A method for surgically caponising turkey toms

A surgical procedure was developed for caponising turkey toms. This operation consisted of making a 3 cm-long incision on each side immediately caudal to the last rib; widening the incision with a Gelpi retractor, teasing the tough mesorchium from the testicle, removing the testicle with a Brown-Adison forceps and suturing the incision with catgut. A combination of ketamine and xylazine given intravenously produced a satisfactory level of anaesthesia. The principal surgical problem was the thin blood vessels adjacent to the testicles in the turkey which could be easily ruptured.