Hen setting on nest question

[krabbiepatty]

Does anyone know if a hen sets on her nest at night or does she go to roosteven if she has laid her eggs? I am "guessing" that she has to keep the eggs warm at night by sitting on them but am not sure.

[RayC]

Once she has laid all her eggs she will sit until they hatch, night and day, with the exception of going for food and water during warmer parts of the day (or of course if she gets spooked off the nest by something/someone)

[superstrutter]

Unfortunately just about everything that walks, crawls, or flies dines on turkey eggs or poults. It's got to be a hard job being a mother turkey. She has to sit on the eggs 24/7 until they hatch. Then she has to protect her poults from all the critters. It's no surprise that only 20% of all hatchlings survive. The good news is a hen can lay 3 or 4 times if she has to.

[GMMAT]

Superstrutter (and others):

I've heard that a hen will breed.....lay an egg....then go about her business.

Repeat.

How does she determine when she's been bred "enough" times? I hope them brown headed creatures get stuck and get on their nests ......SOON.

[wingchaser_labs]

Like ray said she won't start laying on them at all until her nest is complete. Eggs stay dorment until she lays on them as long as the temps don't get to warm and cookor to cold and freeze the eggs and kills them before she starts layin on them. Once she completes her nest she will lay on them all the time and will only leave if something chases her off or it is warm enough during the day that the eggs can stay warm enough without her while she gets a quick bite to eat and a drink. Rarely do they leave the nest for very long if they even everdo. WCL

[RayC]

They can breed and store the results for around 30 days I believe, they may or may not breed again. When to comes time to lay they will usually lay one egg per day, go about their normal business for the rest of the day. This continues until all her eggs are laid and she starts sitting and staying on the nest.

[GMMAT]

Thanks, RayC

[mlo31351270]

That is true RAYC. They don't have to breed everytime they lay an egg.

[superstrutter]

ORIGINAL: RayC

They can breed and store the results for around 30 days I believe,

I'm not disagreeing with you, but the guy who owns property next to mine talked with a biologist and hesaid that a hen can store the gobblers "results" up to 10 months. That seems like a long time to me, but you never know.

[SwampCollie]

Since we are throwing some interesting facts about I thought I'd share a few myself. Everyone has pretty well covered the nesting issue. Of course once the hens start sitting, the hunting heats up, because the hens are on the nest all day, instead of out looking for gobblers. The Toms, in reaction, start getting love sick and dumb.

Anyhow, poults (baby turkeys) can fly from about their 10th day of life. They look like little quail buzzing around, and if you ever get to see a mother and her poults fly up to roost, its almost enough to make you laugh, baby turkeys in flight are sure a cute sight. Sort of like a Bassett hound puppy, you just gotta smile. Poults also have a call (a whistle really, a precurser to the kee kee) that predators, including humans, can hear, but cannot pinpoint. Something to do with the pitch makes it impossible for humans and other predator animals to tell exactly where the noise is coming from. Sort of like the beep of a wrist watch in a room, hard to tell where its at exactly.