110 



SUCCESS WITH POULTRY 



featJiers the wrong way. This done, having prepared warm 

 water in the larger and deeper tub, dip the bird in and out 

 treeiy and thoroughly rinse every vesiige of lather out; 

 lastly, take a can oi merely ehuled water (may be very 

 siigntiy tinted witn blue tor white birds) and pour this over 

 the bird, drain ana dry as tar as you can m a Turkish 

 towel, place tne bird in an exaibition coop and set it at a 

 comfortable distance from the fire. As tne bifd dries and 

 fluffs out, gradually diaw away from the fire. Leave tne 

 birds all night in a warm kitcnen, and next morning place 

 them in their own preparing pen, which, meantime, has 

 been laid deep in fresh straw. Let them rest here foi 

 twenty-lour hours, or tw^elve at any rate, before the journey, 

 otherwise a risk of cold is incurred. After the bath, when 

 still wet, give a teaspoonful of wine, and later a meal of 

 bread and meat seiaps, which are gratefully devoured as 

 a rule; by and by a Handful of wheat as a treat cast in the 

 straw will tempt them to scratch for it. A moist warm 

 atmosphere must be kept up in the drying Loop, or the 

 feathers will not web properly; place water within reach, 

 and add to it a little tonic. 



If the birds are not drying properly, try to turn them 

 so that the heat will strike all sides equally. Hard-feath- 

 ered birds, such as Andalusians, Brown Leghorns, Malays, 

 Dominiques, Game, Black Spanish, do not require so much 

 washing. White birds and Asiatics demand the greater care, 

 boiled in water to a jelly. This is' much liked, and will lay 

 FEEDING FOE EXHIBITION. 

 Birds for show should be brought up as directed on page 

 60, and then about three weeks before exhibition special 

 -diet should be given; fresh meat once a day, a piece the size 

 of a walnut; plenty of green food, and twice a week linseed, 

 boiled in water to a jelly. This is much liked, an dwill lay 

 on flesh and produce gloss on feathers. Bread and milk is 

 excellent for bird? that are going to or returning from a 

 show; a few' handfuls of hemp at odd times, and best wheat 

 will get the birds into grand order. 



TBEATQVIENT AFTER EXHIBITION. 

 On the arrival of birds from an exhibition, feed them on, 

 soft and (if cold weather) warm food, containing a little of 

 our "Poultry Tonic"; give a very little water containing a 

 tonic. See that they are housed very warm. If they are 

 shortly due at another show, give bread and milk for one 

 meal daily, and rice and milk with meat. If the crop is - 

 loaded with Indian corn, feed very sparingly, even of soft 

 food, at first, and if it feels hard, give a teaspoonful of gin 

 on arrival; it will aid digestion. 



VENTILATION. 

 Is a neglected but most important subject. Poultry 

 houses are often either draughty or they are unventilated; 

 if the first, the birds are always uncomfortable, and a late 

 egg supply, owing to cold housing, will be the result; if the 

 latter, serious disease will follow, such as .diphtheria, or the 

 birds will be dull, without appetite, the wings will droop, 

 upright combs will get blue at the tips, and fall over limp 

 and flabby. Besides the door entrance, every roosting house 

 should have a window, which can bo left open on hot nights, 

 a wire screen of small mesh should be placed over it to keep 

 out enemies; in the winter a piece of perforated zinc is pre- 

 ferable, as it prevents the wind rushing in, and yet gives 

 enough air. If a window is not practicable, a hole under 

 the eaves will answer, covered with zinc wire. The higher 

 up ventilating openings are made the better. Foul air rises, 

 and openings must be made or the fowls will suffer. Venti- 

 lating holes should be drilled in all artificial mothers, dryers 

 and shelters; foul air generates very quickly where chickens 

 congregate. 



TREATMENT OF SHOW BIRDS. 



Hatched in the three first months of the year, they muist 

 be well fed and housed, and yet allowed perfect freedom on 

 grass runs wherever fine and dry. Soft food should have 

 bone-dust mixed with it, and the meals should be ample and 

 frequent, but never so large as to .remain uneaten and to 

 get sour. Meat and green food should be given- in plenty. 

 At from three to four months the cockerels should be sep- 

 arated from the pullets; no crowding, no want of cleanliness 

 should, be allowed, and no roughing it in bad weather, or 

 the feathers will be soiled. These must be kept spotlessly 

 clean and fresh, and care must ,be taken that no rough wire 

 or ill-made doors, or awkward perches injur© -the plumage, 

 on which prizes to a great extent depend. Three weeks be- 

 fore the show, pen the birds, cock and pullet, separately, 

 giving each a friendly companion of their own sex; feed on 

 bread and milk, wheat, and two or three times a week give 

 linseed; boil to a jelly and mix with oatmeal till it is friable; 

 this will gloss the plumage. Also give barley-meal, buck- 

 wheat, a, little hemp and meat. Let the pens be deep in 

 fresh straw, and see that the dust-baths are very clean. Two 

 days before the show give night and morning a meal of 

 rice boiled in milk, stiff, and plenty of wheati A little meat 

 chopped ipto the rice is much enjoyed. Bice is to prevent 

 any chance of diarrhoea in the show pens, which entail extra 

 soiling of the plumage. Green food should be given in 

 plenty, preferably grass, lettuce and spinach. Forty-eighc 

 hours before showing, wash the birds if need be. Feed as 

 above until an hour before starting. Lastly, wash the comb, 

 fa&e, ete., with soap and water, dry, and rub over with vin- 

 egar; give each bird a teaspoonful of wine — they will then 

 sleep instead of fretting on the journey. Inside the hamper, 

 at the side, tie the top of a loaf of bread soaked in port 

 wine, and a head of lettuce, to pick at; this will bring them 

 in good condition to the show pen. If shown in pairs do 

 not omit, three days before the show, to give the cock or 

 cockerel a hen in his pen, but not one which is to be ex- 

 hibited. He will then not take much notice when the show 

 pullet is introduced into the exhibition hamper, which should 

 be done about three hours before the train leaves to insure 

 that no fighting occurs. 



GENEiRAIi TREATMENT OF COCKERELS. 



During the first twenty-four hours give no food, and re- 

 move, till all are hatched, from the hen or incubator to a 

 box having ventilating holes bored in the side, and a hot- 

 water bottle slung by means of coarse flannel, so that the 

 chicks. may feel the warmth and the least pressure on their 

 backs. When all are hatched, cleanse the nest completely, 

 and well dredge the hen's body with insect powder; give hei 

 the chicks and place chopped egg and bread-crumbs within 

 reach. The less they are disturbed during the first two or 

 three days the better. 



Warmth is essential, and a constantly brooding hen is 

 a better mother than one which fusses, the infant chicks 

 about and keeps calling them to feed. Pen the hen in a 

 coop and let the .chicks have free egress. The best place to 

 stand the coop is under sheltered runs, guarded from cold 

 winds, the ground dry and deep in sand and mortar siftings. 

 Further warmth is unnecessary if the mothers are good; 

 and if the roof is of glass, so as to secure every ray of sun, 

 so much the better. Cleanliness of coops, beds, flooring, 

 water vessels and food-tins must be absolute. The oftener 

 the chicks are fed the better, but food must never be left 

 uneaten. Water must be made safe, or drowning and chills 

 may be expected. The moment weather permits, free range 

 on grass for several hours daily is desirable, but shelter 

 should always be at hand. 



