Rain, Rain, and More Rain

[HardinCountyHunter]

Will all of this rain have any affect on the hatch? I assume that the hen will keep things warm and farily dry until they hatch. Are we looking at a poor hatch this yera if the weather keeps this up?

[Wildcat]

The hens that nested in the low areas near the water will have their nest wiped out if the water reaches their nest. Same thing with any low spot that holds water.

[Valley Station]

For most of Kentucky, rains at this time , will have very little effect on the success of this seasons hatch.
Early season flooding along larger rivers, such as,Ohio and Mississippi, can wipe out an entire hatch. That's part of the reason, some of our extreme western Kentucky counties( Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman) have a low turkey population.[V]
<u>What we don't want to see, is cold rains, a couple of weeks after the poults start hatching( mid June). </u>Poults have grown too large for hens to cover poults during rains, they start roosting in tree and become exposed more to the weather. Also,they haven't fed on insects long enough to get the oil levels up to water proof their feathers. They can get pneumonia and die.[V]