widowhood hens

do members lock their hens up,we are starting tomorrow as fresh hens will pair up if you leave them in an end on their own.we lock ours up all season.what do you do ?

dont race now but used to race cocks only, the hens were kept in another allottment so cocks couldnt hear them. Just an open aviary with tin sheeting roof and single wooden pole to perch on.
Had bungee cord criss crossed on floor to stop them getting together and pairing there. just a little shelf for drinker. Next to aviary was a small shed with trap, just opened this up on a night and hens came in to be fed. Only fed on a night @7pm. Once fed they went into single hen boxes in that shed with water cups on and left till morning then back into aviary again. Feeding was similar to cocks building them up to be mad fresh for friday basketing. 100% barley rationed till thursday then a bit redband a.m. with widowhood mix p.m. much as they could eat. Friday am they got level teaspoon of hemp each but thats all so they would trap back to the cocks garden.
Only had 12 cocks and these hens just liberated on basketing night saved carrying them round, they only did half a turn and trapped straight in to the widowhood loft.
If youre racing hens though parts of this system might be adapted same idea keeping them from pairing. Flying cocks only, you still got to put a bit time and effort into the hens though, thet got to be fresh and showing like mad.

interesting reading colin, thanks for sharing.........

in the past we had the hens as far away from the cocks as possible, during the day they went out into an aviery with roofing lats accross to perch on.........on an evening they went into the small loft which also had roofing lats as perches and we fed them on barley and kept them a bit light of food until the end of the week, when they would need to be a bit lively for the cocks before basketting.

i cant say we ever had much trouble with the hens pairing up to each other, altho i dare say we will have got some who did.........

i dont fly widowhood but i keep my hens in a section next to cocks, they cant see them but can hear them, they perch on plastic v perches, they are flown out for exercise every day if weather allows, then they go into a small aviary in the front of the loft, standing room only, the aviary also has a wire floor, there they will stay till evening then they go to roost back in there section, i have no problem with them pairing up what so ever. (dont see why that should not work for widowhood hens they will certanly be happier than locked away in a box and being wasted for the season ).

peel bros wrote:

do members lock their hens up,we are starting tomorrow as fresh hens will pair up if you leave them in an end on their own.we lock ours up all season.what do you do ?

i thought you flew roundabout ray ?

had a few older racing hens pairing up last year. but it wasnt untill late in the season when it started to get realy warm. and we had stopped a few birds for the channel races. so we have got widow hens boxes for this year and going to let them use them as perches till wed and them lock them up to try and wind them up a bit. but if there is any in particular that want to pairup then they can be locked up after exercise and feeding

barnie wrote:

dont race now but used to race cocks only, the hens were kept in another allottment so cocks couldnt hear them. Just an open aviary with tin sheeting roof and single wooden pole to perch on.
Had bungee cord criss crossed on floor to stop them getting together and pairing there. just a little shelf for drinker. Next to aviary was a small shed with trap, just opened this up on a night and hens came in to be fed. Only fed on a night @7pm. Once fed they went into single hen boxes in that shed with water cups on and left till morning then back into aviary again. Feeding was similar to cocks building them up to be mad fresh for friday basketing. 100% barley rationed till thursday then a bit redband a.m. with widowhood mix p.m. much as they could eat. Friday am they got level teaspoon of hemp each but thats all so they would trap back to the cocks garden.
Only had 12 cocks and these hens just liberated on basketing night saved carrying them round, they only did half a turn and trapped straight in to the widowhood loft.
If youre racing hens though parts of this system might be adapted same idea keeping them from pairing. Flying cocks only, you still got to put a bit time and effort into the hens though, thet got to be fresh and showing like mad.

Agree 100% barnie

David wrote:

peel bros wrote:

do members lock their hens up,we are starting tomorrow as fresh hens will pair up if you leave them in an end on their own.we lock ours up all season.what do you do ?

i thought you flew roundabout ray ?

i do david but they are the same as widowhood hens,they pair up

ah right, i thought roundabout hens were loose in their own section and were let through into the cocks section when they went out....or something like that.....

yes you have to lock tehm up,unless you do what some have suggested david.i started locking half my hens up tonight,they were not pairing up but i want them fresh as for the first open race

when i raced w/hood back in yorks i had a small loft my hens were right next door to the cocks i had my best season that year my best result with just 10 cocks was 2nd fed 1st club , 6th south yorks amal 8,000 birds out of falaise 336 miles feed your hens right and you wont have much trouble .