hya joe
like i mentioned mate i dont use my hens for the first couple or three races just the bowl ive found that my cocks perform better not seeing the hen before racing, all i drum into the birds is that there hen is in the loft on return from a race
the only time i will show my cocks their hens is if their on fire bouncing around the loft as i feel this will calm the cocks down as many races are lost in the basket
i feel the secret to winning a race is to send the cocks calm and not hanging of each other in the race crates as the energy needed for the race is all used up fighting with other cocks
so this is the only time ill start to introduce hens to my cocks if they are bouncing i suppose its as to speek to settle them