EXHIBITING FOWLS. 157 



and more severely than novices can find it in their hearts 

 to do. 



With proper care, and attention to such matters as 

 these, there ought in due time to be available for exhibition 

 some really good birds. They may not win, since somebody 

 else may have better ; but there should be some that will 

 not disgrace the yard. 



CHAPTER X. 



EXHIBITION. 



CHICKENS are rarely fit for exhibition until at least six 

 months old, or even more. If the cockerels and pullets 

 have been separated, as recommended in the last chapter, 

 there will rarely have been any eggs laid before this time ; 

 and stimulating food should now be partially discontinued 

 to retard their production as long as possible, bearing in 

 mind that the commencement of laying almost, if not 

 quite, stops the growth, which it is desirable to prolong as far 

 as possible for exhibition birds. In this respect the fancier 

 and the ordinary poultry-keeper proceed upon contrary 

 principles ; the one endeavouring to get his pullets into 

 laying order as soon as he can, the other using every 

 expedient to procure a precisely opposite result, for a pullet 

 scarcely ever looks quite so well as just before she lays for 

 the first time, and experienced exhibitors generally try to 

 secure this. If a pullet seems almost ready to lay before it 

 is desired, changing her to a fresh run every ten days will 

 often postpone laying for some weeks. 



For young birds in perfection, six to eight months is 

 usually the best age to show the larger breeds ; but a month 

 or two more is often to the advantage of cockerels. Hence 

 the predominance of cockerels in the earliest broods alluded 

 to in the last chapter is not altogether an evil. For very 



