Chickens

[Mooria]

Having a discussion at work and we can't come to a conclusion.
when producing chickens how do they control the amount of male to female birds? As a nation we don't eat as many Cocks as Hens, so where do all the other cocks go to??? TIAx

[tamborine]

see my wiki link above HC, a capon IS a young cockerel.

[tamborine]

We need our farms - dont we ?

http://www.britishpoultry.org.uk/?page_id=2052

[owdhamer]

And they say horse racing is cruel.

[tamborine]

No horse racing = less horses.

[hc4361]

With respect, Tambo - have you read the Wiki link yourself?
A young cockerel is not a capon until it's been caponized - which is illegal in the UK.

From your link:
Caponization can be done by surgically removing the rooster's testes, or may also be accomplished through the use of estrogen implants. With either method, the sex hormones normally present in roosters are no longer effective. Caponization must be done before the rooster matures, so that it develops without the influence of sex hormones.

[tamborine]

Hence capons are table-ready before their testes develop. If you get a capon intact you will see a small cocks-comb on its head to show its development stage, as its usually pale coloured, denotes its maturity.

[hc4361]

Aaargggh. I give up.

Male chicks are castrated or injected within the first 6 months of their lives, usually within a few weeks of hatching.

An unneutured male fowl of any age is not a capon.

[tamborine]

hc intensive farms (feeding the masses) dont have time to inject likky chicks. Chicks are given a cocktail of chemicals in their feed to ward off most ailments etc & fed to boost their development; according to Defra regulations.

[hc4361]

And as I've said before chemical and surgical castration is illegal in the UK, so any true capon for sale in this country is imported.

If it's not neutured, call it a young rooster, or young cockerel, for that is what it is.

The link you posted states a capon is castrated, either chemically or surgically.
http://www.countryfarm-lifestyles.com/caponize-chickens.html

[ummmm]

hc, you could end up banging your head on a wall....

[tamborine]

They're marketted as 'chicken' coz they're sexless :)

[venator]

Chicken sexing is a difficult art, and proficient chicken sexers are sought after. Could be a good career choice if you have excellent eyesight....

[sheribee]

Ok, are you sure you want to know the truth?
I studied a degree in animal management over the previous 3 years and am now vegan! The way farmed animals are used, killed etc are barbaric and after seeing it I couldn't eat animal products anymore!
Chicks for the egg industry are bred so that they can be sexed by colour at hatching, they travel along conveyor belts and the male chicks are discarded.
Some, they lucky ones will go on to be gassed or frozen swiftly for animal feeds such as birds and reptiles, many more are simply tossed down a shoot and ground up ALIVE, and if anyone doesn't believe this just google it, the videos make gruesome watching. The resultant mince is then used as fertiliser.
In the meat industry, male chicks are quick grown along with the females and end up on your plate after about 36 days, slightly longer for free range, around 45 days.
So, I keep my own lovely chookies :) bantams and get a cpl eggs a week from them as they are getting on bless them, I am a new veggi/vegan, I am not a shove it down your throat "you must not eat xyz" but the truth is pretty awful!!

[sheribee]

What I wrote above is the honest truth, billions upon billions around the world endure this, but it is not widely known about. I am on my phone so can't post any links but its not hard to find the details of this so called humane method of dispatching.

[sheribee]

Also, just reading above posts, male calves born are usually shot at birth as they have no use for them, spent a year studying farming and was taught on a farm hands on. Female cattle are artificially inseminated with pre sexed sperm, all these sperm are female, though obviously some male do slip through.
Veal production in the uk is not very widespread due to its bad name, so the calves are an unwanted bi product of the dairy industry.
Again, not widely known about but can be found online, incidentally we were all warned at uni to never ever use Wikipedia to source info for our coursework as the information can be written by any Tom dick or Harry and alot of the time it is false information x