

 386 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



such substitutions on account of expense and because the 

 fowls may continue to demand such palatable foods, once they 

 have acquired a taste for them, but if they are weaned gradu- 

 ally, no harm will result. Lack of meat and greens often re- 

 sults in feather-eating when birds are shown together as in the 

 breeding pen. It is a wise precaution to hang a part of a cab- 

 bage or a bunch of lettuce in the top of the cage which con- 

 tains a breeding pen, of the lighter breeds particularly, to 

 prevent this trouble, and if this is not efficacious, hang up also 

 a small piece of fresh meat. The more busy fowls are kept, 

 the less feather picking is practiced. 



Grit and Shell. Grit and shell may not be absolutely nec- 

 essary during a short show, but a small supply is often appre- 

 ciated by the fowls and serves a good and certainly not a 

 harmful purpose. 



Overfeeding and Underfeeding. Overfeeding is more like- 

 ly than not to be practiced by the novice or by the average 

 inexperienced attendant unless he neglects to feed at all, when 

 he practices underfeeding. Birds are sometimes underfed, not 

 for lack of feed, but because the hall or the coop is so dark that 

 they cannot see to eat. In such cases they must be moved to 

 the light and fed regularly, or perhaps given a grain, the physi- 

 cal nature of which makes it more visible than that which 

 they have been fed. Sometimes, in small shows so many birds 

 are confined in one cage that it is impossible for them to eat. 

 This is false economy as the birds lose rapidly in both weight 

 and condition. 



Too Intensive Caging. -There are, also, other disadvant- 

 ages in connection with too intensive caging. No bird shows 

 to advantage when caged with others, even if only one other, 

 except in case of mated pairs and pens in correspondingly large 

 cages, and the more they are caged together, the more in- 

 ferior they appear. To properly appreciate a bird, a spectator 

 must see the whole of it at a glance, not a portion. When 

 caged with others and, as is often the case as closely as 

 though being sent to market, the best bird conceivable fails to 

 impress either the onlookers or the judge. Specimens of the 

 finest quality will fail to win for you under those conditions. 

 Consequently, we may conclude that of all the economies prac- 

 ticed in the show room that of caging closely is the most fool- 

 ish. If prizes are worth anything they are certainly worth the 

 coop fee which is usually about the traditional two-bits. 



The specimen is supposed to have been "conditioned" at 

 home. This term, as pointed out, refers to the condition, fit- 



