[46 
The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 
his wing or wings tied till it may be supposed all the feathers are properly set. The ligature may 
then be cut, when if the result is satisfactory all is of course over ; if not the wings are to be again 
confined. So much as two months’ of this watchful care may be required in some cases ; but there 
are few but may be thus cured if taken in due time. The ligature has a tendency to cut the 
feathers, but this may be avoided by using instead of a simple cord a diamond-shaped piece of 
calico with a string sewn on at each end, when the shorter diameter of the calico instead of the 
cord will go under the wing at D, and preserve the wings from injury. 
There is always some slight danger of Asiatic cocks acquiring the same fault during the 
moult. If the wings are seen properly tucked up every night at roost nothing further will 
commonly be needed ; but if the blemish should appear to be becoming habitual, it must be 
treated in the manner just described. 
It is very prejudicial to their chances of exhibition when pullets lay too early, besides 
hindering their ultimate size ; and much can be done to avoid this with a little care. After 
about four months, all stimulating food should be discontinued, except in the case of birds 
hatched very late, in which case no apprehension of too early laying need be felt, and they should 
rather be pushed on as fast as possible. But in ordinary cases, meat, milk, and especially any 
condiments which may have been used occasionally (we have already said it is injurious to use 
them except for special reasons) should be withheld, and every three or four weeks the pullets 
should, if possible, be removed to a strange run. This last can generally be done by exchanging, 
and has a great influence in retarding the commencement of laying ; but it should not be carried 
too far. After about seven months it is best to let things take their course. We have acted 
otherwise, and — partly as experiment — succeeded, by careful change of run as required, in keeping 
pullets from laying till past ten months old, but the result was not satisfactory, the birds never 
in fact laying as they should have done afterwards. Up to seven months or a little more, however, 
it is of great advantage to have the laying thus postponed, as going to the nest daily soon injures 
the plumage for close competition. A pullet never looks so well as just before she lays her first 
egg ; and in getting ready for the chief winter shows, a great point in management with successful 
breeders is thus to turn their chickens into the show-pen in “the very nick of time;” which is 
best done by keeping them back previously, and then “winding them up” by judicious treatment 
so as to arrive at their very best just when wanted. 
As to the ages which afford the greatest facilities for obtaining this result, we have often had 
occasion to observe that pullets have been hatched too soon, and by the time they have to be 
shown at — let us say Birmingham — have got long past their best condition. From six to eight 
months, in most breeds, will be the most promising ages in general ; but some breeds — as for 
instance Spanish — require much more. Cockerels, on the contrary, are generally best at from 
eight to nine months old, and as far as possible, therefore, cockerels should be bred in the earliest 
broods, that they may be mature enough for the pullets hatched later. The means by which this 
can to some extent be secured were mentioned in the last chapter. 
Which chickens are best for showing will depend much upon the time of year. For early shows 
the forward, “pretty” birds do best (we speak chiefly of cockerels; in pullets there is not so much 
difference), but such rarely make the largest and finest fowls ; these latter are almost always the 
big, raw, lanky-looking brutes, only half-fledged when others are nearly mature, and which an 
ignorant outsider would probably select as the very ugliest of the lot — yet these it is which 
make the giants of the show-pen, and in December or January carry all before them. Such 
cockerels, got out early in April, almost always make eventually finer birds than those hatched 
either later or before. 
