Get Started Today In Keeping Rheas....
The rhea is the largest bird found in South America, and it is flightless. The eggs laid by the rhea are the largest of any bird in the world. The eggs of a rhea can be up to 6 inches long (15 centimeters). The average egg of a rhea can weigh about 1 pound (0.5 kilogram). The female will lay about 12-20 eggs in one season, but it is not unusual for her to lay up to 40 eggs in one year.
A female rhea will lay her eggs in a nest that she has created on the ground. She will then go off and leave them there. The male will then watch over all of the nests that have been created by females and sit on them until they hatch. This is called polyandry, which means that one female mates with multiple males. It is not unusual for a male rhea to have more than 20 females laying eggs in his territory at one time. Because he has so many nests, he must rotate between them every few days so they are all kept warm while they incubate. It takes about 28 days for the eggs of a rhea to hatch.
After an egg hatches, the young
How many eggs do rheas lay? The answer is: between 3 and 40. I know that because the person who wrote this description of the rhea that appears in a popular reference book took care to include the range of variation. And, as far as I can tell, this is the only place you can find such a fact.