When it comes to poultry Fred Brook is no birdbrain. He knows all the ins and outs of grooming his feathered friends for show day.
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Ahead of the 148th Milton Show The Times caught up with Fred to learn the beauty regime of his poultry and hear his top tips for taking home a blue ribbon.
The 63-year-old has been showing birds for the last 40 years, a hobby born from an entry in the Milton Show.
“I showed some birds in the Milton Show and an old chap had a look at them. He then gave me a pair of Australorp Bantams.
“That’s where it started and I just went on from there.
“My father-in-law had Rhode Islands Whites and I continued his bloodline on; I still have a couple of them now.”
The Conjola man said preparation for the show begins a few months out, first selecting the birds to enter.
”Before the show you prepare them in the sense of feeding them properly,” he said.
“This is so you get good feather condition and get them used to cages so they can present themselves when the judge looks at them.
“You’ve gotta make sure they don’t go to the back of the cage when they come to look at them.
“You want them to be comfortable coming to the front to present.”
Fred said his top tip for taking home a ribbon is to make sure your fowl is typical of its breed.
“The main thing with any breed is you’ve got to go for your type,” he said.
“If it’s a Rhode Island White it’s got to be a brick shape, yellow legs, red eyes and very good white – a really pure white.”
Over the years Fred has developed a beauty regime to ensure his birds look their best come show day.
“You’ve got to wash your soft feathered birds,” he said.
“I’ve got a laundry tub and I wash them outside.
“I usually wash them in Sunlight Soap, then you rinse them with a very light blue oak, which is something you put in your water to make things go really white.
“Also, you can use Softly which makes them feel extra soft.”
If the weather is poor Fred said he turns to salon tactics to finish the priming.
“If you’ve got a problem and weather is wrong then you’ve gotta get your blow dryer out and dry them,” he said.
“Usually they react as if they are getting pampered. They like it.”
This year Fred will show 10 birds, his son 50 and his two grandsons will show 18.
The Milton Show poultry judging will take place on Saturday, March 4 from 9:30am in the pavilion.
