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Hen Nesting

1.9K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Kenlow1  
#1 ·
Just for general information. I bumped a hen off her nest in Carroll County on Sunday. I am thinking that it is a little early for a nest with 12 eggs.
 
#3 ·
Hens are being bred starting in March and into April,most of them...they only lay one egg a day and don't incubate until they have their clutch...we have bumped hens with a dozen eggs in their nests during the early youth season when it may have been a little earlier then it is now...count the eggs and do the reverse math and it will give you a approximation of when she began...a lot of them start at the end of March...that's why your seasons start when they do so they can breed...
 
#5 ·
The vast majority of breeding has taken place by the tome our season comes in. This varies across the state, but at this point every hen in Ohio should have a nest. Some are probably on their second nest after losing the first to predators.
Or lost the nest to wet and cold conditions. Another terrible Spring leads to the declining numbers
 
#10 · (Edited)
An interesting fact of hen turkeys…they can lay and hatch eggs without ever being bred…it’s called parthenogenisis and the poults will be all males…not sure about the spelling but you can google it…it also can happen in other species…had to read twice just to make sure myself…that may explain why you’ll see some larger flocks of jakes…
 
#12 · (Edited)
I got it from…”THE UNIVERSITY OF GOOGLE “… LOL 😆…you know Ken when you’ve (me) hunted these birds for 50yrs you’re always learning something new about them…but it doesn’t mean that it’s any easier…I love when a first timer gets a bird the first time out and then some time later the second one wasn’t quite so easy…🤬