
for caponising, made by Mr. John Mendenhall, 
Philadelphia:— 
Fowls intended to be cut, must be kept at least 
twenty-four hours without food, otherwise the en¬ 
trails will fill the cavity of the belly and render it 
almost impossible to complete the operation; be¬ 
sides, when they have been starved the proper 
length of time, they are less liable to bleed. 
The chicken is taken at any age, from five days 
old until it begins to crow, or even after. Lay the 
fowl on its left side on the floor, draw the wings 
hack, and keep it firm by resting the right foot on 
its legs, and the other foot or knee on its wings. 
(The table with the apparatus does away with 
the necessity of this stooping position.) Be careful 
that the head of the fowl is not held down, or even 
touched during the operation, as it would be sure 
to cause it to bleed. Pluck the feathers off from 
its right side near the hip joint, in a line between 
that and the shoulder joint; the space uncovered 
should be a little more than an inch square. Make 
an incision between the two last ribs, having first 
drawn the skin of the part backward, so that when 
left to itself it will cover the wound in the flesh. 
In some fowls the thigh is so far forward that it 
covers the two last ribs; in which case, care must 
be taken to draw the flesh of the thigh well back, 
so as not to cut through it, or else it would lame 
the fowl, and perhaps cause its death in a few 
days after the operation, by inflaming. 
The ribs are to be kept open by the hooks—the 
opening must be enlarged each wav by the knife, 
if necessary, until the testicles, which are attached 
to the back bone, are entirely exposed to view, 
together with the intestines in contact with them. 
The testicles are enclosed in a thin skin, connect¬ 
ing them with the back and sides—this must be 
laid hold of with the pliers, and then tom away 
with the pointed instrument; doing it first on the 
upper testicle, then on the lowerl (The lower 
testicle will generally be found a little behind the 
other—that is, a little nearer the rump.) Next in¬ 
troduce the loop; (which is made of a horse-hair or 
a fibre of cocoa-nut;) it must be put round the tes¬ 
ticle which is uppermost, in doing which the spoon 
is serviceable to raise up the testicle and push the 
loop under it, so that it shall be brought to act up¬ 
on the part which holds the testicle to the back; 
then tear it off' by pushing the tube toward the 
rump of the fowl, at the same time drawing the 
loop. Then scoop it and the blood out with the 
spoon, and perform the same operation on the 
other testicle. Take away the hooks, draw the 
skin over and close the wound ; stick the feathers 
that you pulled off before on the wound, and let 
the bird go. 
Remarks. —If the operation be performed with¬ 
out sufficient skill, many of the fowls will prove 
not to be capons; these may he killed for use as 
soon as the head begins to grow large and get red, 
and they begin to chase the hens. The real ca¬ 
pon will make itself known by the head remaining 
small, and the comb small and withered; the 
feathers of the neck or mane will also get longer, 
and the tail will be handsomer and longer: they 
should be kept to the age of fifteen or eighteen 
months, which will bring them in the spring and 
summer, when poultry is scarce and brings a high 
price. Take care, however, not to kill them near 
moulting time, as all poultry then is very inferior. 
The operation fails, principally, by bursting the 
testicle, so that the skin which encloses the soft 
matter, remains in the bird, and the testicle grows 
again. 
Birds of five or six months are less liable to 
have, the testicles burst in the operation than 
younger fowls, but they are also more apt to bleed 
to death than those of from two to four months old. 
A skilful operator will always choose fowls of 
from two to three months;—he will prefer also, 
to take off the lower testicle first, as then the blood 
will not prevent him from proceeding with the 
other; whereas, when the upper one is taken off 
the first, if there should be any bleeding, he has 
to wait before he can take off the lower testicle. 
The large vein that supplies the entrails with 
blood passes in the neighborhood of the testicles; 
there is danger that a young beginner may pierce 
it with the pointed instrument in taking off the 
skin of the lower testicle, in which case the chick¬ 
en would die instantly, for all the blood in its body 
would issue out. There are one or two smaller 
veins which must be avoided, which is very easy, 
as they are not difficult to see. If properly man¬ 
aged, no blood ever appears until a testicle is ta¬ 
ken off: so that should any appear before that, 
the operator will know that he has done some¬ 
thing wrong. 
If a chicken die, it is during the operation by 
bleeding; (of course it is as proper for use as if bled 
to death by having its throat cut;) they very sel¬ 
dom die after, unless they have received some in¬ 
ternal injury, or the flesh of the thigh has been 
cut through, from not being drawn back from off 
the last two ribs, where the incision is made; all 
of which are apt to be the case with young prac¬ 
titioners. 
If the testicles be found to be large, the bamboo 
tube should be used, and it should have a strong 
cocoa-nut string in it,—for small ones the silver 
tube with a horse-hair in it, is best.. 
When a chicken has been cut, it is necessary 
before letting it run, to put a permanent mark up¬ 
on it; otherwise it would be impossible to distin¬ 
guish it from others not cut. I have been accus¬ 
tomed to cut off the outside or the inside toe of the 
left foot,—by this means I can distinguish them 
at a distance. Another mode is to cut off the 
comb, then shave off the spurs close to the leg, and 
stick them upon the bleeding head, where they 
will grow and become ornamental in the shape of 
a pair of horns. This last mode is perhaps the 
best, but it is not so simple and ready as the first. 
Which ever mode is adopted, the fowl should be 
marked before performing the operation, because 
the loss of blood occasioned by cutting off the 
comb or a toe, makes the fowl less likely to bleed 
internally during the operation. 
