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Show I 1 POULTRY I CHICKEN CHAT. HI The interesting time of the year has Hi about arrived. Wc must select our H' show birds and fit them for cxnMbi- H tion. Many of you have been mating H' a long time with this end in view, and Hj may not be sure whether your birds H will score up well enough to justify Hi your trouble and expense, and to these H I want to say a word of encourago- H1 ment: Select the best you have, after H1 ' studying the standard of the particu- I lar breed you have, carefully, but do Hi not expect to find ioo point birds, and Hit do not be afraid to show birds that fall H short in several sections, for the ioo H point bird has never been hatched, H and the game of the show room is "to H beat the other fellow," and your good H birds may chance to be the ones which H will win the blue. H Selecting. H A' Standard of Perfection is a ncccs- H sary guide, and can be purchased at H any store where poultry supplies are H kept, or can be Had of our own good H i editor at the regular price, $1.50. It H may seem hard to have to buy the H standards of all the breeds, just to get H the one or two you want, but scp- H arate breed standards arc among the H ' things of the future, which the good H ' old A. P. A. will give us in time. H In selecting, pay close attention to H typical shape, as that is a very im- H portant point with most judges. At Niagara Falls in 1907, at the meeting B of the American Poultry Association, H wc had a very interesting and in-H in-H structive chalk talk by Franklane H Scwall upon the typical shape for a H White Wyandotte. Now, all White H' Wyandottcs look pretty much alike H 1 to me, and it was surprising to learn HF that only one perfect shaped White M Wyand'ottc had ever yet been shown. In selecting a Wyandotte for shape, have in mind a round ball, for this breed is all curves, and the outline H resembles a ball more than any other m! breed. H In selecting a Rock, R. I. Red, Buck- H cyc r Leghorn, have in mind an ob- H long, as they have longer keels and backs, giving length rather than H roundness of outline. A study of the illustrations in the Standard will make m this clearer than any word-picture. H Shape satisfactory, weightmvistbe considered next, and right here let mc impress it upon your minds that overweight over-weight will not win, but the "bird coming nearest the Standard weights wins always." A tic between two birds will give the prize to the lighter weight bird, if that comes nearest the Standard weight. Shape and weight having been decided, de-cided, color comes next, and if a.'jpcn be selected, the females must be as uniform in color as it is possible to find them. Many times the birds will be imperfectly moulted. In such cases all old, faded, feathers musbc carefully removed, so they may present pre-sent a clean, fresh appearance. (This is legitimate, and does not come under un-der the head of "faking.") Good head points count for a great deal, but I have seen birds that won the blue in "way down East" shows that had combs like nightmares, and enough white in carlobcs to condemn them as breeders, yet those same birds "beat the other fellows" when it came to a count of points. So don't be discouraged, dis-couraged, I say, but send them in and get them scored, and the lesson thus learned will repay you richly, whether t you win a prize or not. Washing. In fitting dark plumaged birds no washing is needed, as a rule, excepting the feet and shanks, beak and combs. Two tubs of water will suffice for this, both lukewarm. A' basin containing a little water in which a few drops of spirits of camphor have been dropped is a good thing to prepare also. The bird to be washed should be held firmly in the left hand by tucking tuck-ing its head under your arm, while you vigorously scrub its feet and 'legs with a soft brush, using plenty of soap and elbow grease until perfect' clean, even to the insides of the toe nails. Then rinse thoroughly in the second tub, being careful not toAwct the feathers, and rinsing the head points, comb and beak, in the second tub whi contains no soap, and giving giv-ing a final dip into the basin containing con-taining the camphor water as a pe-ventive pe-ventive to cold. All this should be done in a warm roonu I usually "take the birds into the kitchen, and have the coops all r ily with clean straw or shavings ' .ront of a warm stove, but watch that they do not get so warm as to pant. I forgot to say, that the feet should be wiped dry with a soft cloth and rubbed with a drop or two of sweet oil to restore the gloss the soap removes. re-moves. The feathers may also be wiped with an old silk handkerchief with good results. White birds require much more of a bath at least three tubs of water arc needed, and a kettle kept boiling to replenish from, so as to keep up the temperature. One tub should contain good soapsuds, one clear water, wat-er, the other water that has been blued as for rinsing clothes. The birds arc given a thorough washing in the suds, working it well among the feathers, but always rubbing the feathers the way they grow, never backwards. This is a tedious job for the beginner, begin-ner, but practice soon makes perfect, and the birds really seem to enjoy it, if carefully handled. After you arc sure every bit of dirt has been removed, lift out of the suds and wash just as thoroughly in the second tub, that no particle of soap may remain to smear and "yellow" the plumage. The legs and feet must he washed with a brush, just as for dark birds, andl the final rinsing in the blueing blue-ing water completes the bath. Now set your bird on top of a table or box, covered with a cloth, and with a sponge take up all possible surplus moisture, being careful not to muss the