What's a capon and why

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Hollinger Corp.

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Chapter II. Capons As Foster Mothers

Did you ever see a capon with a brood of little chicks f No ! Well, you have certainly missed something worth an effort to see, even though you never expect to raise a chicken as long as you live. It certainly is an interesting sight to see a capon performing the mother's duties. When it comes to taking real good, attentive, loving care of a brood of newly hatched chicks the capon has the old hen beaten at every turn. In the first place, his plumage is much more abundant, the feathers are longer and softer and his spread of wing is much greater than Madam Hen; in fact, his accommodations are much more ample in every respect. The capon has a commanding cluck, cluck, that the little chicks seem to understand perfectly, and when

The Proof — A Capon and Chicks.

Real photograph, without retouching in any way. Capons are the best means of raising little chicks that we have ever tried. On our large farm we have raised from 500 to 600 chicks each year for the last five years. These were hatched in incubators and given to capons to raise. They were taken right from the machine and given to the capons. The capons have raised to maturity over 85 per cent of all the chicks given to them, a feat that would hardly be possible with any style of brooder. A capon will cluck and hover the little chicks exactly the same as a hen. It requires very little training to have them do this.

the occasion demands he has the capacity to raise his voice so that the youngsters that have strayed some distance away may hear him and regain the brood in time to avoid danger. Best of all, the hawk does not fly that can take a chick from a good

Page Seventeen

Barred Plymouth Rock capon. On various occasions I have seen a capon with a brood of chicks take a running shot at a hawk, the big yellow kind, that was in the act of seizing a chick, and knock the hawk as much as ten feet, rolling on the ground. As the hawk regained his wings he lost no time in getting away, and no further trouble was experienced from that particular bird. He will cluck and hover a motherless brood of chicks willingly and much better than the best of hens. All hens are not alike, some are better than others with chicks. Capons are the same in that respect, some are better than others.

Rightly handled, we have never seen a capon that would refuse to mother a brood of newly-hatched chicks. In connection with the incubator, they have proved to be the best method of brooding the little chicks that we have ever tried. Always ready to take the little fluffy balls of down and care for

Capons Keep the Little Turkeys Dry and Safe.

Bristol, Vermont, R. R. No. 3, Nov. 18th, 1913. Mr. Geo. Geuoy, Cedar Vale, Kansas.

Dear Sir: — I bought of you last year a No. 10 set of capon tools and my husband and I operated on some chickens and have some nice capons as result.

We hatched our TURKEY EGGS under hens and gave the poults to capons to raise. They took fine care of them. We did not have to worry at all when there was a hard rain. The capons kept our turkeys dry and safe.

We used the capons to mother our young chicks and rented out some capons for the same purpose.

Yours respectfully,

MRS. MAHLON PURINTON.

them until they are matured birds, if not weaned from them sooner. Where it is advisable to change the father capon from a bunch of larger to smaller chicks, it is of course necessary to wean him from the larger ones. To accomplish this it is best to shut the capon up in a rather dark place for three or four days, entirely away from the old brood. The younger chicks may then be placed under him some night and left the following day with him, after which he will usually take up with them and no further trouble be experienced. It is no trouble to start a capon with little chicks in the first place. They just naturally take to young chicks the same as a duck takes to water. It is important that the capon be quite gentle or he will be more difficult to handle. For the best results have a small yard with a coop in it. Place the capon in this yard a few days before you intend to give him the chicks. It will give him time to get located and at home in his new quarters. If the capon has never

Page Eighteen raised chicks before it is best that the chicks be about one week old to start him with. As the brood coop has no perches in it, the capon will go to roost squatting on the floor. Just about dark take the little chicks out and place them under his wings, one or two at a time, until they are all under. The capon will not object to this, but will rather like it. Should he for any reason seem to be restless, tickle him under the chin and talk to him a little in a soothing voice, and all will soon be well. You will have to be up good and early the next morning to see how things progress.

