Breeding Question...

[BOBinIN]

The other day I was out early scouting for next season when suddenly a hen exploded at my feet... She had been sitting a nest and there were seven eggs there. Not being a "farm boy" I got to wondering about breeding/egg quantity. In other words... will one "bang" get the hen to lay seven eggs or does she lay one egg for each "bang" over a seven day period?
I was thinking that if she lays one egg per "bang" and breeds once a day, that gobbler would likely establish a travel pattern to service his "harem" and not be inclined to go out of his way to investigate a hunters calls, so to kill him you have to set an ambush and shoot him as he walks by, to his next hot date. Anybody out there got the answers? Thanks, BOBinIN

[MountainMan]

I believe--and I could be wrong--but I believe that a hen does actually sit the nest until she is done breeding and is satisfied with the size of her clutch. She will feed/breed in the morning, then return to lay an egg, then return to feeding. Only one egg per day. So, that's why about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. is often considered to be the best time of day when the gobblers are still henned up--they breed their hen(s) in the first two to four hours after fly-down, so about 10 or 11, they are hen-less and looking for love. Toward the late afternoon evening, they will start moving back to the hens' roosting area so that they will be with them when the hens fly down "in the mood" in the morning.

Gobblers are supposed to be pretty routine-oriented, though, especially in agricultural areas where there are higher populations and less need to travel a long way looking for food. They have a strut zone where they go to strut and attract hens and often have travel patterns between different feeding areas where they hope to find the a girl in love. In areas with high populations, many hunters kill as many or more birds by "bushwhacking" or "deer hunting" them than by calling a gobbling tom in to their lovesick yelping.

[ozark]

I have read that it is not necessary for a hen to breed daily for the eggs to be feterlized. In fact I have read where many are bread only once for the entire clutch. Only once have I actually observed the act of mating. I agree that many gobblers are ambushed rather than brought to a call. Many times when a hen is flushed from her nest she abandons it. If flushed twice from the nest she nearly always abondons it.

[Redclub]

Ozark is right they only have to be bred once to have a clutch of eggs, The eggs are all fertilized at once however they do not become hard (shelled) but once a day. The embryo's are all there. If a second clutch is needed then the hen does need to be bred again. Having said all this they breed a lot to guarantee they are fertilized. The hen will lay a dozen or so eggs before she incubates them so they all hatch at the same time.
Ken

[whyohe]

im interested now . if the hens are already bread and nesting how long will the gobblers still want to breed? ive not walked around the woods looking for a nest but ive seen geese with their goslings that are not that young. this seem alittle early to me , i may be wrong. so are the hens with their clutches? there is 2 weeks left her in pa (till may 27th) for turkey. i wonder how they are going to respond?

[Redclub]

Geese are one of the first ones to breed and hatch. Turkeys are a little later They lay one a day and then when they are through laying they incubate them this takes about 28 days. The chicks cannot fly until they are about 2 weeks old.
If you have ever butchered a bird you can see a string of egg yolks in a tube (lack of better word) then one at a time they move into a separate chamber to form the shell.
Remember all hens do not come in at once. Toms are just horny I quess so they just keep looking. I am sure a mature Tom can service at least a dozen hens. I used to have a game farm here so most of my info is from pheasants but basically the same thing.
By the way I shot a Tom this morning
Ken
Ken

[whyohe]

thanks and congrats redclub. iv ejust been noticing lately that the tome are comeing in silent. no gobbling or even clucking. i saw 1 hen yesterday and she walked by without making a sound. oh ell beter luck next time for me lol.