The operation of caponizing is performed by cutting in between the last two ribs.  Both testicles may be removed from one side or both sides may be opened.  The cockerel should be starved for twenty-four hours in order to empty the intestines.  Asiatics are more difficult to operate on than Americans, the testicles being larger and less firm.  There is always some danger of causing death by tearing blood vessels, but the per cent. of loss with an experienced operator is very small.  Loss by inflammation is still more rare.  The testicle of a bird is not as highly developed as in a mammal, and if the organ is broken and a small fragment remains attached it will produce birds known as slips.  Some growers advise looking over the capons and puncturing the wind puffs that gather beneath the skin.  This, however, is not necessary.

A good set of tools is indispensable and can be purchased for from $2 to $3.  As a complete set of instructions is furnished with each set it is unnecessary to go into details here.  The beginner should, however, operate on several dead cockerels before attempting to operate on a live one.

After caponizing the bird should be given plenty of soft feed and water.  The capon begins to eat almost immediately after the operation is performed, and no one would suppose that a radical change had taken place in his nature.

The feeding of capons differs little from the feeding of other growing chickens.  Corn, wheat, barley and Kaffir-corn would be suitable grain, while beef-scrap would be necessary to produce the best growth.

About three weeks before marketing place the capons in small yards and feed them three or four times a day, giving plenty of corn and other feed, or fatten them in one of the ways indicated in the section on fattening poultry.  Corn meal and ground oats, equal parts by weight, moistened with water or milk, make a good mash for fattening capons.

In dressing capons leave the head and hackle feathers, the feathers on the wings to the second joint, the tail feathers, including those a little way up the back, and the feathers on the legs halfway up to the thigh.  These feathers serve to distinguish capons from other fowls in the market.  Do not cut the head off, for this is also a distinguishing feature of the capon, on account of the undeveloped comb and wattles.

The price received for capons is greater than any other kind of poultry meat except early broilers.  There may be trouble in some localities in getting dealers to recognize capons as such and pay an advanced price.

On several farms in Massachusetts, 500 to 1,000 capons are raised annually, and on one farm 5,000 cockerels are held for caponizing.  The industry is growing rapidly year by year and the supply does not equal the demand.

It is to be expected that the amount of caponizing done in the West will gradually increase.  Those wishing to try the growing of capons will do well to secure an experienced operator.  Good men at this work receive five cents per bird.  Poor operators are dear at any price, as they produce a large number of worthless slips.