Usually the next morning the capon will be talking, scolding and hovering the little fellows the same as the hen. Sometimes one will seem to be in doubt, will hold up one foot in his feathers, standing on one leg, and not say much. Where they perform in this manner, take the chicks entirely away from them and try it again the second night, in the meantime keeping the capon confined to the coop and as dark as possible. By the second morning the most obstinate of them will be clucking and ready to fight for the brood. After they have once learned how to do it right, young newly hatched chicks may be given to them with perfect safety. In warm weather one capon will care for thirty chicks, but we have found it much better to have only twenty chicks to the capon. At the big Topeka poultry show in January, 1911, George Beuoy of the Dingley Dell Farm, Cedar Yale, Kan., had on exhibition two capons with twenty newly hatched chicks to each capon. The chicks were about one week old, were hatched in an incubator and shipped from Cedar Yale to Topeka the two coldest days of that year, the thermometer registering 12 degrees below zero. The chicks, going astray, were on the road two nights and one day, without feed or water. The little chicks were right in a box 14x36 inches, with the capons, and came through without the loss of a single chick. Truly a remarkable performance. Something that would have been impossible with the best of mother hens, but only a fair example of what may be expected of a capon with little chicks. Hundreds of people saw these birds, as they were the center of attraction at that great show. Mr. Beuoy is a breeder of Barred Plymouth Rocks with a national reputation. Birds bred and raised by him having won more prizes at the really large and up-to-date shows than any other breeder of that variety in the Central West. Many of his prize winners were raised by capons, that being the only system on his large poultry farm, having discarded the brooders entirely in favor of the capons. In communities where capons are well known they are used almost exclusively for raising little chicks. Tt makes no difference if the chicks are hatched under hens instead of incubators, it pays to take them from the hen and let the capon care for them. Put the hen back on the laying job and let her fill the egg basket while daddy capon scratches

Page Nineteen

Capons as Foster Mothers.

Harper, Kansas, May 21, 1912.

George Beuoy, Cedar Vale, Kansas: Please send me a copy of "What's a Capon and Why?" I have had a few Capons and wish to raise more of them. I think they are fine for brooders. I have one that runs with 112 little chicks in the daytime, but he only cares for twenty at night. The rest are kept in the brooder. Please send the book at once. Yours truly,

Box 141. MRS. FRANK PALMER.

for the young' chicks. It seems hard for some to believe that capons will actually do all this, and this point is well illustrated in the following true incident :

A certain bank cashier in our town became very much intrested in capons as a pastime. He secured a few cockerels and operated on them, taking a great deal of interest in the work as a diversion from his more strenuous occupation, and incidentally, enjoying a fine capon feast with friends now and then. On one such occasion early last spring, soon after he had started his first capon with little chicks, his little grandson, just learning to talk real plain, was amongst the favored ones. The cashier, bubbling over with enthusiasm and delight with his success as producer and trainer of expert mother nurses, called the guests out to see for themselves. The sight was new and impressive, as the banker scattered bits of corn bread before the capon and his brood of baby chicks. Everybody was very quiet, contemplating the scene. About the only sound to be heard was the encouraging cluck, cluck, of the old bird as he insisted that the little fellows partake of the feast as he broke apart the most choice morsels for them. All at once, in a very solemn voice, the grandson inquired: "Say, Grandpa, is that a dady hen?"

A Lady Worked 120 First Time— Only Lost One.

Mont Ida, Kansas.

Mr. George Beuoy, Cedar Vale, Kansas.

Dear Sir: — Please send me a list of capon buyers. I had splendid success with the Capon Tools (No. 10 set, bought of you). I have worked one hundred and twenty (120) birds and only lost one, and it was not right; had its back hurt. I worked Mrs. Atwater's chickens for her and she thought the tools could not be beat, and she sent for a set at once. I got ten cents apiece for working the birds and have the promise of one hundred more to work. We have eaten several capons and they are certainly GRAND. We will always have some capons on this farm. Wishing you the best of success, I remain, yours very truly,

MRS. BELLE WATTS, R. R. No. 1.

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Chapter III. The Reason Of High Prices For Capons

IF A CHILD CAN DO IT SO CAN YOU.

LITTLE HELEN BEUOY, CEDAR VALE, KANSAS, MAKING A CAPON.

At the time this picture was taken Helen was only ten years old. This little

girl makes spending money by working birds for the neighbors. She

gets ten cents for each capon she makes. It is easy for her

to operate on fifty in one afternoon.

Capons bring high prices ; there will always be a demand for them far in excess of the supply. Some makers of capon instruments have enlarged on the prices obtainable for capons

Page Twenty-one and overstated the facts. No doubt but that 40 to 50 cents per pound can be obtained in certain aristocratic sections for dressed capon in fancy style. However, that is not what interests the average producer. It is the price readily obtainable on the open market that should govern them. Careful observations covering the last five years and based on Central Western conditions show that the average price in season for capons to be right around 20 cents per pound. In some instances as low as 15 cents per pound, live weight. Farther East, where capons are better known, the price was much better.

