36 MAKING POULTRY PAY 



soap on all the dirty parts, rubbing the feathers hard, 

 but not so as to break them. Give the bird a good 

 washing and then rinse in the lukewarm water, being 

 sure to get out all the soap and dirty water. Add 

 enough bluing to the cold water to give the feathers a 

 nice appearance. Clean the beak, and legs and place 

 the bird in a clean box with cut rye straw or excelsior 

 in the bottom, placing it by the stove. With a soft 

 sponge, bathe the wattles, face and comb with a little 

 alcohol, which will give them a rich, red color. The 

 shanks and feet may be rubbed lightly \vith a little 

 sweet oil, taking care not to get on so much that the 

 dust will settle on them and make them look grimy. A 

 little butter color will deepen the shade of yellow- 

 legged birds. 



As a rule, few exhibitors know or care about all 

 the little tricks and so-called mysteries so often re- 

 ferred to in the columns of the fanciers' papers. A 

 few undoubtedly attempt all that sort of thing, but 

 the greater part of the men who exhibit successfully 

 are content to send a good bird away with no more 

 preparation than is necessary to make it a clean 

 healthy bird, with a short course of such dieting as is 

 necessary to enable it to stand the confinement of a 

 show coop for five or six days. This reasonable 

 method of getting birds ready to show is certainly not 

 difficult, and any breeder who would like to exhibit as 

 well as to raise market fowls, will find little trouble in 

 catering to his desires in this respect. 



Bringing Birds up to Weight — Last year I had 

 two clutches of eggs hatched out ]\Iay i8 and one June 

 2. The result was thirteen fine Light Brahma chicks. 

 I also had chicks hatched in March 'and April and of 

 these later hatched I wish particularly to speak. Lay- 

 ing aside the hard boiled egg ration after the first day, 

 I fed stale bread soaked in water and pressed drv 



