PLYMOUTH ROCK STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 387 



ness or good order of the plumage and to general health and 

 state of flesh. Little or nothing can be done in the short time 

 that the bird is in the show room to materially affect any of 

 these conditions. The object of the various measures that 

 have been or may be taken while the bird is within the exhibi- 

 tion hall is to maintain the favorable aspects brought about 

 before arrival. 



There remains, after the birds are properly caged and 

 fed, only a few duties that may affect the candidate's chances 

 for honors. These are generally termed the finishing touches, 

 and consist of cleaning the head and adjuncts and the shanks 

 and toes. The latter especially should have been attended to 

 at home as part of the process of conditioning. If not, how- 

 ever, or if either shanks or toes have become soiled in the 

 meanwhile, they should be cleaned and afterwards repolished 

 if necessary. The head and adjuncts may be redressed to ad- 

 vantage as described in the chapter on conditioning for show 

 room. 



The exhibitor should, of course, be at all times on the look- 

 out for false, broken, or ragged feathers. By general custom 

 the removal of these is permissible. 



After the judging, exhibitors are inclined to relax in their 

 efforts to keep their birds at their best. To a certain extent 

 this is good policy. Birds, no matter how well accustomed to 

 being handled and pampered, will get tired of too much atten- 

 tion and they, as well as the exhibitors, need relaxation. Re- 

 laxation, however, should not be carried to the extent of actual 

 neglect in the case of the birds. The regularity and variety of 

 feeding operations should be maintained from start to finish. 

 Nothing whatever should be allowed to interfere with these 

 rules, for neglect in these particulars, even for a day, may 

 affect the bird more seriously later; and at no time should the 

 exhibitor, as a breeder, lose sight of the fact that his best 

 birds in the show room are his best birds at home, as a rule. 

 The value of his flock next season will depend very largely on 

 what these birds which he has in the show room this season 

 will produce. What they produce depends, not alone, on 

 their quality but on their health and vigor which is very easily 

 affected, adversely, by neglect- at any time and at any place, 

 at home, enroute to the show, on the return, and again at 

 home. Care that is well calculated to meet these varying con- 

 ditions and keep the birds at their best, physically, is one of the 

 many essentials of success in the business of producing "the 

 Best" in Standard Bred Poultry. 



