Chicken Saddles - Worth it just for the pictures!

Hey everyone!

It's spring here in B.C. and I have couple ladies that are looking rather ragged. It's not moulting season? They are missing feathers on their lower back, between their shoulders, and on the tops to prevent pecking of their wings. I've been pulling out all the stops but that didn't seem to be the issue.

Oh Dear! What is the issue?

Over mating!

Apparently this can be an issue if you don't have a good hen to rooster ratio; however, mine is 39:1 so I'm assume favouritism is the issue.

So what is the solution? The internet tells me Chicken Saddles / Hen Aprons

I've provided images for your amusement, I hope they make your day like they did mine!:








It appears that my rooster has a couple favourites. He's pretty gentle for a rooster, but he is a big animal! Looks like he's enjoying himself a little too much.

Here is the unfortunate Lass and the Prime Suspect:



Looks like there are some patterns floating around the Web:




I'm going to give this crochet one a try tonight: Life Alaska Style : DIY Corchet Hen Saddle
I'll also attempt a fleece one with elastics if I have enough time tonight.

Questions for Permies:

- Have you had this issue before? What did you do?
- Does anyone have a Chicken Saddle pattern they would like to share?
- What do you think of hen saddles in relation to Permaculture philosophy?

Thank you for sharing any thought or experiences! I will update you with my progress and hopefully a much happier hen!

I'd like to add to the list of questions: How do you convince the hen to accept the saddle?

I have one that tends to get picked on a little too much. I bought a chicken saddle just for her, and I got it on her and made sure it was fitting right. But as soon as I let her go she freaked out completely! And the rest of the flock freaked out too, flying into the sides of the run so hard they hurt themselves! I had to catch her and get it back off before they hurt themselves even worse. How do you make that not happen?

Okay, so I attempted to crochet a saddle.

Attempt #1





And.... it went poorly. Ellendra I had the same issue as you. She freaked out and bolted. My rooster freaked out and they all ran away from her. I thought it was because of the color so I made attempt #2.

Attempt #2 - New colour and I modified the pattern. Fits more snuggly. I modified it twice more after trying it on to get the tension right around the wing.



Poor photo but it was getting late:



The second one fits way better. I think also putting it on at night she was more calm. She just went back on he perch no problem.

I will update you tomorrow morning! If it's a success I will make more and perfect the pattern a bit more! Maybe flaps to cover her damaged wings.

What this thread needs is a video, good thing Patara at "Appalachia's Homestead with Patara" did a video about this recently

Update:

I started off this morning by filing down Romeo's talons. I didn't take much off I just rounded them. His outside ones where super sharp. He tried to attack me this morning; my response is to snuggle him usually so I thought I might as well bring him in for a pedicure. He has his spurs still but they are naturally blunt not razor sharp. He just bruises you with them.



This morning I crocheted 2 more saddles in black. I made the wing whole two different sizes for the two different chickens.









Blackie from last night seems to not mind the saddle at all. She doesn't seem to care about it. Little red seems a bit fussed about it and Romeo is suspicious of how she seemed to turn half black over night. They young Goldilocks ... does not like hers. She's been running around and has it flipped up. I'm going to check if she's calmed down, if not, I'll remove it and try putting it on at night. She's not too bad, but I would like her little bald patch to recover. She's one of my best layers and super smart and dam near impossible to catch!

Again, I'll update you for how it goes. At least Blackie, who by far was the worst off, seems happy.

Basically you can tell how high a hen's sex drive is by how barren her back and scalp are  There are always a couple hens in the flock that stay with their favorite rooster and pester him for favors all day long.  Then there are the hens who stay FFFAAAAARRRR away because, well, they're just not that into it.  I'd blame the hens before you blame the rooster in the case of your 39:1 flock  It's a different story with "too many roosters", of course, but that's not the case here!

Now those happy hens have some lovely chicken lingerie... xD

So update on the chicken saddle pursuits...

I learned that a crochet saddle is not the best solution. Blackie got her's caught on a nail and ripped it off, but I'm worried what might of happened to her if she got stuck. Red hated hers and would try and rip it off resulting in the getting herself stuck on her saddle:


So after this incident I removed the saddles...

So I made new saddles using flannel and stretchy bands.

My Materials:


Measuring out the saddles:



After a sewed on the wing bands I wanted to figure out how to weigh it down to keep it from flipping up, which was an issue with the crochet ones. They would dust or fluff up and have their saddle stick straight up.


Solution? Beans!

Making a bean pouch.

More super awesome sewing skills... clearly...


Finished product!
#1

#2


I put them on tonight while it was dark. No freak outs yet. I'll let you know if all chaos breaks out in the morning or not! The stretchy band made them way easier to put on, so hopefully they aren't too easy to get off.

We have a Little Red too and she's also a hyline.

