PLYMOUTH ROCK STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 389 



ney. All of the above could have been put in the coop before 

 it left home, unless the journey was a very long one. A lib- 

 eral supply of succulents must not be forgotten. Besides their 

 value as an aid to digestion, they are very palatable and the 

 fowls enjoy them. Like a good meal on a diner, they serve to 

 "kill time" and induce the birds to forget their confinement and 

 discomfort. 



As in the case when shipping to shows certain advantages 

 such as more careful handling, quicker transfers if transfers 

 are necessary, better positions and more careful stacking in 

 the car accrue from traveling along with the birds. 



Home Delivery. Arrangements should have already been 

 made for the delivery of the birds immediately after their 

 arrival at the home express office. In large cities deliveries are 

 sometimes slow on account of the distance of the exhibitor's 

 poultry yards from the express receiving station, and often 

 many deliveries have to be made before the yards are reached. 

 When such conditions prevail and the express company's of- 

 ficals are obdurant and cannot be induced to make a special 

 delivery, as they generally can be, however, when a reasonably 

 large shipment is involved, it pays, if the birds are valuable, 

 to employ a truck for the special purpose of obtaining a prompt 

 and direct delivery. 



CHAPTER VI. 



CARE OF THE BIRDS AFTER THE SHOW. 

 Changed Conditions. 



Though safely home, not all the possible dangers to the 

 birds are over by any means. While in the show room, the 

 birds have become accustomed to comparatively high tempera- 

 tures and, in all probability, entire absence of drafts; and 

 unaccustomed to cold poultry houses, with cold floors, an 

 atmosphere more or less laden with moisture, and a ventilation 

 system that in all probability is subject to perceptible drafts; 

 conditions that obviously contrast widely. 



Gradual Changes. Manifestly, the birds should not feel 

 the full force of these changed conditions at once. But as a 

 matter of fact, if a little common sense is applied to our meth- 

 ods, and the changes be made as gradually as possible, no harm 



