THE POULTRY YARD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 672, 25 May 1929, Page 28

THE POULTRY YARD

(By

GEO. H. AMBLER.)

SHOWROOM ETIQUETTE

THE shows tire ttow coining on fast, and before the month is out several of our shows will be of the past. Until recently there was an idea that the quality of our poultry had deteriorated, but the reverse has been the ease, with the result we have in the Dominion birds equal in quality and numbers to those in any part of the Empire. As an old-timer, I will give some advice to a class of exhibitor which can be found at every show.

Avoid talking too much. Let your birds do the talking for you. If they are the best in the hall the judge will discover the fact and confirm your opinion. If they are not, you will not be self-convicted of having over-esti-mated their value. Above all things, do not talk about your competitor’s birds, unless to praise them, and even that is unnecessary, as probably their owners have a sufficiently high opinion of their merits and do not need your laudation. Do not handle the birds of a competitor, unless in his presence and at his invitation. If you do and thereshould happen to be a broken or missing feather or two, appearances would be against you. Never put yourself in a defensive position, for even if you successfully defend your acts and motives, there may remain an underlying suspicion that your defence is specious rather than true. Do not make yourself conspicuous. Like “Brer Possum,” lie low. You are not entered for a prize. Your birds may be as conspicuous as possible—that is what they are in the show for—and you should not divert any of the attention from them to yourself. Do not fix up your oirds for exhibition in the showroom. When they get there the time for preparation is past. If they needed any fixing it should have been done in the privacy of your own home. Most birds require this; some even need to be faked, but all which require faking should be sent to the market, not to the show. You cannot afford to get the reputation of being a faker, and you can less afford to be a faker without a reputation. If you fix up your birds in the showroom there may be a suspicion of faking, which is almost as bad as the real thing. Do not try to fix the judge. If he is fit to be a judge and you attempt to fix him, he will probably fix you, and it may be serious work to get out of the fix in which you may find yourself. Attempts to fix the judge are more dangerous than attempts to fix the birds. DON’T CROW IF YOU WIN Do not crow if you win. A cock which has defeated a rival announces his victory by crowiug. it is all right for him; that is the way his education tends, and he knows no better. But you are not a bird, but a man, and you should act as a man. Do not be unduly depressed by defeat. It is unmanly. The boy who shows the other boys annoy him is the boy who is always picked upen. As the boy gains in experience and knowledge he knows that it is better to command his feelings than be j commanded by them. Although you may be one of the boys, you are no I

longer a boy, and having reached man’s estate should act the part of a man. Do not wish to win unless your birds deserve the honour. Every poultry-breeder desires, or ought to, that the poultry Industry should make progress. Every time an inferior bird wins over a superior the hands ou the dial of progress are set back. Your best interests are subserved when the best birds win, and an unmerited prize robs you of something of more value than the prize. Do not be a kicker. Do you wish to announce yourself as rival of the mule, the beast which has no pride of ancestry and no hope of posterity? Better suffer unmerited defeat in silence than to cast the aspersion upon your father that he was an ass. By kicking you will only make your defeat more conspicuous, and it does not pay to advertise such things. If you keep still the public will forget it, and you will suffer comparatively little damage, but if yon show your heels and bray dismally you will keep the public in mind of your defeat and aggravate the damage which has fallen upon you Do not fail to congratulate your successful rival upon his victory. That will make him feel even better than he already does, and he will count you not only as a good fellow, but also a man of excellent judgment, for he will see or think that your judgment agrees with him. “How well he argues,” said one, when the person spoken of was setting forth the speaker’s own ideas. LEARN ALL YOU CAN Do not fail to learn, in a quiet and inconspicuous manner, wherein your competitors’ birds surpass or are inferior to your own. Use your ears to hear what you can which will be of service to you at another show; use your eyes to see ail the excellences and defects possible in the birds on exhibition, and especially those of your own variety; use your brain in thinking out to a safe and sane conclusion what your ears have heard and your eyes have seen, but hold your tongue, that unruly member which may get you into trouble. Do not forget that, while you are a poultry man and engaged in the gentle art of breeding one of the most interesting creatures on earth, you are first, last, and all the time a man. To speak as a man and act as a man—on these hang all the laws of etiquette of the showroom —and if you do this, you will not make a false step, but will find a show a place where you can do and get good, and from which, successful or defeated, you will return with a contented mind, a peaceful spirit and firm resolution to breed more birds and better ones the coming season.