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Getting Ready to Show
By Kevin Wirick
The show season always seems to sneak up on some individuals whereas others are
well prepared for the event. You can pair your birds so that only the highest
quality birds are produced but if you fail to prepare them for the show bench,
you will not be in the winners circle.
I go through the summer catching birds and looking at the color and hoping that
they will be all I want. I catch out the promising individuals and place these
in flights where only my "show stock" will be housed. I normally will pick ten
more birds that what I have show cages just to be sure I have enough birds in
case of a accident or another problem.
If you are showing canaries, judge your birds under Vitalights at home. Since
the birds are to be judged under this light, see how they look prior to bringing
them to the show.
Eight weeks prior to the show, I pick the birds to go. Again, I will save back a
few; just in case. Take the birds from the flight cages and examine their tails
and wings; if a few feathers are broken, pluck these out by the quill. If you do
this to a red ground canary, be sure to continue to color feed. Pulling the
birds this early and plucking their feathers will allow them enough time to grow
back in before the show. Also, trim their nails and rub their legs and feet with
olive oil. Should you have Frill canaries do not cut their nails. Top birds will
have "corkscrew" nails to be shown. After the show these can be trimmed.
For smaller birds such as budgies, canaries and finches put them in a small cage
such as a double breeding cage. If your birds come out of flight cages you may
notice that their wings are crossed. This is caused by muscles that the birds
build up when they fly long distances. These muscles will relax after a week or
two and will be fine for the show. Keep your birds in the smaller cages for a
few weeks. After that you could put a divider in to get him/her use to a smaller
cage. After a few weeks in the smaller cages bring out the show cages. The birds
are put in the cage for a week or so. Then back into the smaller breeding cages
until a few days before the show. Handle our bird sin the show cages so they
won't be afraid of the judge. In spite of your efforts I have seen birds that
will not get on the perch for the judge. Another little tip that will help the
timid birds is to wrap paper around the front of the show cage. Usually the
birds want to see what is going on around them and they will raise themselves up
to see what is going on around them.
Show cages for the smaller birds always have seed on the floor for them. A word
of caution; if you are using a seed mix with flax seed in it will stick to the
bottom of the cage if it gets wet and will be very difficult to remove. Most
breeders prepare a seed mixture without this seed for the bottom of the show
cage.
Baths are given often while the birds are in the wire cages but not in the show
cages. I like to bathe the birds during the last week in ice color water that
was in the refrigerator; this will tighten up their feathers. Stop giving bathes
the last three days prior to a show to allow the birds a chance to bring out
his/her own natural oils.
This certainly is a great deal of work; no doubt about it. As a breeder, I get a
lot of satisfaction out of seeing birds that I raised on the show bench. To
often your birds may loose points because of show preparation. This is something
you can control; if you do your part, your bird may be on the winner's table at
the next show.
303-456-0068
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Questions? support@rmsabirds.org Phone: 303-456-0068
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