Hatching for Winter Shows. 87 



show should be fed twice after dark, say at eight and eleven 

 o'clock, and again at seven in the morning, so that they 

 will not be without food for more than eight hours. The 

 hen should be fed at the same times, and she will become 

 accustomed to it, and call the chickens to feed ; it will also 

 generate more warmth in her for their benefit. Yolk 

 of egg beaten up and given to drink is most strengthening 

 ior weakly chickens ; or it may be mixed with their oat- 

 meal. The tender breeds should not be hatched till April 

 or May, unless in a mi ] d climate, or with exceptional 

 advantages. 



For winter exhibition, March and April hatched birds 

 are preferable to those hatched earlier. Not more than 

 seven eggs should be set, for a hen cannot scratch up 

 insects and worms and find peculiar herbage for more than 

 six chickens. If the chickens have not a good grass run, 

 they must be supplied with abundance of green food. 



They should not be allowed to roost before they are three 

 months old, and the perches must be sufficiently large. 

 Mr. Wright recommends a bed of clean, dry ashes, an 

 inch deep, for those that leave the hen before the proper 

 age for roosting, and does not allow his chickens, even 

 while with the hen, to bed upon straw, considering the 

 ashes to be much cleaner and also warmer. 



The chickens intended to be exhibited should be dis- 

 tinguished from their companions by small stripes of 

 different coloured silks loosely sewn round their legs, 

 which distinguishing colours should be entered in the 

 poultry-book. A few good birds should always be kept in 

 reserve to fill up the pen in case of accidents. 



Weight is more important in the December and later 

 winter shows than ac those held between August and 

 November, but at all shows feather and other points of 

 competitors being equal weight must carry the day, Game 

 and Bantams excepted. It is not safe to trust to the apparent 

 weight of a bird, for the feathers deceive, and it is there- 

 fore advisable to weigh the birds occasionally. Each 

 should be weighed in a basket, allowance being made for 

 the weight of the basket, and they should if possible be 



