2nd January. Caponisation.

The current crop of young chickens are now entering the equivalent of puberty with a corresponding loss of innocence. Normal practice amongst poultry keepers is simply to 'dispatch' all the cockerels and make a nice pie. Unfortunately this option isn't available due to a surfeit of sentiment regarding these particular adolescents.

I suggested having the more precocious and unruly males Caponised. "A capon is a rooster (a male chicken) whose testicles were removed at a young age. Typically the castration is performed when the chicken is between 6 and 20 weeks old." A proper caponiser can apparently sort out 200 birds an hour. "...the benefits are a non-aggressive male that can serve as a mother for baby chicks. They also produce ample, tender meat when butchered and as such are a choice poultry meat in some locales. Capons taste great due to the high fat content, they are self-basting..." (this fact can for our purposes be ignored.)

It's possible that the caponising technique could be adapted for other young adults for whom the threat of the 'naughty step' is no longer deterrent enough.