Treatment, Preparation and Exhibition of Show Specimens. 
101 
be dubbed until they have fully developed their combs, which, as a rule, is when they are six to eight months 
old, and the sooner the operation is performed after the comb has attained its natural size the better. 
One argunient used by the votaries of anti-dubbing is, why not dub the hens and pullets, if this opera- 
tion is performed to improve the appearance and minimise the risk of suffering caused by the fighting 
propensity of the breed ? 'J'o those persons we would say : First, the combs of the females are altogether 
proportionately smaller than in any other race of Poultry ; and secondly, the inclination to quarrel is not so 
dominant with hens or pullets as with cockerels or cocks, though even if two Game Hens are separated for a 
short time and placed together later, the risks are great that neither would ever after be fit for the Show pen. 
All Game breeders are fully alive to this drawback in keeping their favourite breed, and should the rule 
become absolute that all cockerels are to be shown undubbed, the pens in the male Game section of our 
Shows will be filled exclusively with young cockerels.* 
* With reference to the decision of the Poultry Club (England) against the practice of Dubbing Game, the N.S.W. P., I>.,C and U. Society and the 
Poultry Club of N.S.W. decline to uphold the prohibition, and have decided that the previously existing custom of Dubbing Game Fowls and Game 
Bantams be allowed. 
