Hen growing feathers back

[Crowing_hen]

Hello all. I would like some advice on how to deal with this:
I have a rooster. The rooster (winter) has decided to pick a favourite hen (snowflake). Anyway, he has been over-mating with ‘snowflake’ and therefore she has lost a lot of feathers on her back (where saddle feathers are). How can I help her grow her feathers back and avoid it happening again? (Preferably without separation of the chickens). Thanks!

 

[DonyaQuick]

There are little jacket-like things called hen saddles that you can put on hens to protect their backs from roosters. I use some with my birds that also have flaps that go over the wings to protect their elbows. The damaged feathers won’t be shed and grow back until your hen molts though. Depending on how old she is and whether she already did a fall/winter molt it may take a long time.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Here’s an example of the hen saddles I mentioned.

 

[Mrs. K]

What part of the world are you in? Could be she is molting too?

Bare back chickens bother people more than chickens. Some hens tolerate the apron, a lot do not.

Do check the roosters nails, might need to be clipped and filed.

 

[Rick589]

Here’s an example of the hen saddles I mentioned.

I used these same style saddles on my BO’s because we had too many cockerels until we recently got rid of one of them. Took them off and it appears to me they did more damage to the hens then the boys were doing. The hens look terrible, bare backs, broken feathers, etc.

 

[DonyaQuick]

I used these same style saddles on my BO’s because we had too many cockerels until we recently got rid of one of them. Took them off and it appears to me they did more damage to the hens then the boys were doing. The hens look terrible, bare backs, broken feathers, etc.

It will not be that the saddle damaged the feathers if you used the same brand (the Down Under ones). The only place I have ever seen a bit of mucked up feathers from long term saddle usage itself is around the front of the shoulder/armpit. If a saddle get a lot of abuse from roosters it can still damage feathers underneath, although it will be slower than if the back is exposed - and being exposed would also make cut/torn skin likely in rough conditions. That’s the main thing I use them to prevent, to avoid injury not to keep feathers perfectly pristine. Similarly if the feathers are already partially damaged before the saddle goes on, particularly if there are partially broken shafts, they will continue to break off the rest of the way over time from rubbing due to dust bathing and rooster activity; but the skin remains protected.