Hens on the nest

[tailfeathers]

After a hen lays eggs how far will she travel from the nest during the day, will she roost on the nest at night or in a tree, and will she still be interested in breading if she has eggs? Starting to see hen packs break up in my area already and I know a few on nesting. Just wondering how much to rely on that hen to draw in gobblers after she lays eggs.

[Southern Sportsman]

After a hen lays eggs how far will she travel from the nest during the day, will she roost on the nest at night or in a tree, and will she still be interested in breading if she has eggs? Starting to see hen packs break up in my area already and I know a few on nesting. Just wondering how much to rely on that hen to draw in gobblers after she lays eggs.

They lay eggs over the course of several days to a couple of weeks. I think while they are still in the laying process they are still bred, but once all their eggs are laid, they stay on the next all day and night, only leaving the nest once per day to eat -- and not going far. I've always been told that later in the spring when you see huge piles of turkey hen poop, you know that they are incubating because they only poop that one time per day when they leave the next. That makes sense and I believe it. As more hens next and start go to nests, the hunting gets better as hens become more scarce and gobblers get more desperate. There is one place where I hunt that is half bottom ground and half hill ground with 25 yr old CRP (150 acres of it). It is the best turkey nesting cover you've ever seen. Early in the season you MIGHT have one or two birds gobbling between our property and the neighboring propterty (all in the bottoms). Towards the end of the season -- and sometimes after the season -- it is nothing to hear 5 or 6 roosted in the bottoms, but right on the edge by the hill ground. I suspect that the last few hens that go to nest on the hill will occasionally venture to the edge of the bottoms for one last fling and the gobblers don't want to miss out.

[tailfeathers]

That is what I thought, but just couldn't confirm it. I have a hen with a 10 inch or so beard that I have patterned. She is still roosting in the trees, so I'll hunt her. Just didn't want to shoot her if she was on eggs already.

[milkman]

She may have some eggs already. They don't stay on the nest full time until they lay a full clutch.

[Grumpy]

yup, they only lay one egg a day and so if the clutch of eggs has 12, the it took at least 12 days to lay them and sometimes they will skip a day or two. So she may have a nest started but won't go sit it until all the eggs she is going to lay are laid.

[Gleedaniel13]

After a hen lays eggs how far will she travel from the nest during the day, will she roost on the nest at night or in a tree, and will she still be interested in breading if she has eggs? Starting to see hen packs break up in my area already and I know a few on nesting. Just wondering how much to rely on that hen to draw in gobblers after she lays eggs.

I think she will just travel meters away where she can look for food. She will just stay on the nest.