356 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



the specimen." This will bring up the perennial query, "What 

 constitutes faking?" 



To define "faking" in terms that will prove satisfactory to 

 all good poultry breeders is a difficult matter; as the dividing 

 line between real faking, such as bleaching or coloring of the 

 plumage, trimming of combs, pulling feathers from shanks of 

 clean-legged birds, and the methods of preparing birds for 

 the show room, is a very narrow one, especially when it is 

 considered legitimate to pluck many feathers from a parti- 

 colored specimen in order to bring out the color markings more 

 distinctly and effectively, or to fluff up the feathers of a 

 Cochin, pull tails of a Cochin bantam a certain length of time 

 prior to a show, and a few other little aids or "tricks of the 

 trade" in fixing up exhibition specimens. It will keep the 

 judge guessing just where to draw the line in most of the 

 instances stated above. 



However, the disqualifying clause that has caused judges 

 more trouble and annoyance than all others in the past reads : 

 "In all breeds required to have unfeathered shanks, any feather, 

 or feathers, stubs or down on shanks, feet or toes ; or unmis- 

 takable indication of feathers, stubs or down having been 

 plucked from same." The difficult part the judge must play 

 is in determining whether feathers have been plucked from 

 the shanks. The defect-finding judge will do the microscopic 

 act in order to discover the hole or incipient stub. The experi- 

 enced judge will obey the Standard admonition at the foot of 

 the rule for "General Disqualifications," which reads : "Under 

 all disqualifying clauses, the specimen shall have the benefit 

 of the doubt." If the naked eye of the judge cannot detect 

 a stub or "unmistakable evidence of feathers having been 

 plucked," no magnifying lenses or pen knives need be resorted 

 to in order to discover a puny stub located somewhere on the 

 otherwise clean shanks of a specimen. Exhibitors are human 

 and will do all in their power to prepare a bird which will 

 pass muster with the average judge, but they will frown on 

 the adjudicator who calls to his aid magnifying glasses or 

 surgery when examining the legs or toes of fowls. 



Size and Condition. The size and condition of an exhibi- 

 tion specimen often determine its fate in the show room, but 

 great care should be exercised by the judge when handling 

 birds that appear large and look immaculate in their feathered 

 garb. Looks are often delusive, especially in the artificially 

 prepared exhibition specimens such as judges are confronted 