It is not a question of how much you can get for the capon ; the point is, you cannot afford to be without capons, even though you never intend to sell one. One capon will more than pay for a set of tools that will last forever. As a source of food supply they cannot be ignored. With a good set of instruments

Fourteen-Pound Barred Rock Capon,. Sweepstakes Winner at Kansas City Wichita and Independence. 1913-14.

in your possession you at once have unlimited access to the greatest table delicacy obtainable in ancient or modern times, a so-called luxury that was out of the reach of the poor man and not always obtainable by the rich. Modern down-to-date invention, together with a little "gumption" on the part of the consumer, has placed this dish within the reach of all. As a source of profit no other part of the poultry business offers so great a return as capons. It is safe to figure that they will always bring twice as much per pound as the average price of hens. They Avill average about twice as heavy, just as the finished steer will outweigh and outsell the cow.

As a means of recreation "caponizing" presents a subject full of interest and running over with possibilities. Bankers, teachers, clerks and business men in all lines of work get great

Page Twenty-two enjoyment from a few capons. The operation is very interesting, requiring a certain amount of skill. But it is soon learned and easily performed.

Children especially take great interest in the operation and in watching the birds develop, boys or girls of over 10 years being very quick to get the hang of the operation and soon become expert at it. Note the picture of Helen Beuoy. Helen learned the operation herself, practicing first on a dead bird, one that had just been killed to eat. The season just passed Helen worked on many birds, and quit the season without the loss of a single one. The picture is from an actual photo without retouching in any way. Taken by Oeie Sartin while Helen was operating on a live bird. At the time the picture was taken Helen was only 10 years old. You will note that she is using the Geo. Beuoy No. 10 set of instruments; these are the kind of tools that make real capons.

There are several good reasons why capons bring such high r

Twelve Pound White Rock Capon.

prices, the principal one being that capons hit the market at a time when all other poultry is very scarce and hard to get at any price. A capon gets his growth usually during February or March and is ready for the market at that time. This is too early in the season for young chicks or broilers and those who have wintered a bunch of hens do not care to sell at this time on account that the hens are laying their best and eggs are at the top price at this season. There are no grass cattle on the market, which means that beef, pork and all kinds of meat, in fact, is not only very scarce and high but in many instances cannot be had at all. The capon is at his Jaest at this time and comes in at exactly the proper time to fill a long felt want and to supply the market with the best possible quality of meat.

At least half the chickens hatched each year are male birds, early hatched birds are of course the most profitable, as this is a well known fact the result is that the bulk of the chicken crop

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IF" A CHILD CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU

Carl Fritz Beuoy, age 7 years, making a capon. Carl is quite an expert; worked fifty birds this season, twenty of them for Wm. McNeely well known stockman of Cedar Vale, Kan., doing the work all himself. The capons were later sold to the Seymour Packing Co. of Windfield, Kan., and pronounced first class. Carl uses the No. 10 George Beuoy set, as you can see in the pitcure.

is hatched during March, April and May. This means that the young males or at least half of all the chickens raised will be ready for market at or about the same time.

Under old methods this half of the poultry crop of this country would reach the market as frying chickens or broilers and all in a bunch, or nearly so. Under the best conditions they would all come onto the market within ninety days and during the hottest time of the season. This means that the market would become glutted and no demand. The price would have to sink to its lowest ebb and the birds sold for less than it cost to raise them.

Modern conditions demand modern methods, and it is only by caponizing the young males that this valuable source of wholesome food can be conserved and distributed over the entire year instead of being rushed to the market in a bunch.

Five or six years ago we began to caponize all of our surplus male birds and since then the capons have been the most profitable part of our poultry business. As a matter of fact up to that time we had lost money on the male half of our flock, now they make us more profit than the hens or pullets. We sell them right on the market and what we have done and are still doing, any farmer or poultry raiser can do equally as well.

