Can I put sunscreen on my pullet?

[abejita]

When I picked up my australorps this week, one of them was missing tail feathers and some feathers on her back. My hens have not been pecking her or pulling feathers, but I've noticed that she looks like she is getting a little sunburnt on the exposed skin. I am afraid that it will get red and attract unwanted attention. Can I spray some sunscreen on her bare skin so that she doesn't get burnt? I have been putting bag balm on her at night to keep her skin from drying out and to help with any irritation.

 

[ccshambhala]

i suppose you could try it - but i would worry a nice smelling sunscreen (even the sprays they make for horses smell good) would be even more of a draw...

 

[abejita]

Hmm, hadn't thought about that. I thought that chickens couldn't smell very well?

I guess I could keep putting the balm on her at night and let them out in the late evening for a couple days so that the back yard is shady when they go out.

 

[ninjascrub69]

Quote:
They cant, the only birds that i know of that can smell are vultures.
I dont think the sunscreen would do any harm, but i've never tried it. You could always make a saddle.

 

[abejita]

That is what I thought. I'll hold off on the sunscreen and just let them out in the early evening. I wanted to start doing that anyway, because my girls should start laying ANY DAY NOW, LOL and I wanted to start keeping them in their coop/run in the morning.

 

[Priscilla Feathers]

I purchased some saddles for a hen that had the same problem. The saddle seems to be working well for our hen. She wasn't crazy about it at first, but she's gotten used to it and doesn't seem to notice it anymore. It had the added bonus, for awhile, of discouraging our rooster from breeding with her (he slipped off) but he's figured out how to get around that now, so her wing roots still look a bit tattered, but her back is slowly getting new little pin feathers.

Our rooster, a Rhode Island Red/Americauna cross is extremely nice and never deliberately tears up the hens, but the hen is a cochin bantam half-breed and a lot smaller than he is. Problem is, she adores him and stays right next to him all the time, no wandering around like the other hens, so she probably gets more attention as well as being smaller.

Here is the Backyard member I purchased my saddles from: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=131065

She charged me $3.00 per saddle, with minimal postage. They were sturdy materials, backed with a smoother inner lining, flat and very well made. My only complaint is that the fasteners under the wings (elastic with snaps) don't look terribly comfortable. My hen doesn't seem to be bothered so far, but as soon as I can find someone with a working sewing machine, I'm going to make some tubes of softer material to slide over the elastic.

If you search the forums with the term "chicken saddle" you'll find lots of people who have patterns or instructions on how to make a quick saddle out of scraps you may have at home. One person used felt and just cut wingholes and a tail hole through the felt. That would probably work too.

 

[nancypo]

I made a saddle from felt with the free pattern here, took a few minutes, just hand sewn... just search the board. You never know how people chemicals could affect a young chicken. Some of the stuff in sunscreen is pretty toxic...

 

[abejita]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I am going to avoid a saddle unless absolutely necessary as it is 105 degrees here (unfortunately, I am not exaggerating) I am thankful that the introducing my first set of pullets to the second has gone so well. Other than a little chasing of the youngest ones, everyone seems to be getting along well. The younger australorps are fast too, and no how to stay out of the way, LOL!