Ji6 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



covers the back, all the better. The first thing 

 of all is to be sure that the bird is thoroughly 

 drenched to the skin ; just dipping in does not 

 do this. The plumage must be parted and worked 

 about with the bare hand under the water, or 

 the sponge, till every feather is soaked to the 

 root. Then we begin with the soap, taking some 

 up with the sponge, and thoroughly rubbing it 

 into the fowl, one place at a time. It is to be a 

 thorough good rubbing, all sorts of ways, except 

 that we would not go straight against the lie of 

 the feather, though we doubt if even that would 

 do much damage. But down, and across to and 

 fro, and energetically too, with the idea always 

 of getting down to the skin ; keeping on at one 

 part till more dirt ceases to come off. There is 

 really no danger at this stage, and no difficulty 

 provided the operator is not afraid to do his 

 work, and sticks to the one point that he has got 

 to get his bird clean. About the breast it is 

 necessary to rub almost up and down, which is 

 best done with the bare hand ; indeed, we have 

 seen a bird well washed with hands alone, not 

 using a sponge at all. The fluff also requires 

 the hand, well worked about. Some use a brush 

 to scrub, but this is not free from risk ; not to 

 the feather as a whole, but to the proper webbing 

 afterwards ; several times we have seen birds 

 scrubbed with a brush, which did not seem to 

 web smoothly when dry, and believe that the 

 bristles brush out or off some of the tiny micro- 

 scopic barbules which hold the web together. 

 One very good washer we knew used chiefly a 

 sponge wrapped in flannel, especially for the 

 secondaries of the wings, and the tails : the 

 slight roughness, he said, brought the dirt off 

 well. It is best to wash the head last, in our 

 opinion, for the simple reason that most fowls 

 stand quietly till the head is done. This may 

 be done with a nail brush if preferred, in that 

 case only working it down the hackle of the 

 head, but the late Mr. Elijah Smith, one of the 

 best exhibitors of White Cochins, used to take 

 the head between the palms of both hands, with 

 soap, and wash it like a ball, using nothing 

 else. 



Here ends the first stage, on which most of 

 all depends ; for if the bird is not clean now, 

 it cannot be so later on. It may be worth 

 remarking that if a fowl has to be left for a 

 minute to get anything, and there be no assist- 

 ant, the wet sponge laid across its back, between 

 the wings, will generally keep it quite quiet, 

 believing it is being held. Sometimes a heavy 

 patient will appear faint in the hot water, or 

 even go dark in comb as if about to die; in that 

 case a good douche of cold water should at once 

 be given, which will bring it round, and it is 



curious that it never, or hardly ever, faints a 

 second time. The soap is now as far as possible 

 sponged out in the bath (which is, however, itself 

 very soapy by this time), and the fluid also pressed 

 out by hand, after which the bird is placed in 

 another bath of clean warm water, and most 

 thoroughly rinsed. This is the second import- 

 ant point— to be sure the soap is all really 

 rinsed out, in default of which the plumage 

 clogs, and does not web nicely. This water will 

 of course do for washing the next bird. Pressing 

 out the slightly soapy water also with the hands, 

 the bird is finally to be transferred to a third 

 tub, and again rinsed, rather quickly but thor- 

 oughly, in cold -waiGT, which closes the pores and 

 prevents it taking cold. In the case of white 

 fowls, it is advisable to put a very little blue in 

 this final water ; not of course enough to look 

 the least blue when finished, but just a trace, 

 which adds considerably to the brilliance of a 

 white bird. 



The washed and rinsed bird is now to be 

 taken out upon a table or board, and the water 

 got as far as possible out of it with the sponge 

 squeezed dry. Many prefer to 

 Drying Fowls dry still further with dry towels ; 

 after Washing, personally we prefer only to dry 

 the head, wipe down the neck, and 

 just sop up the rest. Anything at this stage 

 should be done the way of the feather. The 

 bird is now to be transferred to a drying cage or 

 box before a good but not fierce fire. A large 

 box open on one side to the fire, and open or 

 with a lid on the top, is best, or an exhibition 

 hamper just large enough, unlined, may be 

 stood in such a box. Considerable care is 

 required at this stage, as the bird must be turned 

 round from time to time, the wettest part to the 

 fire, and not exposed to a strong heat, which is 

 apt to blister the face, and will almost certainly 

 warp and twist the hackle and other feathers. 

 If room is scanty in front of the fire, its glare 

 should be shielded from the birds by a screen of 

 coarse linen ; what is wanted is a strong glow of 

 dry warmth, not a fierce heat, and for the bird, 

 in its basket or without, to be turned about with 

 the wettest parts to the warmest side, so long 

 as any evident wet remains. This may mean 

 hours of labour with a team of birds washed in 

 due succession ; one or two, of course, are done 

 with sooner. Be it few or many, however, this 

 final care is the third of the secrets in good 

 washing ; and when the birds are nearly dry but 

 still perceptibly damp, they should be placed in 

 lined exhibition baskets, in a warm but not hot 

 place, to finally dry out. The object of this is 

 to have the final drying in a slightly moist or 

 steamy atmosphere, somewhat confined by the 