It will be but a very short time until capons will be found on every farm in the country, the signs of the times point that way and the issue cannot be dodged. Capons are bound to come. Conditions demand that the male birds be caponized in order to protect the egg crop, if for no other reason. We are told and most of us know it to be a fact that unfertilized eggs can be kept in a perfectly fresh condition for many months. It is also an established fact that unfertilized eggs will sell for double the price of eggs that are fertilized. The problem with the farmer who produces the bulk of the egg crop has been to find a practical way of disposing of the males. Forced on the market during the hot months they were sure to produce a loss. Under the old method, it was almost impossible for the average farmer to make capons with any degree of success. Necessity, as usual, is the mother of invention and these new conditions demanded a modern way of making capons, one that would be safe, sure and effective. These conditions have all been met in the Geo. Beuoy Capon Tools invented and patented by George Beuoy, a farmer of Cedar Yale, Kan., some six years ago. I have been using a set of these tools ever since they were first invented, caponizing several hundred birds each year with the very best success. I have a little boy only seven years old that can do the work just as well and almost as fast as myself. There is scarcely any danger from the operation if the proper instruments are used. Best results can be secured if the birds are worked on when quite small. In the American breeds when they are about like quails in size and appearance is the best time. In the small breeds like Leghorns, they will have to be worked even smaller than that on account of the

Page Tweoty-fiveo fact that birds of small breeds develop much faster sexually than the larger breeds. The idea is to get them just before the comb and wattles begin to grow or redden up.

It is much easier and faster to do this work on poultry than it is to perform a similar operation on any other kind of stock or animal. The danger to the fowl is not so great and the bird will recover from the operation much quicker than a pig or calf. With a little practice any one can soon learn to make thirty or forty capons in an hour. As a starter it is best to practice on a dead bird. Commence on one that you have just killed to eat, work on one or two in that way and you will become accustomed

Capons Made with "Geo. Beuoy Tools" Make Good

Guy E. McGlaskey, White Wyandotte Breeder,

Girard, Kan., May 30th, 1913.

Mr. George Beuoy, Cedar Vale, Kansas.

Dear Sir: — Your letter of instructions and No. 10 set of tools with illustrated instructions received. I tried the tools this morning on six White Wyandottes. I only had the six that were the right size, so I began on a live bird, and operated on them all without killing one. They commenced to eat as soon as I let them down. Yours truly, GUY E. McGLASKEY.

P. S. — I am crippled with rheumatism and haven't walked for six years. Have to sit in a wheeled chair, but I laid a board across the arms of my chair and used that for an operating table instead of a barrel.— G. E. Mc.

The Capons Made Money

Garard, March 4th, 1914.

Mr. George Beuoy, Cedar Vale, Kansas.

Dear Mr. Beuoy: — Well I have sold the capons and we are well pleased with the results. See detailed statement below. The poultry dealer at this place shipped them to Chicago for us. We had him dress them for us and as they did not have to draw them they did not shrink very much. The people around here could hardly believe that capons bring such high prices and they think it is a joke that they will care for little chicks. I am keeping three of mine to raise little chicks and will surprise them again. Statement — Capons shipped Feb. 19, 1914.

Eleven White Wyandottes and 12 B. Ply Rocks, twenty-three in all.

Weight alive 202 lbs.

Eleven W. Wyandottes weighed dressed, 75 lbs.

Twelve Barred Ply. Rocks weighed dressed, 115 lbs.

Shrinkage in dressing 23 capons only 12 lbs.

Shrinkage in shipping same only one pound.

Price per pound, 25 cents.

Cost of picking and packing, $1.25.

Express to Chicago, $3.90.

Commission of 5 per cent, $2.50.

Total Expense, $7.65.

Total price, $47.25.

Net price $39.60, almost a net price of 21 cents per pound for them. Yours truly, GUY E. McGLASKEY.

Page Twenty-six to the instruments and will get the parts to be removed fixed in your mind. You will then be anxious to try on a live bird and can proceed with confidence and success. It pays to take plenty of time on the start and go slow on the first few. In case one should be killed it would just bleed to death and would die much quicker than if its head were cut off in the usual way and of course would be just as good to eat.

Capons are profit makers and they bring in the cash at a

Helen and Carl Fritz Beuoy work together since Carl has grown large enough to be real help. The picture of Helen, on page 21, was taken four years ago when Helen was much smaller. Helen is a real expert having made capons for five seasons and has never killed a bird while operating, and she works many birds each season. Helen prefers the No. 10 set shown on page 66, the written guarantee of which is on page 69.

time of the year when we need it most. Usually February and March are dull months on the farm. Have a flock of capons and cash in at this time. It helps.

