Tuesday, May 26, 2009

My New Chicken Saddles


Some of my hens have been loved just a little too much by my roosters. I have one hen who we call baldy. She is looking pretty naked lately. Actually, quite a few have lost feathers on their backs. While I was looking at Danni's blog about a month ago, I saw something that would help-chicken saddles.


Chicken saddles are made to protect the hen's backs from the roosters claws. I ordered them from someone on Backyard Chickens.


Mine came last week and I put them on the hens with the worst feather loss. Now they are very fashionable and hopefully this will help protect their backs. I always wanted cows, now some of my chickens have cow print saddles. So, I guess in a way, I have cows now, lol!


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never heard of such a thing but that's a great idea. Guess you kinda got cows now!

Homemom3 said...

wow I've never seen these, they are so cute. Hopefully they heal fast. Poor things. :(

Nancy said...

huh. You learn something new every day! :) Poor things.

CrystalW said...

I have seen it all now! Was it hard trying to get them on?

Wendy said...

I definitely learned something new today...

kawracer1 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rachelle said...

To cute ! The kids thought what a great idea cloth diapers for chickens !!! LOL

I have never seen/ heard of such a thing. You could give us a class in chickens 101 !

Have a nice night, oh the enchiladas look better then they sounded ! Might have to try that.

Have a nice night!
Blessings-
Rachelle

Barb J. said...

Let's hope their feathers grow back now!

KathyB. said...

You know, these would have come in handy when my kids were showing their poultry. Isn't it interesting that the roosters will choose only 1 or 2 hens to do the ...ahem...with ,over and over, and those poor hens do suffer for this, don't they?

The fashion possibilities for the saddles are endless, and could get quite creative.

Kendra at New Life On A Homestead said...

How funny! What a GREAT idea! I sure hope it helps your hens. I'll definitely have to keep this in mind :)

Danni said...

Hey, thanks for the shout out. How are the saddles working out for you? I'm having mixed results - while they do seem to protect the girls from further damage, the feathers are not coming back. Maybe they only grow new ones once a year? I have one hen who absolutely freaks out so badly, I can't put one on her - now she's got a sunburned back from being so exposed and the hot days we've been having. :-(
Also, if the hens get really wet, I take them off because it just seems like a recipe for illness and bacteria for them to wear a sopping wet, dirty piece of fabric that is clinging to their exposed skin.

Let me know how it goes for you!

Tatersmama said...

These are absolutely gorgeous! Do the chickens with the cow prints, moo now? ;-)

Gina said...

Oh my! I've never seen that before, but we sure could use them! We have several hens with poor, bare backs. I just might have to try that!

Anonymous said...

Hello, While the saddles are cute did you know that chickens will eat their own feathers if they are in need of protein. I have seen the saddles for sale in country magazines stating they will prevent them from predators. In my personal opinion I think it is not natural and is inviting problems. How do they allow dust baths which prevents mites to have the full affect. Also the moisture or overheating possiblities. Keep us posted on how they work out for you in the long run. Just know that it may not be the rooster but the hen herself pulling the feathers. Please know that I am not trying to be negative but just want you to keep an eye out for potential problems that might occur. Good Luck.

QuiltedSimple said...

Please keep us posted on how these work - a LOT of our hens have missing feathers due to the roosters - and I'm 99% sure it's not a protien deficiency as we feed high quality layer mash and oyster shells. These look so cute
Kris