Hen saddles question...

[camochick96]

I have a roo and he’s picked a couple hens as his favorites so I was looking into getting hen saddles for them. My question is how do they use their oil gland when wearing a hen saddle? Can they get to it to preen themselves? Where is the best place to buy them from? And has anyone had success with using them?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

A hen cannot preen efficiently or dust bath wearing them, so external parasites can get out of control under them.

I personally would remove the rooster unless you need him for breeding, even if temporary. Breeding will peak in spring, than get a bit less during the heat of summer.

You will also need to worry about your hens over heating living in Texas and them wearing saddles, so keep that in mind.

I do sometimes get a few bare backed hens as well. They do okay. As long as there's no wounds they will get a bit red during summer but be fine, and will grow back their feathers during the fall molt.

 

[camochick96]

A hen cannot preen efficiently or dust bath wearing them, so external parasites can get out of control under them.

I personally would remove the rooster unless you need him for breeding, even if temporary. Breeding will peak in spring, than get a bit less during the heat of summer.

You will also need to worry about your hens over heating living in Texas and them wearing saddles, so keep that in mind.

I do sometimes get a few bare backed hens as well. They do okay. As long as there's no wounds they will get a bit red during summer but be fine, and will grow back their feathers during the fall molt.

Thank you! I’m keeping him and hoping to hatch a few eggs from them! I have noticed he leaves them alone more when I free range them so I might try doing that more. I didn’t think they’d be able to preen properly with the saddles, but I’d seen where a lot of people use them. Thanks for the information!