howdy, i am a 4-H poultry leader and this is what is done: the bird is already in the cage(you are either at a county fair or a poultry show, the judge will ask the child to go and get his bird from the cage. your son will carefully bring the bird out head first so as not to damage the feathers which would happen if the bird catches it wings or tail feathers on the cage door coming out backwards. depending on the judge he will have a table for your son to work his bird. the judge will ask to see all the parts of the bird starting with the head to check the correctness of the wattles, comb for spike numbers or correct comb for the breed, earlobe color, eye and beak color , and feather color. he will ask to see the undercolor and skin color. he will want to inspect each wing(top and bottom) he will look at the wingpits searching for bugs, he will want to inspect the vent also for bugs(blue tics, lice, mites)
he will ask to look at the breast bone, your son will need to turn the bird on its back while holding the legs and resting the bird on his arm. your son should run his forefinger and thumb up and down the breast bone just a couple times to show the straitness of the keel on the bird. the judge will want to look at the legs, shanks and feet checking for scaly legs, leg mites, crooked toes, missing toes, correct color of shanks, toes, tonails and the bottoms of the feet for color and cleanliness.
all the while he will be asking why he is doing the inspection and your son should have an answer for each item that he is inspecting. next the jugde if he hasnt already will ask about the breed, variety, sex,and age, weather it is a cock or cockerral. he will ask to set the bird on the table and step back from the bird to see the calmness of the bird (do to your son working with the bird alot) he will ask to pose the bird, have your son lift up the bird from the table just an inch or two and place him back on the table, touching the head under the beak to lift the head a tiny bit and just lift the rear of the bird the same way and put the bird in a proud position and slowly pull the hands away from the bird. the judge will then ask to put the bird back in the cage and again its head first , nice and slow, set him on his feet and slowly close the door and latch it step back from the cage.
the most important things he needs to practic is: smiling and constant eye contact with the judge. once he has done all this with confidence,BAM! his is a ribbon winner!
this should be all you need for him to be a great showman with his beautiful chicken, best of luck!
