First of all, best of luck to your daughter at her first show!
With regard to preparation, everyone seems to have their own system. Find out what works best for you through trying different things. I will share what I do, but you may very well find some things work better. Conditioning takes a long time. Every feather should be in place, but oftentimes I will enter birds that are not in prime condition just to help with the number of entries for a special meet. Winning is nice, but is not the most important thing. I do wash my birds about two or three days before the show. Almost any soap will do, but make sure it is thoroughly rinsed out or the feathers will not look right when they dry. Make sure the bird is totally dry and has time to preen a bit before taking it to the show. I like to feed a limited amount of scratch grain only at this time, as it takes longer than mash or crumbles to go through their system, hence they are making less manure with which to soil themselves. The morning of the show, I use commercial wipes to make sure the feet and feathers are clean. I use a medium bristle toothbrush dipped in a mixture of about 60% olive oil and 40% denatured alcohol to clean the dead scales off the comb (and wattles if they have any) and to bring the blood just below the surface. It has the effect of brightening the comb. The oil brightens, and the alcohol helps air dry so as not to leave it oily or greasy. Keep it well mixed by shaking or stirring the bottle. I use another toothbrush in the same mixture to clean and soften the skin of the shanks and toes. Wipe any excess off with a soft cloth or paper shop towel, making sure not to get much on the feathers. Finally, I will wipe the bird off with the same towel to remove the dust and brighten the appearance of the feathers. Some use special sprays for this; I have some but don\'t use it. If I have forgotten to trim the end of the top mandible and/or toenails I keep a large nailclipper handy and do it now if needed. Preferably that would be done prior to washing them. Finally, I smooth the feathers a bit, working the tail and wing feathers between two fingers in the attempt to make sure the webs are not separated. I might remove any manure from the cage at this time, in they go head first, and perhaps give them a little treat if they are used to that.
By the way, I wouldn\'t hold a wheaten female back from showing for just a bit of black in the hackle. It is a very minor defect in the mind of most judges, and I once won top bantam at an Ameraucana national meet with a pullet that had it. It is more important for the males to have nice clean hackles. In the New Hampshire breed, which is based on wheaten with red modifiers, the females are expected to have black hackle ticking while the males have clean hackles. That\'s probably enough to think about for now. Good luck at your show.
