145 The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



his wing or wings tied till it may be supposed all the feathers are properly set. The ligature may 

 then be cut, when if the result is satisfactory all is of course over ; if not the wings are to be again 

 confined. So much as two months' of this watchful care may be required in some cases ; but there 

 are few but may be thus cured if taken in due time. The ligature has a tendency to cut the 

 feathers, but this may be avoided by using instead of a simple cord a diamond-shaped piece of 

 calico with a string sewn on at each end, when the shorter diameter of the calico instead of the 

 cord will go under the wing at D, and preserve the wings from injury. 



There is always some slight danger of Asiatic cocks acquiring the same fault during the 

 moult. If the wings are seen properly tucked up every night at roost nothing further will 

 commonly be needed ; but if the blemish should appear to be becoming habitual, it must be 

 treated in the manner just described. 



It is very prejudicial to their chances of exhibition when pullets lay too early, besides 

 hindering their ultimate size ; and much can be done to avoid this with a little care. After 

 about four months, all stimulating food should be discontinued, except in the case of birds 

 hatched very late, in which case no apprehension of too early laying need be felt, and they should 

 rather be pushed on as fast as possible. But in ordinary cases, meat, milk, and especially any 

 condiments which may have been used occasionally (we have already said it is injurious to use 

 them except for special reasons) should be withheld, and every three or four weeks the pullets 

 should, if possible, be removed to a strange run. This last can generally be done by exchanging, 

 and has a great influence in retarding the commencement of laying ; but it should not be carried 

 too far. After about seven months it is best to let things take their course. We have acted 

 otherwise, and — partly as experiment — succeeded, by careful change of run as required, in keeping 

 pullets from laying till past ten months old, but the result was not satisfactory, the birds never 

 in fact laying as they should have done aftenvards. Up to seven months or a little more, however, 

 it is of great advantage to have the laying thus postponed, as going to the nest daily soon injures 

 the plumage for close competition. A pullet never looks so well as just before she lays her first 

 egg ; and in getting ready for the chief winter shows, a great point in management with successful 

 breeders is thus to turn their chickens into the show-pen in "the very nick of time;" which is 

 best done by keeping them back previously, and then "winding them up" by judicious treatment 

 so as to arrive at their very best just when wanted. 



As to the ages which afford the greatest facilities for obtaining this result, we have often had 

 occasion to observe that pullets have been hatched too soon, and by the time they have to be 

 shown at — let us say Birmingham — have got long past their best condition. From six to seven 

 months, in most breeds, will be the most promising ages in general ; but some breeds — as for 

 instance Spanish — require much more. Cockerels, on the contrary, are generally best at from 

 eight to nine months old, and as far as possible, therefore, cockerels should be bred in the earliest 

 broods, that they may be mature enough for the pallets hatched later. The means by which this 

 can to some extent be secured were mentioned in the last chapter. 



Which chickens are best for showing will depend much upon the time of year. For early shows 

 the forward, "pretty" birds do best (we speak chiefly of cockerels; in pullets there is not so much 

 difference), but such rarely make the largest and finest fowls ; these latter are almost always the 

 big, raw, lanky-looking brutes, only half-fledged when others are nearly mature, and which an 

 ignorant outsider would probably select as the very ugliest of the lot— yet these it is which 

 make the giants of the show-pen, and in December or January carry all before them. Such 

 cockerels, got out early in April, almost always make eventually finer birds than those hatched 

 either later or before. 



