FITTING AND EXHIBITING POULTRY 557 



used about poultry houses and yards. The absence of spikes on 

 many rose combs, and of points on single combs, is due to their 

 accidental removal by wire. To guard against this, cotton fish net- 

 ting may be used in place of wire where valuable birds are kept. 



It is of prime importance that birds be kept free from lice when 

 growing the plumage in which they are to be exhibited. Lice not 

 only sap the vitality of the birds, and so cause general deterioration 

 of the color of the plumage, but some kinds gnaw the growing 

 feather next the skin as it emerges from the sheath, damaging 

 the web. It is much better that the birds have ample opportunities 

 to keep themselves free from lice than that the poultryman try to 

 do it by frequent applications of insecticides. 



For all clean-legged birds a floor littered six or eight inches deep 

 with clean, quite long oat straw, or with leaves, should be provided, 

 and unless it is necessary to force feeding to complete growth, or 

 to make the desired weight within the time limit, they should be 

 fed principally on hard grains, in variety, scattered in this litter. 

 Working in it cleans and polishes both plumage and legs. Feather- 

 legged fowls, on the other hand, must be kept from scratching 

 while their exhibition plumage is growing, ^ for if they are not, 

 the foot feathering is likely to be kept worn off quite close to the 

 outer toe. Floors for them may be lightly littered with short cut 

 straw or with hay, leaves, or planer shavings. They should be 

 fed largely on hard grain. To birds of any kind deficient in weight, 

 corn should be fed liberally, and some moist mash may also be 

 given. Many exhibitors, when preparing birds to be cooped by a 

 company which feeds its special brands of poultry foods during the 

 show, use those foods for a part of the ration for a week or two pre- 

 ceding the show, that the birds may not be affected by a sudden 

 change of diet. 



Grooming and faking. Artificial methods of conditioning poultry 

 for exhibition are of two distinct classes, — legitimate and illegiti- 

 mate (faking) ; between these two classes are a number of cases the 

 status of which is not clear. 



Legitimate conditioning (practices that are plainly right) includes 

 all those things which the exhibitor must do to birds individually 



1 This is one of the principal causes of the loss of vitality in exhibition stock 

 of this general type. 



