The Feathered World.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VIII, Issue 409, 26 May 1898, Page 17

The Feathered World.

.. ~ .. PREPARING FOR

I suppose the fanciers are pretty busy just now in getting their ‘ ‘ certainties ’ ’ ready for the fray. So a few hints about getting birds into the best possible trim may not be out of place. Let me say at once that I do not believe in the very common practice of making a bird as heavy as possible. I believe in putting on flesh, but fat in the show pen I consider very much out of place. I know that a good many judges are in favour of weight, and so long as that is present they are content. I take it that a bird in the pen should be in a clean and healthy condition, with enough fat to make it look its best from top to toe; and that object is best attained by judgment in feeding and close attention to cleanliness. Having selected the birds intended for showing, the first thing is to get them tame. Many and many a first prize has been lost on account of the wildness of the bird in the show pen, for the judge is unable to fairly and squarely estimate the merits of a bird if it jumps all over the pen when he tries to use his “ little stick.” It is a very simple thing to rig up something after the style of a show pen, and putting the bird into it for an hour or so a day, and by handling, much can be done in the way of making the bird show itself off; Some breeders keep their birds in these pens for several weeks, and providing the occupants get all the attention necessary to health in such close confinement, the method may be followed with advantage. One of the first things to be done whenn putting a bird in a practice pen is to thoroughly clean the legs and feet. A good scrubbing with a nail brush and soap and water will do that all right, and after the legs and feet are thoroughly dried a very little refined lard should be rubbed over them. A piece of soft linen should be used to take off any surplus, of the plumage may be damaged when the bird settles down for the night. I have known breeders of yellow-legged fowls to put their birds on straw after washing their legs and feet. They say it brings out the color of leg, and helps greatly to keep the plumage bright and clean. Such a practice would not do for featherlegged breeds, however, but I have seen almost perfect foot-feathers on Brahmas which had a loose box covered to a depth of three inches with chaff, for their training pen. Then comes the question of feeding. I suppose pretty nearly every fancier has got his own idea as to the true method of feeding for exhibition, so I will give my own opinions for what they are worth. First of all, I am a firm believer in soft food twice a day when the birds are penned up, prior to exhibition, for it stands to reason that birds with a limited amount of exercise require easilydigested food; and the third feed should be wheat. During the last fortnight, rice, I oiled in milk, and mixed with sharps, is a capital thing three times a week, and I also believe in giving the birds boiled bread and milk by candle light on the last few nights before the show. A very good thing to put on “gloss” is boiled linseed, but it must be used with very great discretion. It should be boiled to a jelly, which should be used to mix the meal to the proper crumbly state. If given in this way for two meals a week, the improvement is very marked, but it should not be given oftener or it will start the birds moulting. A little bit of cooked meat, given by hand through the bars of the pen each day, will do the birds good, and will make them tame. Feed thus, and given plenty of green food and sharp grit, fresh water and cleanliness, I think the birds will do credit to the exhibitor.

Light-colored fowls are very often the better for a good washing and a good drying, for the difficulty lies in the drying and not in the washing. Plenty of warm water, some white Castile soap, and plenty of rubbing will make the bird clean. The washing is very easy. The skill is required in drying the bird, so that each feather shall web out to perfection. I once washed some Light Brahmas, washed them white, but made an awful hash of the drying ! I dried them too quickly, with the result that the plumage was dried up, and the birds only looked half the size they were before washing ! But as the song says, “I Asked Johnny Jones, and I Know Now,’ ’ and slow and sure is the proper way to dry a washed fowl. It is best done by putting the bird in an exhibition basket, with plenty of clean straw in the bottom, before a good fire, and at such a distancejfrom it as caution suggests. The final touches before sending off to the show are probably well enough known. Some men use oil to “ bring up the red ” of the comb, some use vinegar, and others swear they use nothing at all! Competition, however, is too keen for the “innocents,” if they are really such, and the man who wants to win by legitimate means must be skillful enough to get his exhibits into brilliant condition, without overdoing it. iAnd if he is a true fancier he thinks of the future as well as the present, and he will not spoil his chance of breeding for the sake of a few ounces of fat. May there be many such men at the coming shows. D.H.