Preparing your chicken for an agricultural exhibition

Agricultural shows are on and as expected, a lot of fanfare is taking place at the events that attract throngs.

One place to visit is usually the livestock exhibition featuring cows and poultry.

But this article will focus on the poultry exhibition, in particular that of chicken, which many farmers are unaware of yet their flock can bring them honour and cash.

Normally, chickens are judged in different classes based on the standardised poultry breeds. Judges’ decision is based on a bird’s breed and conformation, that is, the shape, condition and correctness.

To prepare for the show, start by identifying the best birds, keep them clean and provide best diets to make them fit, healthy and in top condition ready for the contest.

For feeds, provide the birds with good and healthy diet as this is key to good colouration and feathering. Excess feeding, however, could result in overweight birds.

Keep parasites, both internal and external, in control for better health. Regular dusting is the best way to keep external parasites like fleas or mites at bay.

Use dewormers (bought from agrovets) to control internal parasite load. Feathers, on the other hand, should be groomed by use of needle-nose pliers to pull out broken ones on the wings, tail and feet.

During the show, every bird is taken out of the cage and examined, so it helps if you train your bird to be relaxed for easy handling by the judges.

Achieve this through cage training (a rabbit hutch may be used) before the show to help the bird acclimatise to being handled.

By practice, place the candidate bird in a cage for a period of time as you take it out daily to have some special meal like corn.

It will soon realise that a hand coming into the cage signifies something nice is on the way thus helping the bird relax before being picked.

WASHING THE FEATHERS

During this period, it is important to handle the bird regularly and examine it like a judge would, for example by opening up the wings, holding it up to your face, moving its head back and forth and walking around with it.

Apart from easing handling, this helps to keep the bird cleaner, prevent others from pecking it and damaging the plumage and reduces exposure to external and internal parasites.

It is advisable to keep cocks and hens separate to avoid bullying as a few feathers pecked out of a wrong place can spoil a perfect bird.

Bath the birds a few days before the show by using warm water for washing and a recommended chicken shampoo. The water should, however, be shallow to make the bird relax.

First wet the bird with warm water then add soap. Be really careful and gentle when washing the feathers since vigorous scrubbing can damage or break them.

It can also lead to stress, thus, as you wash the bird, stop a little while if it panics. Gently work the soap all the way down to the skin using your fingertips in little circular motions.

While soapy, use an old toothbrush to gently scrub the non-feathered legs. Rinse by pouring water gently over the bird, then wrap it in a large, absorbent towel and gently squeeze to have as much water as possible absorbed.

Remove the towel from the bird in the direction of natural lay of the feathers. You can then dry the feathers using a blow dryer under medium or cool setting.

Hot setting may scorch and fray feathers. Keep the dryer moving at all times since aiming at the same spot for too long may burn the feathers.

Now that the bird is clean, take time to trim off some of those pointy ends on the feathers. You can use a nail trimmer to carefully nip the sharp point off the beak’s upper part. Only remove the tiniest bit to make the beak less sharp and then round the clipped edges by filing smooth.

FREE FROM DEFORMITIES

Trim off the claws too, taking care not to shed blood, then once again round any sharp edges. You can then use recommended vet oils to shine up the comb, wattles, beak, un-feathered legs, eye and earlobes and make them appear beautiful or nice.

On the material day, arrive early to find your assigned cages and put your bird in to give them time to settle.

Shows are run on strict guidelines by judges, who are experts in different breeds. To aid you in preparation, it is important to understand the various parts of a live chicken and have good visual appraisal.

This helps you put emphasis on where judges make keen observations, depending on the breed. Evaluation descriptors are based on major breakdowns of the breed type. These are:

i) Size and weight appropriate to the breed’s ideal shape.

ii) Body: It should be broad, deep, and well-developed for quick digestion and absorption of food necessary for good egg or meat production.

iii) Condition: A bright red comb, clear eyes, no evidence of disease and no bleaching of colour are good.

iv) Legs and toes: They should be free from deformities, the bird balanced on its legs and the feet and toes.
v) Colour should be correct for breed.

In summary, preparation is simply an icing on the cake. If you prepare well, your bird will possess high merits to win the coveted award of the ‘Best’ in different categories.

Remember to observe biosecurity during and after the show as your bird may be exposed to diseases. After the show, treat it as you would a new bird and quarantine it appropriately till you return home.

Opinya is based at the Department of Animal Science, Egerton University.