Peahen setting

[Ellaluvsbirds]

Wow, they laid at 1 year, that's great. Mine are all different, my cameo hen will lay 2 clutches of no more than 5 eggs each, so 10 per year. My one Pied laid 33 eggs last year, she is one who never goes broody so I collect them as they are layed/dropped from the perch and she just keeps laying. Usually most will lay 6-12 and then either sit on them or they will take a break for a couple weeks and then lay another round. At least that has been my experience.

33 eggs! That's a lot for one peahen. At least to me it is. How many eggs is an average that a peahen will go broody on?

 

[DylansMom]

33 eggs! That's a lot for one peahen. At least to me it is. How many eggs is an average that a peahen will go broody on?

For mine 6-8. I had one hen lay 12 eggs one year and she tried to sit on them, but we only had 2 hatch, it was just too many for her. Some were always sticking out around the edges and I think they would get cold, plus the first ones laid were like 24 days old by the time she was done and started sitting, so they were probably too old to develop. After that I decided not to let any of them try to sit on more than 8, even that's a lot to cover, 5-6 seems ideal, at that number they usually all make it to hatch successfully.

 

[casportpony]

Thank you so much for your advice. The peahens were one last year. On average, how many eggs does a peahen lay per season?

Last year my *three* four year old peahens laid just over *100* eggs between the three of them, but from what people here have said, that's more the exception than the norm. All eggs were picked up the night they were laid, so they never had a chance to go broody.

-Kathy