OT I have sworn off Studebaker trucks, I have found something I like better

[greg g]

Found this on the net gotta have it. I know it's based on a Ford but there is just something about it.......

[BobT-47P15]

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Link to the "weird cars" pages: http://www.mitchell.derbycounty.co.uk/weirdcars.html

[Brad Lustig]

Now, we just need one with a roll of paper towels on it and we can have a good dinner.

[Don Coatney]

Cant believe you are gonna chicken out on us:p

[Don Coatney]

Believe what you have here is a single comb white leghorn.

[Brad Lustig]

Believe what you have here is a Foghorn Leghorn

"Boy's as sharp as a bowling ball."

[BobT-47P15]

Now, we gots here the funky chicken....

[Don Coatney]

A young chicken is called a chick. A male chicken is a cock or a cockerel, depending on its age. Similarly, a female chicken is called a pullet or a hen. The age at which a pullet becomes a hen and a cockerel becomes a cock depends on what type of chicken is being raised. Purebred poultry producers have very age-specific definitions. A chicken is a cockerel or pullet if it is less than one year of age. After one year of age, the chicken is referred to as a hen or cock. In the commercial industry a female chicken is called a hen after it begins egg production (around five months of age). A sexually mature male chicken (again, around five months of age) is referred to as a rooster. A capon is a castrated male chicken.

In caponization, the surgical castration of male chickens, the testes of the male chicken are completely removed. As a result, the cockerel fails to develop certain male characteristics or tends to lose them if they are developed. Capons are usually quiet and docile, lacking a cockerel's disposition to fight. The comb and wattles cease growing after castration, so the head of a capon looks small. The hackle, tail and saddle feathers grow unusually long.

Removal of the testes and thus elimination of the male sex hormones they produce reduces the male sex instinct and changes their behavior. They will become more docile and less active. Energy that is normally expended in fighting, courting behavior, and territorial protection is greatly reduced, allowing more efficient conversion of feed into growth, fat deposition and improved meat quality.

Caponizing produces a unique type of poultry meat grown for a specialized market. The meat of uncastrated cockerels tends to become rather coarse, stringy, and tough as the birds age. This is not the case with the capon. Caponized males grow more slowly than normal males and accumulate more body fat. The concentration of fat in both the light and dark meat of capons is greater than that of intact males. It is claimed that the capon meat is more tender, juicier, and more flavorful than regular chicken.

Caponizing, like sexing, is an acquired skill and, since it is a serious operation from the standpoint of the chicken, is best done by experienced individuals.

Male birds are typically caponized at two to four weeks of age. The testes of a male chicken are located within the abdominal cavity. A good caponizer can operate on about 200 birds per hour. An antibiotic is injected into the birds at the time of caponization, or one is fed for a week prior to the operation and for a week after. This aids in preventing stresses and infection.

The cockerel is taken off feed and water 12 to 24 hours prior to surgery. This is so that the intestines are not full and crowding the abdominal cavity during the operation. The partially empty intestines settle away from the testes, thus providing improved visibility within the body cavity. The bird must be penned on wire or a clean floor or it may ingest litter material.

Surgical caponizing involves total removal of the testes at about two to four weeks of age. At this age heavy breeds should weigh about one pound. The operation may be performed on older birds, but the young bird suffers less adverse effects and survival rate is higher.

The bird is fastened on a surface on its left side with the wings held together above the body. The legs are also fastened together and the bird stretched out to its full length in order to expose the rib cage area. Feathers in this rib area must be removed and the skin disinfected with 70% ethanol or another skin disinfectant.

Using a sharp scalpel or knife, a one-inch incision is made through the skin and other tissues between the two posterior ribs. The skin should be moved to one side before making the incision so that skin cut and muscle cut are not aligned afterwards. The incision should be deep enough to expose the abdominal air sac covering the intestines and other abdominal organs. Care must be used to avoid cutting a large vein in the skin that runs diagonally toward the back of the bird. The abdominal air sac is punctured with a sharp hook or probe to expose the internal organs. The testes are located on the dorsal wall at the anterior end of the kidneys, posterior to the lungs. The testes of a three-week-old cockerel are about the size of a large wheat kernel and may be yellowish, white, gray or black in color.

Both testes should be removed from the single incision, the lower or left testes removed first. The testis is grasped with special forceps and then twisted free from its connective tissue while slowly pulled from its attachments. Care must be taken not to rupture large blood vessels located between the two testes. The upper, right testis is then similarly removed. Electrically heated cautery equipment is available for incising the skin and removing the testes. It prevents excessive bleeding and may reduce the incidence of "slips". The rib spreader may now be removed and tension on the bird released, allowing the skin and thigh muscle to slip back into place. Once the bird is released, the incision should close without need for sutures or bandage.

Removal of both complete testes is necessary since any fragments that remain will grow and produce enough male hormone to create a "slip." While a "slip" will not be a normally functioning cockerel, it will also not yield the desirable meat qualities of a good capon.

