FITTING AND EXHIBITING POULTRY 561 



two and a half to three months before they are to be exhibited. 

 Old cocks are the most troublesome in respect to defective molting 

 and broken feathers, but heavy-laying hens are sometimes as bad. 

 A bird that has hardly begun to molt at this time may as well be 

 dismissed from consideration for exhibit at the show for which it 

 was to be fitted, unless the show is a very early one at which most 

 of the adults will not be fully molted. Molting may sometimes be 

 accelerated by starving for a period and then feeding heavily, but 

 such practices are likely to be in some measure injurious to the 

 birds, and results are not uniform. If a bird has partly molted but 

 has many dead feathers, they should not be removed all at once, 

 but taken a few a day until all are out. Defective feathers of all 

 kinds may be removed at this time, even by the most conscien- 

 tious exhibitor, for the same defects do not always reappear in the 

 same feathers, and a good feather may grow in place of a bad one. 

 The weight and condition of the bird should also be carefully con- 

 sidered, and its diet and habits of life during the conditioning 

 period should be adapted to getting it in perfect condition for the 

 show. If it is under weight it should be fed all it will stand, yet 

 with care to avoid overfeeding. If it is over weight it should be 

 kept on a light diet. In either case the object should be to avoid 

 radical measures and to bring it gradually to the desired condition. 



The next most important point is to look after the condition of 

 the feet, and if they are affected with scaly leg, corns, or bumble- 

 foot, to treat these troubles at once, for they are all slowly cured, 

 and the sooner the cure is effected, the better condition the bird 

 will be in when shown. Foot troubles are not only in themselves 

 serious, but affect the general condition and carriage of the bird. 

 Bumblefoot and corns are sometimes very stubborn. Scaly leg, if 

 not too far advanced, is easily cured but takes time. There may 

 be some excuse for showing birds with the first two troubles, but 

 there is none whatever for scaly leg. 



With proper attention given to the points mentioned, no other 

 artificial fitting is necessary until just before the show. 



Finishing touches in fitting birds for exhibition. Final prepara- 

 tion for exhibition may require only a few hours just before ship- 

 ping, or it may take a little time daily for several days or weeks. 

 If dead and broken feathers have been removed at the right time, 



