Help with big mama

[ChickenMamaMeg666]

Big Mama is my frizzle Turken (black) and she originally only had the missing feathers on her wings but now there’s a lot more could it be my rooster because the rest of the flock is fine

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! Yes, that's mating damage. You can get a saddle for her, just keep an eye when it gets hot.

 

[ChickenMamaMeg666]

Somebody said that she’s molting could that be what’s going on?

 

[LaFleche]

Looks like rooster mating damage plus molting.
A little rooster pedicure will prevent skin damage.

 

[CrystalAnon]

Looks like rooster mating damage plus molting.
A little rooster pedicure will prevent skin damage.

Are you saying trim the rooster claws?
It’s strange… I have 4 chickens that have the missing feathers at the base of their tail & 4 that don’t have any missing feathers. He mates with all of them.
I put a mating saddle on one of my hens for a month during this winter. Her feathers never grew back. I’m worried about putting a mating saddle on any of them for the summer.
How do you all take care of bald spots due to mating, when the summer temps come?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Are you saying trim the rooster claws?
It’s strange… I have 4 chickens that have the missing feathers at the base of their tail & 4 that don’t have any missing feathers. He mates with all of them.
I put a mating saddle on one of my hens for a month during this winter. Her feathers never grew back. I’m worried about putting a mating saddle on any of them for the summer.
How do you all take care of bald spots due to mating, when the summer temps come?

Trim or file the nails.
Some hens have softer feathers than others, so they can wear at different rates.
I have a rooster that mates all the girls too, but only a couple looks relatively worn.

You put a saddle on the hen, the feathers never grew back, but were the feathers broken or the feather shafts still intact in the skin? If so, then feathers won't be replaced until molt. A saddle can help protect skin, but they can wear a bit of new growth, depending on fit.

I've used saddles before in all seasons, then hens did well with them. You must inspect the saddles a couple of times for loose strings, fit, check under the saddles to make sure skin is looking good, etc.

Bald spots, most of the time, hens really don't seem to be bothered by them, if you choose to leave them without saddles during the summer, do inspect their skin for any abrasions or cuts.

 

[CrystalAnon]

Trim or file the nails.
Some hens have softer feathers than others, so they can wear at different rates.
I have a rooster that mates all the girls too, but only a couple looks relatively worn.

You put a saddle on the hen, the feathers never grew back, but were the feathers broken or the feather shafts still intact in the skin? If so, then feathers won't be replaced until molt. A saddle can help protect skin, but they can wear a bit of new growth, depending on fit.

I've used saddles before in all seasons, then hens did well with them. You must inspect the saddles a couple of times for loose strings, fit, check under the saddles to make sure skin is looking good, etc.

Bald spots, most of the time, hens really don't seem to be bothered by them, if you choose to leave them without saddles during the summer, do inspect their skin for any abrasions or cuts.

Thank you for your reply! I can see the feather tips right on the skin, but they just don’t seem to grow out. I guess we’ll have to wait for their first molt? The skin gets kinda chapped, and possibly a bit sunburned, but the mating doesn’t seem to break the skin.
The saddles I bought fit the FBCMs (French Black Copper Marans) quite well, but not the Azure Eggers. Maybe I’ll try again. I’m mostly worried about the FBCMs getting too hot with the saddle because they get hotter quicker than my other gals anyway. In fact during winter they were laying eggs like crazy. More than my other gals. They slowed down their egg production as soon as it started to get hot & the other gals began laying more. Kinda cool dynamic actually. To get more eggs from some chickens in the winter when the other gals are laying less. And less eggs in the summer when the other gals are laying more. Pretty even egg laying that way.
We don’t seem to get any cannibalism either. I was using the Blue Kote to color the skin, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. The hens haven’t turned on each other just because some have bald spots.
The hens with the bald spots do seem to get more wet than the others when it rains because of the missing feathers.

 

[LaFleche]

. I’m mostly worried about the FBCMs getting too hot with the saddle because they get hotter quicker

I once made some saddles using fly screen fabric.
This way their skin can breathe and while the rooster has good support when mating, and the double layer prevents injuries and feather loss.

Even the dust can go through it when the hens dustbathe and they will not have to carry a heavy load of soaked material after a rain shower (as happens with padded saddles made of cotton fabric or similar) as the material dries up in no time.

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

Now would be a good time to evaluate your flock based on your goals and decide if you need that particular rooster right now.

I recently got rid of one rooster, Red, who was extra clumsy on the hens and had scratched up a few of them. It’s way too hot here in SE Georgia to make the hens wear saddles and I have plenty of genetics from Red in the chicks and eggs that are incubating so I didn’t need to keep him.

 

[CrystalAnon]

Now would be a good time to evaluate your flock based on your goals and decide if you need that particular rooster right now.

I recently got rid of one rooster, Red, who was extra clumsy on the hens and had scratched up a few of them. It’s way too hot here in SE Georgia to make the hens wear saddles and I have plenty of genetics from Red in the chicks and eggs that are incubating so I didn’t need to keep him.

Thank you for the feedback! I only have 8 hens & 1 rooster. My goals are to have fresh eggs regularly, keep them healthy & happy, as well as get some chicks to refresh the flock, when that becomes necessary. (My entire flock turned 1yr old in February) Polko is not great at mating, I do admit, but he’s a good boy so I really do want to keep him. He has the most melodic crow I’ve ever heard, he keeps the gals safe & he even tests me on occasion, so I know he’ll stand up to a large predator if he’s ever presented with one. Plus he grew up with the ladies, so they’re very comfortable with him. He’s a Moss Egger, (I bought 3 Moss Eggers from Alchemist Farms, straight run, and all of them ended up being males- got rid of two) so I’m pretty excited to see what his chicks would produce, egg-color-wise, as well as chicken color with the various mixes that could occur. The ladies are French Black Copper Marans (2), Alchemist Blues (2) and Azure Eggers (4). The Alchemist Blues & Azure Eggers were all bought as day old females, and the FBCMs were bought as day old straight run but both ended up being female.