Details of Show M anagemf.nt. 
T 59 
Penning should be allotted with judgment, and be also done upon system. As many porters 
as are needed should be employed in simply putting each basket before its proper pen. If 
the committee of amateurs can do the penning themselves it will be best, for people unused to fowls 
often handle them as if they were pigs or sheep, not forgetting to swear at them either. Gentlemen 
who are accustomed to the large breeds should see to them , and vice versa ; for a man who keeps 
Cochins is uncommonly apt to let a nimble Game Bantam slip through his fingers and fly up to 
the roof, to the despair of the unlucky bungler; while, on the other hand, an amateur whose 
experience has been in small breeds only, will be apt to ruffle very unnecessarily the Brahmas and 
Cochins, being unable to get his hands round them.” Method is necessary even in penning, for 
few who have not tried it would suppose how very easy it is to put the birds safely in their pens, 
and then — forget to shut the door ! 
There is, of course, a right and a wrong way of handling poultry at exhibitions. The wrong 
way is to catch hold by the leg, the neck, or especially the tail, by which last process we have 
seen many a feather successfully extracted. The right way is to take hold with both hands, gently 
but firmly, the thumbs over the shoulders of the wings, and just meeting in the middle, while the 
fingers go under and embrace the body and thighs. It helps matters much if the exhibition hall 
be darkened so that the pen numbers can only be just seen, as the fowls are then much more quiet, 
and easily handled. 
If the pens can be arranged in single tiers only, it will add much to the attraction of the show. 
When double tiers are necessary, the lower one can hardly be seen for want of light ; and the great 
champion shows often suffer by comparison in this respect. In many cases, where double tiers 
cannot be avoided, something may be done by putting the bottom rows a foot apart, and the top 
ones back to back ; when even the six inches’ projection gives a great amount of additional light 
from the top to the lower pens. The proper sizes of pens, as furnished us by one of the largest 
manufacturers, are as follows : — For turkeys or geese, three feet square ; fowls and ducks, twenty- 
seven inches ; Bantams, twenty-one inches; pigeons, eighteen inches. They can usually be hired 
at the rate of about one shilling per pen, including cost of carriage ; and the large exhibitions are 
generally farmed on lower terms than this. Often the pen-hiring and feeding are undertaken by 
the same contractors. 
The proper management of fowls at shows is all-important to their return in good health and 
condition ; and we are sorry to say we have often observed treatment anything but what it ought 
to be in this respect. On this head we give some remarks furnished us by Mr. John Martin, so long 
known as poultry manager at Linton Park for the Viscountess Holmesdale, and the truth of which 
we have had forced upon us on many occasions : 
“ May I have a word to say on the management of poultry at our exhibitions, as 1 have been an 
exhibitor at all the leading shows through the country. I must say, I think myself that when 
exhibitors go to the expense of sending a servant along with their birds, these should be allowed to 
take charge of their own poultry ; for it is something shocking to see how birds are often treated. 
They get in the first place dreadfully knocked about by railway porters, as it is extra work for them 
which they don’t get paid for ; and at most shows the men that are engaged to look after the fowls 
know nothing whatever about them, and the birds are pitched into the pens in any way so that 
they are got out of hand. 
“ Birds after a long journey will drink a great quantity of water, and at most shows there is a 
tin full of water for them to drink their fill at. Then you will see them turn black in the comb, 
and put up their feathers all loose and rough, and they do not recover from this for some time, so 
