HELP with Hen Saddles!!!

[CJkid]

Ok so after some inquiry I found out i needed to get chicken saddles to protect my girls from a very amorous rooster. they just arrived today. So I picked out one with an almost total bare back to try out the first saddle.
As i sort of expected she freaked out and tried to back out of it, do flips, backwards hops. But one thing i didn't expect was the reactions of the other chickens, the rooster tried to attack it and in doing so was attacking her and freaking her out even more. We finally caught her and have her sepperated in a run so she can calm down (she still has the saddle on).
I am wondering what to do now, will the chickens adjust to some of the hens having this on?
Or will they continue to attack "the blue invader"?

Any suggestions regarding hen saddles would be great, this is my first time trying to use them.

 

[TNchickies]

oh, nooooooo! no! no! no! poor baby! That's terrible! First of all, i would not use them in the first place. Your rooster, and hens, seeing that their friend was being 'attacked' by this invader, they tried to come to the rescue, and tried to hurt the invader that was on their friends back. You can see that all that did was make it worse. I wouldn't use them...at all. It is you choice however, but if it were me, i would leave them all be, or separate the rooster. I hear injuries like this are rare. Perhaps it's nothing for you to worry about repeating?

 

[CJkid]

Yeah i know he was just trying to protect her. i was hoping once she got used to it and settled down that they would see it was not trying to attack her. All afternoon she had it on (she was away from the other chickens so they couldn't hurt her) she never got used to it and kept trying to get out of it. There are a few other hens that have feathers missing so i tried putting them on them and keeping those hens together (4 of them) they didn't try to hurt each other but never got used to the saddles, finally i gave up and took them all off, they were much happier.

Problem now is i still have a rooster who is too rough on the hens, at least 2 have almost totally bare backs and several more have feathers missing on their shoulders and backs. I need to get this fixed it is only getting worse and winters coming on i need my hens to have all their feathers. I like the protection a rooster gives to his hens, they seem much more content when he's there to be look out. So i am very reluctant to have to get rid of him. But now i'm out of ideas

 

[One Chick Two]

Can you have him held down and trim and file his nails and spurs?

 

[TNchickies]

I know you don't want to get rid of him! However, one rooster cannot be more important than the flock's health, right? I know how you feel, and i have a mean rooster too. he is very rough, so even i have to consider whether or not to keep him. I have been working with him, and i am going to build a bigger pen for them, at last 3x what they have now, so i'm hoping that will help. Maybe they need more room? I know that this may not tame your rooster, but perhaps it will give them all a little more space to get away from him?

sorry i can't be much of a help!

 

[CJkid]

If we cannot find another solution we will send him to a better place (the freezer) but for now we are exploring all our options. Our chickens are totally free range (we have about 2 acres) so they have lots of room.
Right now the rooster is being kept in a run separated from the hens, i'm hoping after a little time being separated their feathers will have a chance to grow back. If we can't find a more permanent solution tho, he will be renamed dinner.
Til that decision needs to be made i'll keep on searching for a way to keep my hens safe and that little... rooster... alive.

 

[TNchickies]

awesome idea. sad to hear that he may have to go, but i understand that it is for the better of the flock.

 

[lrayle]

Hey I'm having the same rooster problem you have What did you end up doing

 

[CJkid]

Quote:
Irayle,

Well unfortunately we ended up getting rid of the rooster. I tried hen saddles but my hens never could get used to them and the other chickens would even attack the poor hen that had it on. It was a very hard decision to make but in the end i wish i had made it sooner. It has taken a long time for my hens to recover and to get their feathers grown back in. I don't know the exact situation with your flock. But with mine the only solution i could find was getting rid of the rooster.
Hope this helps and hope you can find a good solution to your problem.
If you want more details, i'd be happy to help, just let me know.

Cyd

 

[lrayle]

Did you try separating him and if you did did it help any See our rooster is 11 months and all his claws arent their yet and I am afraid he is going to hurt them my all this humping he does