Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-10-22
Proper Care Necessary
to Secure the Prizes.
Many Easy Methods Of
Preparation That Will
Help the Amateur.
By Frank Heck,
Author and Poultry Expert.
Copyright 1914

Exhibitors of poultry at the shows
lhould take as much pains in preparing
heir birds as the horse lover does i'm
Irooming his favorlte for the ring.
There are many apparently small
!hlngs that. when done, add immensely
10 the show qualities of the bird Care
essness has cost many blue ribbon.
Care of the plumage, washing the legs.
handling the bird carefully so that it will
not scare. will go far toward making n
good impression on the Judges
The following article will be of help to
EXHIBITORS.
II breeder does not give little at
tention to preparing his birds for tho
show, he cannot expect to get the same
results az the breeder who does A bird
picked UP right out of the yards. with
out having received any special fitting
can always be improved in some WAYS.
The coat pay not make the man. but
fine feathers and stylish carriage GER
tafhly make the show bird and this can
he controlled to a certain extent White
birds should he washed, and black. buff
and parti-colored birds should have their
plumaEe cleaned.
Birds that are wild and object to being
handled will not assume n natural posi-
ton In the show coop when tho fudge
approaches them. and he. therefore, can
not do them Justice in Judging their
shape. Handle them often and tame them
Birds intended for showing should be
handled and put in show condition weeks
before the show He who waits till the
last minute is apt to see his competitors
awarded the prizes
1t Is astonishing how careless the aver
age exhibitor is IN examining the birds
10 be sent to the show. Many birds are
disqualified for defects which the fudge
finds readily and which have been en-
tirely overlooked by the exhibitor If YOU
do not know what defects are disoualif-
cations In your variety of fowls make
II your business to find out what they are
and then take little pains to examine
each bird carefully. Each variety of
fowls has ts special dsqualifying points.
and there are also many that apply to all
breeds and varieties in general It would
De impossible to enumerate all of them
IN the space allotted to this article
Do not go to extremes I'm preparing
birds for show. Bungling Jobs Of prepa-
ration are worse than none at all. Combs
and legs smeared with vaSeline ETC. half
washed plumage, feathers full of corn
meal or starch, dirty plumage soied with
troppings dried blood on combs and wat
ties bloody or greasy plumage about the
head, and other similar things will cause
bird to lose many points under the sec
ton of Judging which IL termed Coon
diuon." Do not exhibit bird that Is out
of condition physically. Confinement in
the showroom will aggravate Illness of
any Kind and the bird will seldom, if
ever, win a prize. Birds with scaIy legs
should be treated for this defect a long
time before the show Applications Of
lard and vaseline will cure bad cases
CARE OF THE PLUMAGE.
Broken feathers in wings and tail are
the points that often lose a prize to
otherwise winning specimens. and these
broken feathers are nearly always the re-