PREPARING TO SHOW YOUR BIRDS.

  ELLIS THORNLEY.

As I was preparing for a long trip, I stopped all my breeding. I had selected out some birds I wanted to keep, so put them aside, and deleted the rest one way or another.

A problem arose that put off the trip for a while. At loose ends, not sure what to do, when our "Zebra Times" arrived with the schedule for the Young Bird Show, now I had an answer. Go and train some birds for the Show as I did many years ago when I chased that "Champion".

Having twelve show cages I selected out sixteen birds and placed them into small cages, two birds per cage. I left them for a week to settle down and not want to fly everywhere, fresh water and a clean cage with plenty of mixed seed, cuttlefish, eggshells, and grit. Each day they were given a small amount of  dry eggfood mix (my recipe).

When possible they were placed in a show cage: (one) for training in a confined area, in other words keep fairly still and not jump around, and (two) for spraying with tepid water. This is to make the feathers sit tight on the body and keep clean, and it also tends to steady the bird a little. This should be done every day if you have the time.

On a good clear day the birds should be placed in show cages, taken and placed in the sun and if you watch, they will take a sun bath spreading all their feathers all around their body. Do not, of course, forget them otherwise you may have a dead bird from overheating.

Over a few weeks I weeded the birds out that did not display, and on the last week had eleven. Each now had a small cage to themselves which stopped any chance of feather plucking. I notified the Show Secretary that I would be entering ten birds in eight classes (as one was still suspect). Each day now I made sure they were given a spray of water sufficient to wet them well.

Show morning arrived and I gave each bird in turn a spray, placed each in a prepared show cage, put them in the sun prior to taking them to the Show, then checked each bird for any visible faults (after all, not all Judges blind). One had a tail covert looking like it was going to fall off but other than that all appeared O.K. Birds were placed on the bench after checking in with the Show Secretary. That left it up to the Judge.

Results speak for themselves... Grand Champion, Champion Cock, two Series Group Awards, five Firsts, two Seconds, two Thirds, and of course one that didn't even make a place.

The best result was in a group of seventeen birds: taking First and Third, and then going on to take Grand Champion.

The reason this was written is to show beginners and others that with a little care and attention, you too can win. NOT all birds were top class in my opinion, but were in there with a chance.....