374 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



temporarily efficient. A short while after the application, the 

 head possesses less color than before. 



Cleaning Shanks and Toes. The shanks and toes should 

 be washed in warm soap-suds, dried, and then treated with 

 cottonseed oil, vaseline, or something of that nature. When 

 there is much dirt under the scales, it should be removed, 

 which can best be accomplished with an ordinary wooden 

 toothpick dampened with some cleansing liquid. Many shanks 

 and toes are improved by brushing dry, with a stiff brush 

 before using the soap and water. 



WASHING AND CONDITIONING WHITE BIRDS FOR 

 THE SHOW ROOM. 



Washing white birds properly presents one of the greatest 

 difficulties to the amateur fancier. To get any bird into the 

 show room in perfect condition, is really quite an art ; and 

 white birds present the additional problem of washing. There 

 is, however, no reason why anybody, who is careful and pains- 

 taking, can not show white birds in good condition. Birds 

 other than white seldom require washing, except where a bird 

 has become very much stained or soiled, in which case a care- 

 ful washing will improve them. The following instructions 

 about temperature of water, in drying room, and other condi- 

 tions, will, if carefully followed, bring success. 



Coop Training. All birds that are to be shown, whether 

 they are to be washed or not, should be cooped up in cages 

 similar to those used in the shows. Coop them up for about 

 three days, so they may become accustomed to the cage and 

 to being handled by their attendant. Then put them back into 

 their usual run for a few days. Alternating in this way, they 

 will get the necessary coop training and show-manners with- 

 out becoming stale from too long confinement in small quar- 

 ters. Unless the bird has some such preliminary training, to- 

 gether with such special feeding as his condition requires, no 

 matter how excellent the wash, he will not appear at his best. 

 This preliminary training should extend over a period of about 

 two or three weeks. 



Equipment. Birds should be washed from forty-eight to 

 sixty hours before they are shipped to the show room. If you 

 are going to wash many birds, a rubber apron and rubber 

 boots will be necessary. The details of washing white birds 



