How I Prepare My Bird for Show

Guest blogger and WPA Youth Member, Bryn Arne, wrote an award-winning essay for this year's WPA project scholarship.

I want to first plan a day that is two days before show to prepare my bird. I prepare my bird for show by first washing him/her. You will want to wash them on a sunny day so that it is not cold and so that the chickens do not start to develop hypothermia.

You will want to start by having three totes, the first tote is the warm wash water with Dawn dish soap, the second tote is the water rinse with apple cider vinegar, and the final tote is the heavily diluted glycerin shine up rinse.

After you finish washing your chicken you will then want to wrap them in a towel to help them dry. They look like a chicken burrito! You then will take the chicken's feet and trim any of their nails that need trimming. I usually check the beak too to see if it needs to be trimmed. Afterwards, you will then let the chickens air-dry for a couple of hours. We like to put them on the trampoline to dry.

After the chickens are washed you will then want to focus on packing the necessary equipment for show. You will need to pack Vaseline to put on their combs and feet to make them look more shiny, feather touch up spray (Show Shine by Weaver), a silk cloth, feed, water, baby wipes, coarse brush, blow dryer and most importantly, your chickens.

To prepare your chicken the day of the show, you will first want to spray them with the feather touch up spray and groom their feathers with the silk cloth. After that you will put Vaseline on their comb and feet, to give it an extra shine that the judges are looking for. Once you have done that you will want to try to clean off any feces that is on your bird. Doing this will ensure that you have a clean bird that is ready for show!