That's not the "traditional solution", capons are something different entirely. These are egg laying breeds, they aren't considered worth raising for meat.
But that has to do with the specialization via breeding more than it has to do with anything intrinsic. We raise dual purpose chickens on a hobby basis, and I understand that, yes, this would not be acceptable on an industrial/commercial scale, but that says more about that kind of market, that kind of farming & the way consumers are insulated from the affects of it than it does about the quality of the birds or the meat.
In other words, yet again, the true externalities are not always exposed to the consumer.
EDIT: I should mention I am also fully in favour of things like this genetic engineering work that could provide a larger scale solution assuming they can be done humanely. Same for male dairy cows.
Not quite a century ago, a couple of my uncles raised & sold capons in a small rural American town. It was a side business, male chicks were ~free, and they did the caponization themselves.
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Vs. the traditional solution - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capon#History
That's not the "traditional solution", capons are something different entirely. These are egg laying breeds, they aren't considered worth raising for meat.
But that has to do with the specialization via breeding more than it has to do with anything intrinsic. We raise dual purpose chickens on a hobby basis, and I understand that, yes, this would not be acceptable on an industrial/commercial scale, but that says more about that kind of market, that kind of farming & the way consumers are insulated from the affects of it than it does about the quality of the birds or the meat.
In other words, yet again, the true externalities are not always exposed to the consumer.
EDIT: I should mention I am also fully in favour of things like this genetic engineering work that could provide a larger scale solution assuming they can be done humanely. Same for male dairy cows.
THIS.
Not quite a century ago, a couple of my uncles raised & sold capons in a small rural American town. It was a side business, male chicks were ~free, and they did the caponization themselves.
Was that actually using up all of the male chicks? More than half?
If not then it's not really a 'solution'.
Every healthy male chick that grandma's chicken coup could spare. Plus the coups of several neighbors.
Note that a healthy hen contributes eggs to several years of meals. Vs. a capon only graces the table once.