The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-09-11
By MRS. JOHN c. MOSES, Mississippi City, Miss.

The beauty contest season for poultry is again al hand and fanciers who pre- viously have fretted over egg record and feeding rations are now concerned with grooming their birds in their best bib and tucker and preparing them for in- spection by judges at fairs and poultry shows.
 Something besides external beauty and fine feathers is required to win in the 1 show ring. Every fowl whether young or mature, should be in first-class show condition when it enters the exhibition hall The plunage should be standard length for the breed. lustnous and plen- tiful, the head bright red in color, and
 the comb developed to the required size The specimen should appear in hand some dress. good physical condition and trained to exhibit his good qualities to advantage. Careful training imparts to bird sufficient confidence to assume and hold desired poses under showroom conditions.
 If possible, obtNin exhibition GOODS sim liar to those used at the show you will attend. Cover the floor with short clean straw, or a mixture of bran and straw for feathered-leg breeds Two months before the show place in the coops at night the birds you intend to exhibit Visit the GOODS as frequently as you can and handle the birds often. Carry
 
 wings and examine the undercolor, and accustom them to every movement of the judge. It is not advisable or necessary i to keep the show birds confined in the training coops. A day at a time is suf- ficient; then allow them the run of the house for two or three days, and out door exercise is seasonable.
 DIET MAKES HENS HANDSOME 1 Show birds should receive a variety or 1 foods If you wish to increase weight rapidly, make a mash of equal parts of cornmeal, ground oats, wheat mddlings and thick sour milk or buttermilk Sweeten it with brown sugar and add 10 per cent lnseed meal. The mash should
 be of the same consistency as thick l oatmeal porridge. This is similar t, milk-feeding rations, but it should be fed only each morning. Feed whole or
 cracked corn wheat, kafir corn barley | or buckwheat, or a commercial scratch | ing food, in the middle of the day and l again in the late afternoon. Feed vel i low corn to buff varieties, and white
 corn to white, black and parti-colored Yellow corn may cream the plumage of white birds. A little cooked or raw meat
 or ground bone will be beneficial, ex-
 cept to specimens inclined to grow large combs.
 i It is necessary to examine your show | pHus cdreItlly at least lU weeks DetOra
 the show Remove all imperfect feath-
 CTS in the hope that they will be replaced 1 by feathers of standard color. Ere I quently a colored feather showing a lit ] tie white along the edge of the web
 will mott out perfectly when the fowl l is well fed the sour-milk mash meat and grain Never pluck a new feather-one in which the quill is filled with fluid-as it will invariably return partially white. A few days before the exhibition again examine your birds and pluck the imperfect feathers It is quite a problem to determine the best procod- ure when there is foreign color in some of the large feathers, on the wings or | tail, If the color is a disqualification there is no justification for for shipping
 the bird to the show. What is best to do will depend upon the quality of tho i specimen in other sections and upon the
 amount of defective color in the wings Usually these defects are repeated in the
 similar feathers of each wing.
 PEROXIDE BLONDS
 | Many exhibitors of white fowls bleach
 the plumage of their birds with peroxide I of hydrogen and ammonia. They mix 1 lr a bowl a solution of three parts of