Amelise
Songster
So, I have upcoming junior shows and I’ve been kenneling my two of my hens at night and until I let them out in the morning or noon to get them used to being in a caged environment. I will occasionally find an egg in either kennel, but sometimes the hens refuse to lay and get pretty frantic (flapping, climbing on the food and water troughs, jumping, being very loud) unless I let them out of their cage to go to the nesting boxes.
I have two small carrier cages that I’ve used as temporary nest boxes before (when all the nest boxes were full with other hens, to prevent fighting.) ( carrier kennels NOT PICTURED)
So for the days that they are at the poultry building before the judging and after the judging I could always take them out of the show coop and place them in the travel kennels to lay their eggs. However, taking your bird out of the cage during judging is off-limits. (Understandably, of course.)
I’m worried that my girls may become frantic or endure excessive stress if the need to lay occurs during this time.
All I can think to do is hope for the best and not worry about it. But if anyone has any solutions or training ideas, I’d be grateful!
Pictures of the training kennels attached.
I have two small carrier cages that I’ve used as temporary nest boxes before (when all the nest boxes were full with other hens, to prevent fighting.) ( carrier kennels NOT PICTURED)
So for the days that they are at the poultry building before the judging and after the judging I could always take them out of the show coop and place them in the travel kennels to lay their eggs. However, taking your bird out of the cage during judging is off-limits. (Understandably, of course.)
I’m worried that my girls may become frantic or endure excessive stress if the need to lay occurs during this time.
All I can think to do is hope for the best and not worry about it. But if anyone has any solutions or training ideas, I’d be grateful!
Pictures of the training kennels attached.
