Hello! Yes, she's finally growing feathers. She's been in one of the Down Under Outdoors saddles since roughly May 1. Her tail fell completely out and she's been walking around looking very much naked under the saddle, but about three weeks ago she began to grow new feathers. She's still laying - poor little production hen - but has beautiful new pinfeathers atop her wings and under her saddle.
We keep the saddle on pretty much 24/7, checking frequently for rub spots or other issues. I wish she was easier to handle so that I could take it off for her to dust bathe, but she seems to do well even with it on.
We're treating the whole flock for external parasites soon, as we found what we think is a fowl tick on one hen's face, and there are other hens starting to show feather issues (though they are favorites of our roo, so parasites may not be to blame). It's been a damp, muddy summer so far and dust bathing has been hard to come by, even the baths I set up in sheltered areas get damp and unhelpful.
tonyroo - thanks for the advice about protein! I do usually switch the whole flock to Feather Fixer or similar for a couple of months in late summer/fall. They hate it, which is so weird to me - can they really sense the difference between 16% and 20% protein, and why would that be off-putting? I may switch everyone early this year as we've got all kinds of molting going on - broody hens post-babies, young birds, and so on.