Chicken saddles!

[buffboy]

A couple of my hens have developed bare backs due to most of my other hens going broody all at once so my roo is down to just a handful to take care of. I bought some of the "hen saver" single strap fixed shoulder protector aprons. And WHALA my hens are moonwalking all over the place. I was told the single strap would not cause this but the double strap would. Which is why I went with the single strap. But the shoulder protector has a throat latch which is what I think is causing it. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on anything better. I actually cut the throat latch on one to see if that would help and that one stopped doing her Michael Jackson impersanation but she will probably toss it first thing in the morning...ugghhhh

 

[Judy]

The only thing I've ever used only has two holes for the wings. The article shows a third for the tail feathers but I skipped this. They stayed on fine once I got the size right, which usually meant tossing one or two.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/patterns-chicken-saddles

 

[buffboy]

Well I took the other hen saver aprons off the other hens and left the one on the hen where I cut the throat latch. And now she doesn't mind it at all and seems to stay on fine. But when I let them out this morning my roo started attacking her and running her off from the flock! He attacked her several times and injured her leg before I could get a hold of her. I inspected her leg but didn't see anything. She definitely has a limp now though. I put her in a seperate pen before I left. My only option now is to put the saddles back on the other hens so they all have them and not just one. If that doesn't work he has to to go. He seems to be the cause of 90% of my chicken problems. If anybody has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. It never stops around here.