Working on Third Hatch

Houston54

Houston54

New member
I talked with a landowner in Hugoton yesterday and she mentioned they have seen two hatches so far and it looks like a third will be possible. She also mentioned the moisture levels have been good with some dry land fields giving up 80-100 bushels an acre.

She mentioned some grapefruit size hail occurred near the Stevens/Seward county line on Hwy 51 but other than that nothing significant.

I have a call into her son who drives a combine in the area to hear what he has seen out in the fields.
 
Houston54 said:
I talked with a landowner in Hugoton yesterday and she mentioned they have seen two hatches so far and it looks like a third will be possible. She also mentioned the moisture levels have been good with some dry land fields giving up 80-100 bushels an acre.

She mentioned some grapefruit size hail occurred near the Stevens/Seward county line on Hwy 51 but other than that nothing significant.

I have a call into her son who drives a combine in the area to hear what he has seen out in the fields.
Click to expand...

Can't wait to hear the report.
 
Houston, biologically speaking there is no first, second, or third hatch with pheasants. In pheasants, if a hen is successful of hatching a clutch of eggs she will have a hormonal change within a couple of days that will prevent her from laying or breeding again that year. What does happen is that nesting and renesting after losing a clutch of eggs occurs in a manner, that when graphed on and X/Y axis will result in a normal bell shaped curve. This curve will show hatching initiating in late April or early May, peaking in mid June, and ending in September. Quail, on the other hand, do not have the hormonal change or less of it. Scientists have documented hens laying two clutches that cocks brooded and then bringing off a third nest themselves. This amounts to less than 7% of the hens in quail. The differential size in pheasant broods has nothing to do with "additional hatches". It has to do with differential timing in nesting initiation. This may be more information than you needed, but describing what you see in the field as a result of successional hatches is incorrect. It all has to do with the timing of a hen getting in condition to mate/nest, mating, territory establishment, weather, etc.
 
Prairie Drifter said:
Houston, biologically speaking there is no first, second, or third hatch with pheasants. In pheasants, if a hen is successful of hatching a clutch of eggs she will have a hormonal change within a couple of days that will prevent her from laying or breeding again that year. What does happen is that nesting and renesting after losing a clutch of eggs occurs in a manner, that when graphed on and X/Y axis will result in a normal bell shaped curve. This curve will show hatching initiating in late April or early May, peaking in mid June, and ending in September. Quail, on the other hand, do not have the hormonal change or less of it. Scientists have documented hens laying two clutches that cocks brooded and then bringing off a third nest themselves. This amounts to less than 7% of the hens in quail. The differential size in pheasant broods has nothing to do with "additional hatches". It has to do with differential timing in nesting initiation. This may be more information than you needed, but describing what you see in the field as a result of successional hatches is incorrect. It all has to do with the timing of a hen getting in condition to mate/nest, mating, territory establishment, weather, etc.
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exactly correct, i used to hear about double hatches long ago, but once the science is shared, you come to understand things don't work that way in nature...thanks.
 
Great News

Houston54 said:
I talked with a landowner in Hugoton yesterday and she mentioned they have seen two hatches so far and it looks like a third will be possible. She also mentioned the moisture levels have been good with some dry land fields giving up 80-100 bushels an acre.

She mentioned some grapefruit size hail occurred near the Stevens/Seward county line on Hwy 51 but other than that nothing significant.

I have a call into her son who drives a combine in the area to hear what he has seen out in the fields.
Click to expand...

That is terrific news and bodes well for the upcoming season. We just need weather in the normal range from here on out.
 
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Normal range?? In KS??? Is there such a thing? Somewhere between -10 and 110 throughout the course of the year. Just kidding, I know what you mean. It's just funny when I hear Kansas, weather, and normal in the same sentence. I wouldn't know what to say if a person asked what they could "expect" for weather in KS at any given point in the year!
 
true that, i hunted last year in temps. between -10 and 75 and i can adapt a lot better to the cold, as opposed to the heat!
 
roosters

Prairie Drifter said:
Houston, biologically speaking there is no first, second, or third hatch with pheasants. In pheasants, if a hen is successful of hatching a clutch of eggs she will have a hormonal change within a couple of days that will prevent her from laying or breeding again that year. What does happen is that nesting and renesting after losing a clutch of eggs occurs in a manner, that when graphed on and X/Y axis will result in a normal bell shaped curve. This curve will show hatching initiating in late April or early May, peaking in mid June, and ending in September. Quail, on the other hand, do not have the hormonal change or less of it. Scientists have documented hens laying two clutches that cocks brooded and then bringing off a third nest themselves. This amounts to less than 7% of the hens in quail. The differential size in pheasant broods has nothing to do with "additional hatches". It has to do with differential timing in nesting initiation. This may be more information than you needed, but describing what you see in the field as a result of successional hatches is incorrect. It all has to do with the timing of a hen getting in condition to mate/nest, mating, territory establishment, weather, etc.
Click to expand...

You obviously know what your talking about...got a question for you...have you ever seen a rooster sitting on a nest....and if so...why do you think that happens and is it rare??? Thanks...
 
The answer is no. Remember that pheasants are polygamous. Once a rooster mates with a hen and she leaves to lay, he's on to another hen. Kinda the college boy syndrome. Yes, it would be rare for a rooster to brood eggs when opportunity is still knocking. Biologically he has a better chance or reproducing himself by breeding more females than by brooding eggs of his own. It's an adaptation to spread his genes. Rooster brooding probably happens, but it's gotta be much more rare than in quail.
 
Prairie Drifter said:
The answer is no. Remember that pheasants are polygamous. Once a rooster mates with a hen and she leaves to lay, he's on to another hen. Kinda the college boy syndrome. Yes, it would be rare for a rooster to brood eggs when opportunity is still knocking. Biologically he has a better chance or reproducing himself by breeding more females than by brooding eggs of his own. It's an adaptation to spread his genes. Rooster brooding probably happens, but it's gotta be much more rare than in quail.
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I forgot to mention...I was asking about quail...my hunting buddy's dad who hunted for 60 years and killed more birds than anyone I know...told me he saw that once a long time ago. He thought maybe the hen got killed or something. But he saw it...I thought it was strange...and always wondered if that was normal or just a strange situation. He also said the rooster would stay closer to the nest and wouldnt leave much.
 
OK, I'll turn the question around. It is fairly common in quail for the cock to incubate and brood the young. The few females that happen to be able to bring off 3 nests do that because males incubate and brood the first 2 nests. This is under 7% of the nesting.
 
Great Info on Pheasant Repro

Thanks for all the great contributions disspelling misunderstandings about multiple hatches.
 
When I raised a few quail, two sets of trio's , the male was on the nest half the time. At the time , I thought it was just to spell the hen, but the deeper into the incubation period, the more I saw the male on the nest. At the end he was the only one on the nest. I thought that was the neatest thing I had ever seen!!!!
 
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