Free Chicken Apron/Saddle Pattern

[1876 Farm]

Hi, so I made an apron for one of my hens that had not born the amorous advances of Rusty the Rooster very well. I placed the apron on her late fall. Well, she seemed to tolerate it well enough. It started getting cold so I just decided to keep it on her for the winter. I finally removed it late Feb. it was a mistake to keep it on her for that long. Her skin had kind of calloused over the elastic on her shoulders. I was very careful not to make it too tight, in fact took it off a time or two to go in and adjust the fit. She wore it all winter. I am sure it hurt like heck when I finally took it off. So, be aware of my mistake and remove the apron as soon as you get some feather growth returning.

I was wondering how long you leave the saddles on... I wasn't sure if people put them on and just left them on forever or not. Good point about checking that the elastic doesn't dig into their wings.

Do you make yours so the strap is adjustable? I just went with some pattern where each elastic strip was cut to 5.5 inches.

Those are nice ones and I tell you why. The natural colors are good if your hens are out free ranging. That color selection there will keep your girls safer. Very nice. Nice neat sewing too. Much neater than mine. LOL. Yep...you can probably easily cut out a swallow tail in your pattern and have that saddle look just fine. Great work.

Thanks, I hadn't thought about camouflage when I picked out the material.. I just went with the one I liked on the scrap table. Paid $2 for the material it took to make the 3. After I got it home I thought it was a good color because if the rooster has muddy feet it might not show the dirt. Also thought it wouldn't be as hot. Thanks again.

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Do either of you do anything to make your nesting boxes more private? I saw where someone put up curtains.. thought it was pretty silly but I was wondering if that stops the roosters from eating the eggs. (I have one coop where I have too many roosters, but not for long, and they seem to think the eggs are for their enjoyment.

)

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Your pattern is also feminine with the flowers for the girls....so I like it because of that.

Curtains might help...but I'm sure your Roosters have good memories on where to find the goods. If you can collect you eggs more often for a while and put some golf balls in the nest for the boys to peck at. Soon they'll realize they can't get purchase on the "eggs" and maybe quit then. They also sell wooden and ceramic eggs to cure this problem...but I've had luck with the golf balls and collecting often.

Sizing down on our rooster population will help too. Along with helping the hens' backs. But I understand this can be an under taking. Been there before. One rooster set up though solves ALL SORTs of problems.

 

[1876 Farm]

Here's a couple of my hens with the saddles on them....




And I made a couple more today (already had bought the fabric before all the discussion of good color on the previous one). These new ones will be good for winter, the darkness will absorb the warm of the sun.

 

[mommyoftwo]

I think I need to make 5 of these. My hens have gotten bare back because of that rooster. I only have 1 hen he doesn't touch. Since spring is supposedly coming I was thinking demin on the bottom and camo cotton for the top. I like the snap elastic one too.

 

[TeaChick]

Superman! Bwahahaha! Rotflmbo

 

[polishcourt]

I made mine adjustable by cutting the straps from an old bra and cutting them down a bit before sewing them to the fabric panel

 

[Brookliner]

My cross beak doesn't need a saddle she needs an apron. She eats wet mash and coats the front of her breast with food. I thought I might alter this pattern a bit so it covers like a bib. Any thoughts? She is in tonight drying out after her bath. Perhaps oil cloth that I could wipe off?

 

[pickitfarm]

I made my first saddles today. I used the measurements of the pattern on this thread but altered the bottom so it would bend over the hens back. We are going to be using them for molting hens and for our hens in the breeding pens. I used heavy cotton on both sides and added light cotton batting between the layers. The elastic is knitted because I thought it would be gentler on the hens wings. Also, the strap is thread through the neck piece so that it can move freely as you put it over the wings of the hen I never thought of ScotchGuarding them but will do that. I was also wondering if oil cloth would for making these. It has linseed oil on it which makes it waterproof. Here is one of the two I made. The opposite side of this is green.

 

[ReptileMom]

Hmmm... oilcloth ones sound interesting. I wonder how they would do. Heavy weight thread and water resistant. I have used several different types of aprons and have those I like better than others, and this sounds interesting. Those that last the best are a heavy denim. Oilcloth should be similar and waterproof. You have given me a good idea!

 

[FarmGirlForLife]

Could you make these out of a lighter cotton? I've got some hens that were well loved by the roosters but now the roosters are in a different pen. They look so sad and I wanted to cover them up so the other hens didn't get any ideas and its going to get very hot very quickly