Conditioning is a vital part of making sure your birds are prepared for show season. Some may think, "I'll prepare for the show a few weeks beforehand and that'll work fine." While that may be the case for fair shows, competing in ABA and/or APA shows requires conditioning well before a show. Some say that conditioning starts the day a chick has hatched. To condition your birds for shows, consider these factors.
Diet and Nutrition
This is where the "conditioning starts at hatching" idea stems from. When an egg hatches, the first few weeks are vital to how healthy the bird will be as it matures. You want to make sure that the feed you are giving your chicks is meeting their nutritional needs as closely as possible. If you can't find a feed that meets the nutritional requirements of your chicks, try adding a supplement. A supplement that I highly recommend is Fertrell's Poultry Show and Breeder Supplement.
For adult birds, feed and nutrition is equally as important. For shows (and generally), you want an upbeat and quality bird. Shiny feathers, bright eyes, and good feather quality are important. Feeding a diet that meets or exceeds the nutritional requirements has an important role in the quality and health of your bird. You want to start feeding your show birds a quality diet from the start, but if you can't (you bought them as adults or some other situation), you need to start as soon as possible. Do not wait until a month before show to start feeding your birds quality feed. You will not see many results in that short of a time frame.
Lastly, water is the most important part of your birds' diet. It aids in the function of all body systems. Make sure your birds are getting fresh water at all times. Do not let water get nasty and grimey. Clean your water cups/jugs weekly to prevent buildup of bacteria and algae.
Conditioning Pens
To prepare your birds for show, you need to wash them. I will write another article on exactly how to wash your birds. For now, I'll explain what to do after you have fed your bird a quality diet and washed them.
Conditioning pens are pens specifically for keeping your birds clean and training them to be calm in a show cage. There are many different kinds of conditioning pens. Some for large fowl, bantams, ducks, geese, etc.. Below are some different conditioning pens that exhibitors use.
Conditioning pens keep your birds clean and help train them to not freak out or attack birds next to them when they are at shows. Above, I said that you put your birds in conditioning pens after washing them, but I personally put my birds in conditioning pens a month before the first show. I show all fall long, so my show birds stay in conditioning pens all fall.
You want to make sure your conditioning pens are plenty big enough for the size of your bird to move around, but not fly or do anything that could mess up their feathers. Some use wire all around the pen, but you run the risk of the bird roughing up their feathers on the wire. You can avoid this by either getting a larger wire pen or by making three of the four walls wood. You want to feed and water via cage cups, to give the bird time to learn how to use them.
Handling
Handling your birds is another vital part of conditioning. You're not just conditioning your bird's physical aspects, you need to also condition your bird psycologically. Handling your bird will make them calmer for the judge. You want the judge to be able to pick up your bird without having to fight the bird. The judge should be able to slowly reach in the cage, grab the bird with one or both hands, and glide them out with ease.
To train your birds, you need to be persistent. Start by putting your birds in a conditioning pen/cage. Let them get used to it for a day or two. Then, you want to slowly reach your hand into the cage. Place your hand underneath the bird's keel bone (breast area). Place your pinky finger on the outside of one leg, then your thumb on the outside of the other.
Above is a picture of how your hand should fit under the bird. After placing your hand on the bird, place your other hand on the back of the bird. Then remove the bird head first from the cage. Bring the bird close to your body and make sure to keep the hand under the bird in a firm grip. Use your other hand to slowly stroke the bird in a comforting way. If you are like me, you can softly talk to the bird while petting it to try to calm it down.
To put the bird back in the cage, always put the bird back in head first. This keeps the bird aware of its surroundings. Try not to throw the bird back into the cage. Gently guide the bird back into the cage and place their feet on the cage floor. Every step of this process should be slow and gentle, as to not stress the bird more than you already are.
You want to do the above method for a week or two. At this stage, your goal is to calm the bird and get it used to being picked up. Always follow up with a treat afterwards. I give a few black soldier fly larvae once I place the bird back in the cage.
By the second week, your goal switches to recreating the judging process. Once you have handled the bird for a while and it has calmed down, you want to start examining the bird like a judge would. Pick up the bird and look it over completely. This process gets the bird used to the movements and angles the judge uses. It also gives you a chance to make sure the bird has maintained quality and doesn't have any last minute issues, like mites or upper respiratory issues.
Examine the wings by pulling each out with one hand. Look over all of the wing feathers.
Next, look over the head. Check the eyes, beak, comb, wattles, and nostrils. Check for any discharge from the nose. Make sure the eyes are clear and alert.
Then you want to look at the legs. Check the toenails and trim if needed. Make sure that the leg color is correct for the breed. Look for signs of scaley mites. Below is a picture of a bird with scaley mites.
Finally, you want to check the vent. Lean the bird forward and pull back the tail feathers. Look at the vent and the feathers immediately next to the vent. Make sure that there are no signs of mites or lice. If the bird is infested, you will see small white dusty balls at the base of the feathers. You may also see the actual mites or lice.
Conclusion
Conditioning your birds is a very important aspect of showing your birds. You want to make sure to feed your birds a well-balanced diet, as early as possible. Keeping them in conditioning pens will keep them in top shape and get them used to the show pens. Handling the bird will make the judges life easier and keep you "in the know" about your birds health. With this basic guide, you and your birds will be ready for show season in no time.
