Hens Without Poults

[Cabin Fever]

I've been having 6 hens coming into my yard pretty frequently. They usually hang out for an hour or so feeding in the clover, under the bird feeder, and preening themselves in the sun. They certainly feel comfortable and safe in the yard, as they squat down and rest for long periods too. It's kind of disturbing that they've never had any poults with them! I would think poults would be big enough by now to venture out with the hens.? Just no poults between the 6 of them??

Edited August 4, 2021 by Cabin Fever

[Cabin Fever]

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Edited August 4, 2021 by Cabin Fever

[Cabin Fever]

57 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

Perhaps-just perhaps up to half those Hens are Old Hens who did not Nest.

  I have only seen 1 Hen with 5 Poults so far. I have seen 3 other Hens with no Poults. 

Out of curiosity, I looked up what age wild turkeys stop laying eggs. I only found one source, but it said they usually don't live that long in the wild to get to that point. We seem to have an over-abundance of coons, fox and coyotes, so maybe that's the problem...

The flock of hens are still lounging in my yard 3 hours later now! LOL I enjoy the view from my home office MUCH more than I do my work office!! 

[land 1]

I read that a hen noramlly lives only 3 yrs in wild toms 5yrs, so unlikely age has anything to do with it

[stubborn1VT]

I'm seeing numerous hens without poults here in the Champlain Valley.  This is not a normal occurrence.  When I visited family in Central Vermont, I saw several groups of hens with lots of poults of varying sizes.  

If I had to guess, I would say the difference is the number of coons and fox that we have.  I could be wrong.

[WNYTRPR]

Seen a hen with poults for the first time at the house in 4 years ,only once this season .Have not seen them since .There are some resident fox that have been playing in the yard lately though ..

[Swamp_bucks]

I almost hit a hen with 7 little ones the other day.  Locked my brakes up to miss them.  They were all big enough to fly away.