Some evidence suggests that a female produces one clutch of eggs for her mate to attend and then produces a second clutch about two weeks later which she attends. Chicks do not have the same markings as adults. They are whitish below and pale brown above with numerous black spots on the upper head, back and wings. The brown-speckled chicks reach adult size 35 days after hatching. They are still unable to fly, and retain their immature coloration until spring of the following year.
Chicks can run and capture their own food soon after hatching.
Two to five days after the eggs hatch, adults may move the brood as far as half a mile to a mile and a half, then remain in that area until the chicks are fledged. One of the biggest problems for chicks is exposure to the prairie's hot afternoon sun. Shade is scarce on the prairie, and chicks seek shade under tall vegetation or in the shadows cast by livestock watering tanks, fence posts, telephone poles and adult plovers. Many eggs and chicks do not survive. Eggs are lost primarily to predation and hail damage, while chick mortality is primarily the result of predation.