plumage by rubbing the wrong way. Dip feet, legs, comb aiid beak into basin of water with camphor in, at the last, wipe them dry, and oil slightly, then place your bird where it will dry slowly, free from dust and dirt drafts. Many fan their birds while drying, believing it makes them fluffier, but I think this dangerous, and prefer to have them dry slowly and allow therm to preen their own plumage, which they usually do better than It can be done for them. Training. Showing birds is a great game, and many various methods are used to get the birds to show. The best way is to raise them, of course, and I have known people to mate a pen five years in advance of a particular show, in order to raise a pen fit to exhibit there, and then fail. I have also known people to scout out among farmers and pick up a bird here, an-'Qjhej an-'Qjhej there, at a little better than market prices, take them into the showroom and win out with them. Many buy a pen, ostensibly for breeding breed-ing purposes, then berate the breeder for not sending prize winners, at 1 breeders' prices. This hurts the busl-ncss busl-ncss and the breed. If it is show birds ! you want, be honest and candid when ( ordering. You may have to pay more, but you will get your money's worth if you buy of a reputable person. per-son. You may not like the birds at first sight, and they may disappoint you greatly, but if you bought them to show, show them, and the judge will tell you whether the birds justified justi-fied the price paid or not. When I was breeding R. I. Reds, I used to cull out all light colored males and! sell to farmers to cross on common stock very cheaply. A lady bought a cockerel one year at 75 cents which I considered buff, not red. She came back next year and said the bird had improved so greatly, she thought I might exchange and give her a young one in place of it. I wanted to oblige her, so told her to fetch him over. He still looked buff to mc, but our home show was short of birds, and wanted mc to help out a little, so I sent him in with a ! string of other Reds, and he happened to be the highest scoring cock in the show, 95K points, while the balance of my R. I. Reds scored from 92J3 to 9SVi oia pullet being as high scoring as the male, so I sold that pair for a good price on the strength of their score cards, and their purchaser was delighted with them. Evenness of color in a R. I. Red is what counts, and he was one even shade from head to tail, while his undercolor was simply sim-ply rich. Undercolor. Shall I be impertinent if I explain right here what the undercolor is? I did not know for some time when I first began to raise fancy chickens, and R. G. Buffinton, of Fall River, Mass., originator of Buff Rocks and Buff Wyandottcs as well as Buff Ducks taught mc, so I will pass it on. Tt is the color of the feather where it don't usually show, the fluffy part, I from the skin out, and a Rock nowadays nowa-days must be barred to the very skin. The undercolor plays an important part in most breeds, as well as what shows on the surface. My own Buckeyes Buck-eyes have some slate in undercolor, because I believe when the slate is all bred Qu.t, succeeding generations -fade ! into buff, but the R. I. Red Standard calls for clear red undercolor, free 1 from slate, which is one of the points -. which separates the breeds. In all the above I have not said one word about condition, but for the love of poultry, don't send a bird to a show that is not in the pink of condition, con-dition, for sickness is often contracted by the healthiest birds, and the 1osj of a valuable show bird is something I one never ceases to regret. I Our doctor's son at home always wanted chickens, but never attained I his desire until he was married and I settled in a home of his own. Then I "Gene" bought a sitting of the best I eggs he could get from a veteran Brirrcd Rock breeder and raised a 1 en of beauties. He exhibited them, and won over the veteran himself. A prouder fellow I never saw, and his joy was the delight of all who knew him. Even his skeptical father enjoyed en-joyed his victory, and the way he hung around that pen was a sight to sec. Well, a couple of weeks after the show, his father stopped me on the street to tell me that "Gene's" cockerel cock-erel had dicd. I tried to console him by telling himi how many I had lost from show room colds, but he testily stopped me, saying, "You arc an old soldier and arc used to it, but this is poor 'Gene's first birds." Verily, I thought, the Frenchman Rider Haggard Hag-gard tells about has lots of relatives. You know the Frenchman was dreadfully dread-fully frightened when the boat shot into the side of the mountain, in the underground river, and in the dtirk-ncss, dtirk-ncss, amid the roaring waters of that dreadful cavern, he prayed his prayer. "O Lord save me, never mind the rest, let them drown, for they arc used to it, "but 01 Dear Lord, do save me." One word in parting and I am done. I Don't bank too much on winning. Do the best you can, and await the outcome out-come with patience, and remember this motto: "Blessed1 arc they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed." Like Sparking. Judge Chas. McClave, the genial and popular ex-President of the A'. F. A. says: "Fitting birds for the showroom show-room is like sprucing up to go sparking, spark-ing, and it is no worse to put a bird . in the best condition possible than for a pretty girl to curl her hair when .she expects a beau." But remember $thart .missing feathers will count against a bird just the same as" hough they were present and off-colored, off-colored, perhaps more, and where birds have broken their wing-flights fighting through fences, it detracts from tlieir chances of winning. Mrs. Mctcalf in California Cultivator. |