HENS STILL CALLING

[noodle one]

A little afer six am this morning I took my dog out to do her business and heard a hen yelping and cutting just down the road from my house. I have seem alone hen around for the last two weeks, but have not heard her calling. This morning she was making up for lose time. Her calling went on for a good 15 min. We have had a lot of rain for the last two or three weeks and she may have lost her brood because of the rain or her nest got washed out. I don't know,but she sure wanted company.

[growalot]

Still time to nest again...I'm worried about our local nests...the next door neighbor has had loggers here for the past week....they'll be leaving tomorrow but his place is a big nesting spot....talked to the cutter he says he hasn't seen a bird all week but the deer have been around with fawns....Wow I can see across the valley and the area I'm fencing in ...stopped working fence until trees are cut....is now flooded with lots of light...Good growing conditions for the future....His place has always been a good bedding area...and now this will make it even thicker....they come up to feed on us so it works out well...especially since we now lay smack dab in between the corn alfalfa fields and his fresh cut swampy area ..looking good

[landtracdeerhunter]

Seen a large hen with 3 good size poults yesterday in a semi cut alfalfa field. Field was loaded with weevil. They sure were enjoying the feast.

[adkbuck]

The Hen's reproductive tract has sperm storage tubules which keep sperm viable for 10 weeks after impregnation. Hence they can start relaying eggs after a nesting failure without remating. Its natures way of insuring the propagation of the species when conditions are not ideal. Although we have fair bit of rain it has been interspersed sunshine and I hope we will have a good nesting and poulting season.

[Pygmy]

Rain doesn't have that much of an effect unless it is accompanied by low temps...

Lots of old wives tales about why wet springs result in low poult survival..

The TRUTH is, wet weather COMBINED with lower than normal temps in late May and early June causes poults still in the down stage ( about the the first 2-3 weeks after hatching) to die from exposure...This year has been relatively favorable for good poult survival..

In a study done on the state land on Connecticutt Hill a number of years ago, the average hatching date for turkey poults was June 11th...With the warmer temps we had here this spring I suspect it may have been a week or two earlier..

Edited June 12, 2012 by Pygmy

[growalot]

Wow they were busy today...Toms and hens...hotter than Hades and they were all over our place calling and clucking and calling...only one tom made himself viewable ...and if he sticks around the fall should be fun...about a 12 in beard!!