How do you keep your laying hens comfortable during a show?

[Amelise]

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.)
I suppose that during the time they are in the show building I could always remove them from the show coop and put them in the travel cages to lay. 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 the judging.
What are y’all’s experiences with showing hens currently in lay? I just want to keep my hens as stress free as possible during this upcoming show. Thanks!

 

[Amer]

Some hens do feel the need for privacy at shows but for most, they simply sit down and lay an egg. This may affect judging if they are judged when they are about to lay, but that is just the nature of the matter.

 

[Amelise]

Some hens do feel the need for privacy at shows but for most, they simply sit down and lay an egg. This may affect judging if they are judged when they are about to lay, but that is just the nature of the matter.

I guess my hens are less likely to freak out at the show about laying an egg because it is a different environment?

I think the main reason they try to escape their cages to lay so much is because they know their favorite box is nearby.

 

[NatJ]

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 think the main reason they try to escape their cages to lay so much is because they know their favorite box is nearby.

I have no direct experience with this, but I wonder if they will be calmer at the show if you do NOT let them out to lay eggs now. That would force them to lay in the cages, so they would get used to laying there.