Hens loosing feathers due to rooster

[remist17]

I have all 7 hens loosing feathers on their backs thanks to the rooster. He is a leghorn and getting some large spurs.
I never had a rosster before and I understand this may be normal since he is doing the deed.

What can be done to prevent the hens from loosing the feathers. They look really bad in my book. If it is normal than I will not worry, but I am affraid the rooster is to heavy or the hens do not have the room they need to get away from him.

 

[Roosterlover5]

We had the same problem so we bought hen coats and they work really well!

 

[jarysjoy]

where do you buy these coats for the hens

 

[heatherscreations1969]

Search ebay for chicken saddles

*hugs* Heather x

 

[haemony]

Depends on what is meant by normal and how much damage is done. I think it's common but that doesn't mean it is right or necessary. hen saddles work to a point (on the back not the shoulders and wings) but I don't let my hens get stressed by rough mating. Does the mating all look consensual? Do they squat for him or do they protest and try to run. Do they have just a few feathers missing or are there large bald patches. If the bald spots are on the shoulders or there is a large amount of skin showing, He is too rough! In the summer, they can get sunburned on those bald spots too. That is very painful for them. Opinions vary but I will not keep a roo who roughs up my hens. His job is to protect them not abuse them. A few feathers missing is okay. Bald spots and shoulder/wing breakage can be a problem.

 

[RedDrgn]

Saddles protect their backs/hips/base of their tails so long as you get a properly-sized saddle. There are several folks who sell them for very reasonable here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/19/everything-else

Yes, feather loss is normal to an extent, but it's a bit complicated with regards to whether or not it's brutality. If you don't have enough hens, the roo will tend to overbreed them, which will lead to quick feather depletion. However, even when there are plenty of hens, roos will often have their favorite girls who they mate more often than the rest. If they only have a couple of faves, those girls may still end up bare-backed. It doesn't matter if they are submitting to him or not, either; mating always results in some degree of broken/lost feathers; just the way that it works.

Our roos fave is bare-backed (and saddled) and bare-headed. She submits to him, even presents herself without him first appearing interested at times. So she looks rather awful, but is apparently happy. She sticks by his side and does all of the normal flock things, is eating well, and averages 6 eggs per week. His second favorite is a little ragged on the back/head, and the rest of the flock is forever pristine; he rarely touches them. Who knows why?

 

[remist17]

Sorry for the delay in responce.

The backs on the orphington and austrolpes are the worse. They are a good 4" in diam to skin.

I think the rooster is not very nice to them and he last night did the dance at me and went after my leg.

Good this behavor contribute to the decrease in eggs I am seeing.

 

[Den in Penn]

He is trying to make you subordinate to him. Drop wing is the mating dance, but also indicates he wants the other bird (you) to submit to him. Ask yourself if you really want him. If he is causing enough stress he can inhibit egg laying. But there may be something else going on, a rooster really has to be very disruptive to cause a drop in eggs.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

he last night did the dance at me and went after my leg.



No comment on the rest of your post because I cull a rooster that's either rough on the girls or if he even thinks of dropping a wing on me, let alone actually daring to go after me. I had one who decided that I was GOING to submit by God and he started running across an entire pasture to attack me. Not going to ever let it get that bad again, the first time they drop a wing they get a warning pinning to the ground and picked up and carried. If they do it 2 times, it's Sunday supper time. Currently (fingers crossed they stay like this), I have 2 really nice roos but the second one of them forgets himself it's chicken and dumplings.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have a 2 year old roo, and last year everyone was bare backed. But they ate, and layed, and while they looked unsightly, they really did not seem distressed, so I kept the roo. He is nice to me, and about this time, I noticed that I had not had a daytime predator loss. Something that had happened often enough in the past.

Well Captain, has remained nice to me, I have not had a loss in a year. But here is the strange thing. This year, my year old pullets look like hell, where as my two year old hens look just fine. They are all mated. He just does not seem to cause problems with the older hens feathers. So my question is, I think that there might be a bit more technique on the hen's side too?

MrsK