Nesting ?

[Mr. Longbeard]

Just wondering how long after a gobbler mates a hen she starts to lay eggs?

[Adrian J Hare]

Mr Longbeard, I could be wrong , but as I've understood a Hen can Lay eggs at any time even with out being mated, The thing in consideration is whether the egg is fertal or not. Now again I'm not 100% on this either but I heard it takes about 48 hours for a hen to be able to fertal eggs.
A hen system can save sperm of a gobbler , untill she is ready to set. If at some reason she is invated from the nest, she can again lay a fertal clutch without mating again...BT

[huntnma]

yep Adrain j Hare, that is what i have always heard too

[barefoot]

Adrian, Correct me if I am wrong, here. But the way I understand it is that a hen only has to mate once. She may mate more than that, but once is all that is necessary. She will feed and roost with the rest of her girlfriends, but she will slip away from the tending tom daily to lay 1 egg. She doesn't set on the nest until her whole clutch is laid. That way, the whole clutch hatches at the same time. If the eggs freeze, she will break them and start over.

If there is any false lore in that, please correct me. I want to get it straight, too.

[Tree climber]

same here barefoot: that is the way I have always heard it.
It only takes once to fertilize all the eggs she needs for that year.

[Adrian J Hare]

barefoot

barefoot

, I would say you spelt it out quite well ...BT