Preparing for Show

[Jean]

Hi everyone!

I am thinking of taking three or so of my birds to the show in Great Falls in April.  So, I have just under 6 weeks.

My question is, can main sickles on a roos tail grow back in that amount of time?  I have a beautiful blue roo I got from a batch of chicks from John, however his main sickles are really ratty and I am thinking of pulling them and moving him to his own cage until the show.

I also want to bring my pullet that did so good at the county fair, but she has been in the breeding pen and is pretty ratty also.

Do any of you have any suggestions to help me out?  I have only shown pullets and cockerels and they have all had fairly new feathers. Any suggestions on how to get new feathers (partial molt?)to come in quick?

I will begin with worming and \"debugging\" and I have a show formula feed that I can get.  I will be adding wheat germ oil and some other vitamins, but the process of getting the old feathers to come out and new ones to come in is what I need help with.

Thanks a bunch!

Jean

PS Anyone out there going to the show in Great Falls at the end of April?

[Mike Gilbert]

Jean, I doubt six weeks is enough to grow new sickles, but I wouldn\'t hesitate to give it a try - what do you have to lose?
Feathers are mostly protein, so I would feed extra protein.
My preference would be ground raw meat, but others may have ideas that work well too.    High protein dog or cat foot seems to work for some.   Good luck!   As for your last question, we are planning to come to Great Falls in October, but there is no way we can get away for that long in the spring.  

Mike Gilbert

[Blue Egg Acres]

My preference would be ground raw meat

Mike, are you talking hamburger?

[John]

ground raw meat

He is probably referring to venison from Red Deer.  It can be ordered from http://redstagacres.com.  

how to get new feathers (partial molt?)to come in quick?

I don\'t have any better ideas than what Mike has said and don\'t have near the experience that he and others, on the Forum, do with preparing birds for show.  I do know that some use a \"Pink\" product on their birds, at the shows, to give the feathers a luster and it helps make ratty feathers smooth out a bit.  I think it is Pink Plus that they use (?).
http://www.lusterproducts.com/products/Pink/03.htm

[Mike Gilbert]

I\'ll be happy to ship you venison burger, but it may be more economical to purchase lean hamburger or other ground meat.    Of course you could cook the meat, but I believe you will find the birds will  prefer raw once they get a taste for it.

[Jean]

Mike,

Thanks for offering the venison, but we are hunters and have some in the freezer.  In fact I think we have some buffalo liver in the freezer I can use.

Should I pull out old feathers or just start the high protein diet and pull them away from the pickers?

Does anyone know if spring time shows are run different than summer and fall shows?  In most of the summer and fall shows that pullets and cockerels must be 20 weeks old to show and must be hatched in the current year.  I have some pullets and cockerels that I hatched in December, would they be considered hens and cocks since they were hatched last year?

I want to bring a couple of my black offspring with slate legs!!!   Yes, I actually hatched some more blacks with slate legs. woohoo!!!!!  (They are around 12-14 weeks old now, fully feathered, just not mature.)

Jean

[John]

pullets and cockerels that I hatched in December, would they be considered hens and cocks

Officially they are become hens and cocks when they are a year old.
Many of us don\'t know the birthdays of our birds and since historically we hatched each spring the birds were considered cocks and hens the following spring.

[Guest]

As a side note, I raise a lot of long tailed birds....here is one of my roosters  

The sickles take a LONG time to grow because they are longer and they will definelty be missed at a show ( the judge will know they are gone)  I have always fed fish for extra protien but I know of others feeding red meat.  I hope this helps

Mark

[greeneggsandham]

I just had to make my first post to say that is one beautiful rooster Mark.  What is he?

By the way, very enjoyable and informative board you have here John.  I especially enjoy the pictures that members post.  Before too long I hope to be hatching my first real Ameraucana eggs.

[grisaboy]

I generally hatch a few late summer chicks so I have a few pullets and cockerels for the spring shows.  Anything less than 1 year old is a pullet or a cockerel.  But, as John said,  nobody is going to check for hatch certificate.  
If it has long spurs,  don\'t show it as a cockerel.

Curtis