Can chickens survive the winter without feathers

[marvun22]

I use saddles on some of my girls. I have one hen in particular who seems to be the favorite and always has a bare back and sides if I don't keep a saddle on her. Occasionally I will take it off of her for a day, but then I have to keep her separate from the rooster. She has several, so when one gets wet or too dirty, I will switch to another. She doesn't mind it at all.

They won't keep their saddles on their back. They're too loose. I have the ones from crazy k that are upgraded, but they're too big. And how does this help with their sides? Her sides look ready for rooster ripping if he wanted too.

Hello there!


How cold are your winters? I'm in the north of England and over here and things are always pretty cold and miserable, I've rescued ex-batts in winter with less feathers then your girl (almost oven ready) and they have done absolutely fine, just make sure they have places to go to get out of the wind/rain/snow.

I honestly wouldn't recommend the sweaters, I have friends who have used them for their ex-batts and they've actually got caught up and very stressed in them - you also have to make sure they do not get wet at all, as that is worse for the hen. And hens are hot little critters so you also don't want them to over heat in them either.

You can get saddles for hens with a randy rooster - not known anyone personally who have used them but they look a bit safer than the sweaters.

Best of luck x

First. Lol, my rooster's name is Randy. And sorry about the temperature, I forgot any country can be on this website. We get as cold as -45C on a day and can have weeks in a row as low as -34.4C. From now on, I'll list everything as Celsius and Fahrenheit.

 

[lilypad]

LOL! Randy the rooster, that is a good one!

I'm so sorry, you did say -50, I had a brain malfunction haha! Our winters aren't as cold as yours but I would think she will most likely be okay (as long as the rooster stops bothering her). Although I would put a little vaseline/sudocreme on her bald back to give it a little protection from the frost.

If you're keeping her with the cockerel I would think she may need a saddle though. Is there any chance you could modify the one you have to make it fit better? x

 

[marvun22]

LOL! Randy the rooster, that is a good one!

I'm so sorry, you did say -50, I had a brain malfunction haha! Our winters aren't as cold as yours but I would think she will most likely be okay (as long as the rooster stops bothering her). Although I would put a little vaseline/sudocreme on her bald back to give it a little protection from the frost.

If you're keeping her with the cockerel I would think she may need a saddle though. Is there any chance you could modify the one you have to make it fit better? x

I will try to redo the saddle. And I can apply some vaseline on her back while I'm doing it for the others' combs.

 

[centrarchid]

Much of the feather loss shown is not directly related to rooster. Loss on abdomen is what catches my eye. Something else is at play even though complications may be coming from rooster and molt.

 

[ken-t]

I would get rid of the rooster too. Your not doing the hen any favors by keeping him. And yes the hen will survive the cold winter.
for some reason that's when mine usually molts is in the winter. Good Luck