Rooster mating with one hen too much

Hi,
there is a rooster mating with one of the hens too much, she has no feathers in a place on the back area of her back. she has red skin and feathers trying to grow. We have bought a hen saddle, as they are buff orpingtons, I think it was too small to fit on them. My dad said we should put mustard on the back of the neck of them hen so the rooster will go away when he pecks her to hold on when starting to mate.

I want to see if I can make this saddle bigger but is mustard safe to use because my dad wants to do it ?

Mustard won't hurt but I doubt it's going to be effective.

Look into ordering saddles from Pampered Poultry. They have lovely products.

How many hens do you have? A low hen to cock ratio can easily cause this type of wear and feather loss. Granted, sometimes it's just what occurs simply because the cock has a favorite hen, but more often it is because the number of hens is too low.

cuteychickens15 said:

Hi,
there is a rooster mating with one of the hens too much, she has no feathers in a place on the back area of her back. she has red skin and feathers trying to grow. We have bought a hen saddle, as they are buff orpingtons, I think it was too small to fit on them. My dad said we should put mustard on the back of the neck of them hen so the rooster will go away when he pecks her to hold on when starting to mate.

I want to see if I can make this saddle bigger but is mustard safe to use because my dad wants to do it ?

Click to expand...

How many roosters and how old are they?

Don't think mustard will improve the situation, and could make it worse.
I'd sequester the rooster.

aart said:

How many roosters and how old are they?

Don't think mustard will improve the situation, and could make it worse.
I'd sequester the rooster.

Click to expand...

We have 1 rooster, he is nearly a year old, the same age as the hen with lost feathers, I think he loves doing it with her because it was just them two until we got three more BO girls in September and they run off when he is after them where the other hen just stops and lets him do it.

QueenMisha said:

Mustard won't hurt but I doubt it's going to be effective.

Look into ordering saddles from Pampered Poultry. They have lovely products.

How many hens do you have? A low hen to cock ratio can easily cause this type of wear and feather loss. Granted, sometimes it's just what occurs simply because the cock has a favorite hen, but more often it is because the number of hens is too low.

Click to expand...

We have 1 cock to 5 hens, the 3 younger ones we bought in September seem to run away from him as he is about to do it where the older hen with lost feathers just lets him do it, i think its because we got her with him at one week old chicks back in May.

I got delivered a saddle today, I worked out that i had to unclip the belt thing that goes around the wings so i can make it bigger to fit on the first wing but I had to tighten it a little o there was enough to go around the other wing, I got it on and she seemed fine but im worried if it could be too tight and blocking blood flow to the wings or something. Should I take it off when she goes bed. One side unclipped earlier and she had it hanging off her left wing and ran around in circles. I might go put it back on her now and see how it is.

Does tying the saddle too tight block the blood to the wings or anything because it was a bit of a struggle getting it on but she seems fine.