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With Chicks

On the 18th I saw a hen that already had 8 chicks. They were to small to fly yet. Earliest I can remember seeing them. When do you think that hen was bred?

It takes about 6 weeks for the hens to lay and incubate their eggs so she would have started laying in early April.

I too would say she was bred in early April. They can be bred once, and that breeding can fertilize their eggs for several weeks. They have a 28 day gestation period. They lay one egg a day, but they all (up to a dozen or more) hatch within a day or two of each other.

I once got within just a couple yards of a hen before she decided to flush. It was the first week of turkey season. And since I thought it seemed odd that she let me get so close, I walked over to investigate. There, in the Y of an old log, in the leaves with no semblence of a 'prepared' nest, we're 13 eggs just laying on the leaves.

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