Following surgery the birds should be provided feed and water in a clean pen where they are not crowded. Crowding may cause cannibalism, prolonging healing of the incision. "Windpuffs" may develop within a few days due to a buildup of air under the skin that escapes from air sacs cut during the surgery. Carefully puncturing the skin with a sharp instrument will effectively release entrapped air and may be repeated if necessary.

[Norm's Coupe]

Greg,

You are only allowed to drive that pickup if you wear one of these costumes to go with it. Otherwise the truck doesn't have the same meaning. So..........

[Plymouthy Adams]

Now Don...we all know that BATMAN, when fully dressed infers he has his "CAPON"

[Don Coatney]

So if the caponizer does a half fast job does he or she create a cryptorchid:confused:

[Brad Lustig]

"A capon is a castrated male chicken."

I've known some guys like this, but never knew they were called "capons".

[Don Coatney]

"A capon is a castrated male chicken."

I know that Brad;

So tell me what is a cryptorchid? I already know the answer.

[Merle Coggins]

I know that Brad;

So tell me what is a cryptorchid? I already know the answer.

From Meriam-Websters... "one affected with cryptorchidism"... which apparently is "a condition in which one or both testes fail to descend normally"

I guess it's true. You can learn something new every day. Thanks Don.

Merle

[1just4don]

I have NEVER ever caponized a chicken of KNOW of anybody that has. That was a practice of the early 1900's I spose to get sufficient meat for eatting.

All I recall is the specalized "broiler" industry where you feed a baby chick all it wants, keep it 95 degrees (or warmer)at first and progressively less as it grows and obtains feathers. Feed it and it 'grows' so fast sometimes there feet cant support them. You have to feed enough of the right vitamins to counteract. And in 6 weeks or LESS you are eatting the best,juciest,lip smacking 4 pounder you EVER had. There is a difference between store bought chicken and HOME grown broilers.

I dont grow them any more,wish I did. One time had the brainiac idea of this would be a great FFA project for school,,,grow a 1000 broilers. Sounds easy. Isnt. Critter gets in,,,lightning and thunder causes them to pile up and kill a 1/3 of them with only a week to go. Thought most people of the 60's would buy them live and butcher their own. NOT one person did,,,had to clean ever licking one of them. Two of us could do 80 a day,,,that was really gettin at it. Speially after the 'chicken picker' showed up!!! A rotating drum that had rubber fingers that gently beat off all the feathers and pins,hopefully if you were an expert scalder!!

Before this episode we thought cleaning 10 chickens was a full days work!! A syingying (sp) gun also ddint hurt the speed process any.

[Norm's Coupe]

Well, the last fresh chicken I had was back in the 50's while down on my Great Grandfathers farm. It was just a plain run of the mill chicken though from the coup. He just went out grabbed one, took an ax, cut of the head. After it stopped running around the coup with no head, my great grandmother dipped it in a hot stainless tub of boiling water and started plucking the feathers. Then took it in the house and fried it. Was good, but it was not a caponized chicken. Just a goofy chicken running around with no head for awhile.

[1just4don]

The local paper had a 59 T-Bird advertised last couple days,,,didnt say what they wanted for it,,,just the NORMAL jargon on how great it was. Whats the 'first' year' for tbirds?? And whats a 59er worth these days??? What was that t-bird in that movie--it was a precurrsor to"Happy Days" ,,,the one with the beautiful bombshell inside and it had a porthole in the back downsweep. Wasnt it a pretty powder blue???

[Young Ed]

The first year was 55 and I believe you are thinking of American Graffetti(sp?) which did feature a 55-57 tbird. That 59 is the next generation and looks different then the movie one.

[Normspeed]

Seems like the first production year was 55. I think the American Graffiti bird driven by Suzanne Summers was a 57 but could have been a 55-56. 57 had the tilted fins. 55-56 were almost the same but 56 had a vent door added to the front fenders.

[greg g]

Thanks all for your eunuch perspective!

[BobT-47P15]

Those chickens are a "cut" above..............

[Don Coatney]

I have NEVER ever caponized a chicken of KNOW of anybody that has. That was a practice of the early 1900's I spose to get sufficient meat for eatting.

.

Go check your local grocery store for a Capon? Bet you will find one even in your remote area.

[Don Coatney]

So Greg;;;;;

You gonna chicken out:D :D

[Don Coatney]

From Meriam-Websters... "one affected with cryptorchidism"... which apparently is "a condition in which one or both testes fail to descend normally"

I guess it's true. You can learn something new every day. Thanks Don.

Merle

Welcome! Learned all about this years ago. Upper case education sticks around:p

[Allan Faust]

Believe what you have here is a Foghorn Leghorn

"Boy's as sharp as a bowling ball."

Actually.... its a loud mouthed shnook!!!!

Allan