POULTRY CULTURE 



bad feet put in proper condition, and the bird brought to the desired 

 weight and permitted to keep itself clean, the fitting of a colored 

 specimen consists only in training it for handling and for the 

 exhibition coop, giving it a thorough examination for removable 

 defects, and deciding finally whether it will be shown. White birds 

 must also be washed. 



Training. Birds vary greatly in adaptability to showing. Some 

 are easily handled, and even if not handled at all while growing, 

 when cooped become as docile in a few days as if they had been 

 handled all their lives ; others never handle well, though the ex- 

 hibitor works patiently with them for weeks. Some that handle 

 well at home do not take at all kindly to showroom conditions. 

 In general, however, fowls handled for a few moments daily for a 

 week or two will become as docile as necessary. Other kinds of 

 poultry do not handle so well^but all kinds, if accustomed to being 

 handled and to being held in various positions have, when judged, 

 an advantage over birds that are not " coop broken." The birds 

 should be trained to stand in various positions in the coop, and 

 also on a stand or table outside of it. Particular attention should 

 be given to the carriage of the wings and tail, and if either is un- 

 satisfactory, persistent posing of the bird with the part adjusted 

 as desired may teach it to stand, when the judge poses it, in the 

 attitude in which it will show to best advantage. 



Picking. If small removable defects are to be removed, it is 

 done just before the birds are shipped. Experienced exhibitors go 

 over all birds very carefully for such faults, and to remove un- 

 desirable feathers not seriously defective. Of the thoroughness of 

 the examination which the expert exhibitor makes for this class of 

 faults, the novice rarely has any conception. An hour and a half 

 or two hours is required to pick a specimen that is comparatively 

 free from defective feathers, or in which they are easily detected, 

 while some specimens take half a day. Against such painstaking 

 attention to every detail of fitting, the novice who looks over a 

 bird in a few moments has no chance. The most troublesome of 

 all the removable faults is down on the shanks and between the 

 toes. No variety of fowl is free from this fault. In the angle be- 

 tween the toes, and on the upper side of the foot, it often escapes 

 notice, even when a careful examination is made of the outer side 



