when i raced widowhood years ago we had to be careful that the hens wouldnt pair up, as we all know this would ruin our widowhood cocks for insentive purposes to race home quickly...........to try combat this we would leave the hens in the aviery during the day on roofing lats placed accross the aviery which didnt give them a nice comfortable place to nest and pair up, we also would keep them a little light on their feed and never used any floor covering which would encourage them to nest also...........
when i do get round to racing widowhood this year hopefully, i think i will try stick to these methods as i personally dont like having birds locked up all the time and having no freedom..............i wouldnt confine my birds just to win a race or two, but i do understand why fanciers do it if they are keen to win.