FEEDING BREEDING AND EXHIBITION FOWLS 



93 



every day, or it may be given in unlimited supply. If it 

 is furnished without restriction it must be kept constantly 

 before the fowls otherwise they are liable to eat too 

 much when a new allowance is supplied. 



"Between three and four o'clock the fowls should be 

 given the heartiest meal of the day. The exact time that 

 it should be given depends upon the length of the day. 

 The object is to give the fowls an hour to an hour and 

 a half of exercise before they go to roost. Considerable 

 -can be accomplished by a selection of grains. If the 

 birds are too fleshy, more barley and less wheat should 

 be used for the evening feed. Wheat and barley are the 

 best feeds at this time. If the weather is very cold, and 

 the birds in a normal state of flesh, a small handful of 

 corn may be allowed each one just before it jumps on 

 the perch for the night. With fowls that are in poor 

 flesh it is well to use more wheat and but little oats or 



a large-framed bird; but the faults in plumage that come 

 from limited nourishment while the feathers are growing 

 cannot be greatly helped by any course of diet. 



The use of condiments and drugs of various kinds 

 in fitting birds for exhibition, which was somewhat com- 

 mon in early days, is now little practiced. Fowls havs 

 to be rugged and firm in flesh to stand up in an exhibi- 

 tion coop for five or six days and evenings, and giving 

 them "dope" of any kind beforehand while it may serve 

 as a stimulant for the first day or two leaves them much 

 worse through the latter part of the show than if they 

 had been given only wholesome feed. Most old exhibi- 

 tors have at hand at shows a few simple remedies or 

 tonics to give to birds that may become sick, but beyond 



SCENE ON BLUE ROCK FARM, IOWA CITY, IA. 

 Colony houses ready for exhibition pullet stock when the chicks are weaned. 



barley for a scratching feed. Corn should be given for 

 the evening feed to birds in this condition. 



"Young birds of the heavier breeds which are some- 

 what underweight should not be forced to overexercisft. 

 In such cases increase of weight is the main point, but 

 a moderate amount of exercise will prove advantageous 

 in these cases also. A great variety of feed should be 

 sought for such birds. The mash should have a greater 

 proportion of corn meal. Broken sweet crackers of all 

 sorts may be used to good advantage in connection with 

 corn meal and bran as a soft feed. In cold weather sun- 

 flower seeds and buckwheat in small amounts are good 

 agents in securing the desired object. They are also in- 

 strumental in procuring the lustre of plumage so much 

 desired by exhibitors. Beef tallow is very good to give 

 a lustre to the coat Too much is not beneficial to the 

 health of the bird, but a piece one-half the size of an 

 English walnut every second day will answer the pur- 

 pose, and prove a great treat to the birds." 



As a substitute for sweet crackers mentioned above, 

 which cannot always be obtained, many exhibitors use 

 sugar, giving from a teaspoonful to a tablespoonful per 

 bird in the mash. It is regarded as particularly useful 

 where it is desired to increase weight rapidly and tempo- 

 rarily. As soon as a bird fattened on sugar has that article 

 taken from its ration, the fat it had supplied begins to dis- 

 appear. As far as weight alone is concerned, heavy feed- 

 ing for a short time before a show will accomplish a great 

 deal. It is not difficult to add from a pound to a pound 

 and a half to the weight of a nearly grown, but thin 

 bird of medium size in a few weeks and even more to 



that they rely upon the appropriate use of ordinary feeds 

 to put and keep the birds in as good condition as is pos- 

 sible under the stress and excitement incident to ex- 

 hibiting them. 



Feeding Birds After Exhibition 



The experience of a trip from home, from four to six 

 long days in the showroom, perhaps with irregular feed- 

 ing, overfeeding at one time and a long wait for feed at 

 another, and a return trip, in all making usually six to 

 eight days of abnormal and disturbing life, puts mosx 

 birds somewhat out of condition, and is apt to start many- 

 cases of mild indigestion. Probably the majority of bird, 

 returned from exhibition are in rather poorer condition 

 than when they went. Birds of the heavier breeds, how- 

 ever, and especially old birds that after a day or tw > 

 appeared tired and sluggish, and that were fed freely, are 

 apt to be overfat and also considerably lower in vitality 

 than when they left home. 



Birds that are below par in condition should not be 

 put immediately on a full, heavy ration. For a day or 

 two, about three-fourth's of what they had been eating 

 before going to the show is enough. On this the diges- 

 tive organs will soon come back to normal, the birds will 

 be bright and lively and have keen appetites. Good, sweet, 

 succulent feed is the one thing that may be given them 

 from the first without stint; for it is the great regulator 

 of digestion. The ration can be gradually increased until, 



