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Show Sanpete Turkey Growers Will Join Utah Show Most Sanpete turkey growers will want to exhibit some of their prime turkeys, either in the live or dressed division at the first annual Utah State Turkey Tur-key Show, to be held in Provo on September 17-19, according to Russell R. ' Keetch, county agent. Exhibitors have too little time, and too few facilities, to select their birds for showing, so several birds must be handled before the best can be picked from a flock. Turkey growers have an excellent opportunity for selecting show birds when the flock is being handled in preparation for processing. At this time a number of the best birds can be taken out and placed in a small pen before show preparation begins, Mr. Keetch said. , In choosing birds for exhibition, exhibi-tion, many factors must be considered, con-sidered, such as type, color, shape and standard weight! Type and weight are by far the most important in exhibition judging, the county agent claimed. The aim should be to find birds which come nearest to these ideals. A few of the factors fac-tors listed according to importance im-portance in live turkey judgim are: weight, breast, condition and vigor, back body and fluff, and training. Important factors to be considered in judginr dressed turkeys are: fleshing finish, dressing and condition, an'd type or conformation. To meet the established standards stand-ards or ideals, all birds must be free of disease, broken bones or other injuries. Entries in the dressed division should be New-York New-York dressed (blood and feathers feath-ers removed), at a nearby dressing dress-ing plant or right on the farm. How To Prepare Birds For late fall and winter shows, the plumage of white turkevs is commonly washed, but colored turkeys are usually not washed except in special cases. If the plumage and body is fairly clean, it may not be necessarv to wash the entire bird, Mr. Keetch stated. For all shows the head and legs, if - dirty should be washed, rinsed arui dried. A small brush may be used to remove the surface dir. and a toothpick to remove di: under the scales. The legs and feet, after drying thoroughly should be treated with olive oil or vaseline, and polished to I bring out their true color. Lustre and brilliance of plumage plum-age can be greatly improved by lightly rubbing the feathers with a little sweet oil. Use very little lit-tle a couple of drops on the palm of the hand should be sufficient. The feathers should be smoothed with a head to tail motion, and' put in place ac much as possible. |
