UkPigeonRacing

Sorry guys - me again.
I need to ask if there is a way of keeping the hens on the nest while the cocks are being heldover at the racepoint.
I promised a young lad a round of babies out of my race birds and I have already had 2 hens leave their nests.
Cocks have been gone since early Thursday and just been advised of a holdover.
Only got 7 pairs anyway so only have 10 to give him now instead of 14.

Yes pretty simple just take the hen out and basket her. Put back in for a few hours to sit then back in the basket again. Better to keep the box locked too when she's sitting to stop other cocks going in and bothering her.

Same thing will work with cocks to a certain degree although cocks will lose interest after a few days. But usually all hens will sit if you do this from cock goes to race.

Sorry just seen the bit about keeping the eggs, you could just mark the eggs and move them under a pair that aren't at a race. Pigeon will sit 4 eggs no bother at all

Thanks Goose - thats really helpful.

Sorry I didn't read this earlier mate, goose has already given you some good advice.
You will find that some hens will just continue to sit for a couple of days anyway, but as well as goose's suggestion, you could just shut the hen in her box with food and water, this way she might just carry on sitting as there's nothing better to do, I would probably still put her on pot eggs and put the eggs under another pair just incase she comes off.
You could also just remove the hen altogether until the cock returns, but again as goose says, you'll have to mark the eggs and put them under other pairs.
It is a gamble when racing natural, which is why I try to send both the pair to the same races, which is ok if they are on pot eggs. If you have unpaired cock birds in the loft I would remove them too, as they can be a real distraction and cause havoc when a hen is on her own.
Hopefully you will be able to give the young lad some babies, I'm sure he'll appreciate whatever he gets.
Good luck and let us know how it goes mate.

I agree with what’s been said. Removing the hens during the day and letting them sit at night would work. You would have to move the eggs and put under others if wanting to keep them. If nothing to put them under try just keeping them warm another way. Hope the cocks return from this weekends race Dave.

I cant add anything, the others have covered it.
Just clearly mark the eggs so they don't get mixed shifting them round.

Thanks for the support lads.I think I may have posted too late and all except one hen had left the eggs.
Nonetheless a great little nugget to learn so thanks goose.
I put out a message on the fed website and within about 20 minutes I have replaced those 16 birds and a few more.
The lad is obviously delighted and I am not feeling quite so bad about it all - win win!

Yea, that's a valuable lesson.
I've found that you can send cocks for overnight races and two night races and hardly ever have any problem.
After that you are getting into dangerous territory if the eggs have youngsters that are important. .
As goose said, you can put two extra eggs under another hen, and if it looks like a three or four day hampering you might look at that in future.

Diamond Dave wrote: ↑Sun May 25, 2025 9:06 am Thanks for the support lads.I think I may have posted too late and all except one hen had left the eggs.
Nonetheless a great little nugget to learn so thanks goose.
I put out a message on the fed website and within about 20 minutes I have replaced those 16 birds and a few more.
The lad is obviously delighted and I am not feeling quite so bad about it all - win win!

Shame all yours came off mate, but good to hear that the young lad has his birds anyway, well done to you and the Fed members who've supplied them.
I hope your cock birds are all home now too.