I remember my first bunch of capons and the nice profit

Page Twenty-seven they made me. It was some five or six years ago. Along in July Ave found that we had a few over a hundred young cockerels that we must dispose of. Inquiries as to market price developed the fact that we could not get over twenty cents apiece for them or a total of twenty dollars for the hundred birds. I had not at that time had any experience with capons. In fact had never seen the operation but I secured a set of the best instruments I could find and started in on them. At first it was a bit awkward but a little practice and I was all right. We fatted out that bunch of capons, sold them on the market in the latter part of February, shipping them to Kansas City and selling live weight on the mar-

The son of a prominent official of the Missouri State Experiment Station, Mountain Grove, Mo., and two Barred Rock Capons, Pete and Repeat. Big" enough to use for horses.

ket. As I remember it we received twenty-one cents per pound for them and they weighed a trifle over ten each on the average, which made the hundred capons bring something over two hundred dollars. A gross profit of one hundred and eighty dollars more than they would have brought, sold as cockerels. A net profit of at least one dollar each.

Usually capons will bring about double the average price of hens per pound. It costs about the same to raise a capon as a hen. The capon will weigh at least twice as much and as he sells

Page Twenty-eight higher per pound a good capon will bring about the same amount of money as four hens of the same breed.

Aside from the capon's value as a strictly money making farm issue, he has other qualities that should commend him to your attention. Capons make fine mothers for little newly hatched chicks. In connection with an incubator they are the best means of raising little chicks that we have ever tried. You understand of course that "capons do not lay eggs," and it is no use to write for ' ' capon eggs. ' ' But they do love to look after a bunch of little chicks. They will hover them and cluck to them exactly like a mother hen and in most cases are better with the little fellows than the best of hens. It is no trouble to teach them to do this, they just naturally take to little chicks like a small boy to a mud hole. A few years ago capons w r ere scarcely known in this section, now they are becoming quite common. Following my success with capons on the market I was requested to give a lecture and demonstration at our Agricultural College at Manhattan in connection with the annual field meeting of the Kansas State Poultry Federation. This feature was so much of a success and so much interest and enthusiasm w^as shown that I was engaged by the Missouri State Poultry Board last summer to attend a series of field meetings in that state and lecture and demonstrate the art of caponizing. I w T as in Missouri some two weeks and gave lectures at nine towns in the principal poultry sections, including one day at their Poultry Experiment Farm at Mountain Grove. The trip was under the management and guidance of T. E. (^)uinsenberry, director of the Missouri State Poultry Board, and everywhere we met with the greatest interest by crowds which varied from two or five thousand people. I have also within the last few months given lectures and demonstrations in many Kansas towns and a few in Oklahoma, in many instances at the expense and request of the Farmers Institutes and I can say to you that the farmer who does not caponize his male birds the coming season is entirely behind the times and will lose a nice profit to which he is fully entitled and should have. That the farmers in Missouri are awake to the possibilities of capons, is proven I think, by the fact that they have insisted that demonstrations and lectures on capons be included at all field meetings in that state this season.

I do a lot of lecture and demonstration work on this subject, not because I want to, but because I can not get out of it and do my duty to the industry. Honestly, I don't believe it helps the beginner to have some one show him or her how to do it. I believe you can learn better and quicker by commencing on a dead bird, as stated above, and learning by yourself. Too much advice is bad dope — just get out by yourself without anyone to bother and you will be surprised how easy and simple it really is.

Page Twenty-nine

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF POULTRY HUSBANDRY

Efficient Instruction In All Branches of The Poultry Business By The Correspondence Method

Mountain Grove, Box G. B., Missouri, Jan. 23, 1915

Mr. George Beuoy, The Capon King, Cedarvale, Kan.

Dear Mr . Beuoy :

I write to let you know that great interest is being manifested on the part of our students in the lesson on Capons and Caponizing. We are teaching hundreds of them by mail just how to perform a successful operation, and many of them write that they are able to make good profits from this branch of the industry.

I know a large number of farmers in this state who are caponizing 20^ and 300 cockerels and then holding them over to the season for marketing capons and receiving all the way from $1.50 to $2.25 each for them.

We have students from all parts of the United States, Canada, and several other countries. They all seem to think that the chapter in the lesson on Capons and Caponizing written by you is of great value to them, and they also seem to like your instruments better than most any others they have ever used.