Feather Loss from Saddle/Apron Lots of questions?????

[RooRoo523]

I put saddles/aprons on 8 of my hens due to an overly aggressive rooster causing feather loss and a few scabs on my hens. They were not out of the run a lot so the rooster could trap them at will. Well, hot weather has arrived and I took the saddles off. Had to lock up the rooster in the run because he is so protective of his hens. All 8 of them have NO feathers on their backs!! I now let them free range during the day and they can get away from the rooster if they want to. The rooster usually keeps them in the shade most of the time. I have 11 hens and 1 rooster, all are 14 months old, all are Barred Rocks. I could rehome the rooster, but he is a great protector, gets them back into the coop at night, and is good with the hens when free ranging. He also alerts us to any humans or animals around the run/coop by crowing.

Will they get sunburned?

Will the rooster tear their backs up?

Should I put the saddles back on?

Will the rooster ever slow down on the mating behavior?

Thanks!

 

[50-45-1]

My advise is cull the rooster.
He is to rough on the hens and has bad technique.
Yes, your hens could sunburn, also ongoing with this bare skin problem you risk problems with blood drawn and cannibalism or the habit of feather picking. Plus it just looks awful!
This rooster is set in his ways and not likely to become gentler.
Do you really need a rooster at all?
I never keep a rooster that is hard on my hens.
There are lots of good roosters avaliable. No need to keep one like this.

 

[ChicNmom]

Did the feather loss get worse or did they just not grow back?

In the past when I had this problem it was only a few favorite girls. I noticed sone hen breeds would grow feathers back and other breeds would be bald until they molted.

I would put the saddles back on.

Too bad you can't give him something to calm down the mating. Other than that he sounds like a good boy.