Our rooster is a bantam and he only has four girls, but they were fine all through summer, it's now autumn and they've started moulting. The tops of Little Red's wings are totally bare so made a quick and lazy saddle for her, just a rectangle with two slits for the wings to fit through and a flap stitched down the inner edge of the slit to protect her wings. She wasn't too keen at first but seems to have settled down and accepted the saddle.

Huh, I thought I remembered someone on the forums that was selling saddles. Can't seem to find the thread though.

should put a saddle horn on your saddle.anyways just wanted to say this post basks in awesomeness made my night.

Howdy!
Last year, I had three cockerels that prompted a quick bit of research and some emergency sewing. I found a number of patterns and learned that chickens come in sizes. It was a curious time.
Since then, I have learned that chickens do have a fashion sense, do like to dress up at times, can get very attached to strange things (all for the fun of chicken tending), and do have preferences in what they will and will not tolerate.
I learned a lot.

If I can find them, I will happily share my pictures of chicken aprons, and I have started making some for the "larger", "more adult", "hennish(?)" chickens I have that are in need of aprons/saddles this year.
Last year, the "large" pattern I had was much too large, so I was able to cut each down into the "small" pattern and resew. Those fit everyone who needed one.

I did have one Easter Egger who insisted on wearing her apron/saddle flipped up on one side so that the bright yellow-orange knit liner was clearly visible.
She still prefers it that way, and got very indignant with me when I tried to adjust it.
I guess messing about with a "look" is as bad with a hen as it is with a teenager.

(I am using last year's saddles where I can, the Easter Eggers seem fine with them. I had it explained to me that "One size does not fit all" by one of the  more fully formed hens.)
The patterns I use are these:
For "large" hens - Orpingtons, Wyandottes, Java, Cochins (though they seem to have shorter backs, so YMMV),  - the "fluffier" chickens : https://www.instructables.com/hen-saddle/
For smaller, more petite, younger, "miss"-sized hens - Leghorns, Easter Eggers, Dorkings - the smaller hens - : https://timbercreekfarmer.com/how-to-make-a-hen-saddle-or-apron/
                                                                                                                                                               https://weallsew.com/how-to-make-a-chicken-apron-or-hen-saddle/

I would recommend using two fabrics - a heavy fabric - denim, canvas, duck - something that will protect the hens, then a softer liner of some sort. If your hen has injuries the softer liner will help with healing. Or she can have the fun of styling her new apparel.

I do put them on, take them off, and do any finicky handling of the birds at night. It's just easier overall, and I can do a series of things with them and they'll stay calmer. One of the Easter Eggers will not, under any circumstances, wear an apron. I'm not sure if the concept offends her, or if she's not into the style or fashion. Who am I to judge?

Ellendra Nauriel wrote:I'd like to add to the list of questions: How do you convince the hen to accept the saddle?

I have one that tends to get picked on a little too much. I bought a chicken saddle just for her, and I got it on her and made sure it was fitting right. But as soon as I let her go she freaked out completely! And the rest of the flock freaked out too, flying into the sides of the run so hard they hurt themselves! I had to catch her and get it back off before they hurt themselves even worse. How do you make that not happen?

Ellendra, did you figure out how to get her to accept the saddle?

My suggestion would be it put it on her then hold and pet her for a while.  Stroke her wings and back. Tell her how pretty she looks, etc. Maybe by the time you put her down, she will have forgotten that you put it on her.

Probably the only reason the rest of the flock freak out was because she was.

Howdy!
I think it depends on your relationship with the individual chickens and your flock.
I do the vast majority of hands-on chicken handling at night. Generally speaking, the birds are calmer, I have help if needed (Darling Adorable is gone all day and there are no other helpers), and the birds seem to be in that stage between "I don't care enough to fuss" and "what do you *think* you're doing?". Offended chickens are always tough.

What I have found, through my limited experiments, is that if the apron/saddle fits properly - no binding across the back, it's long enough to make a difference, the elastic is *just right* - the hen settles into the apron/saddle pretty quickly.
If she's continuing to be offended, there may be a fitting issue - i have found that the elastic is generally the problem, but I also have a "nudist chicken", so ...YMMV.

I will agree that the rest of the flock was upset because the hen was upset. Chickens, and other dinosaurs, are simple critters. If they can't eat it, and don't know what it is, they'll try to make space between them and The Scary Thing. If The Scary Thing is somehow attached to them, it's a continuous and worsening problem.  

I did, eventually, get her to wear one. She made it quite clear she was NOT happy about it, but she tolerated it long enough for the missing feathers to grow back.

It turned out that the fabric was part of the problem. The one with stripes didn't freak them out, but the first one I had tried had large polka-dots. even when it was just laying on the ground, they were afraid of it. I think maybe it looked like eyes to them.