Hen Saddles- total fail

[Jodi_in_Colorado]

Hi all,

My hens are getting totally worn out, so before culling a rooster (we have 2 roosters and 9 hens) we wanted to try saddles. We got one recommended here and it totally backfired. The roosters immediately started attacking the hens we put the saddles on. The were mounting and ganging up on them and pecking their heads. We let it go on for about 10 minutes then I took them off. They are still out there attacking our hens. Has anyone had this happen with saddles?

Thanks for any input!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How old are the roosters and if they are still attacking hens - go out there and remove the roosters!

I've never had a rooster attack his hens when they were wearing saddles. Something is not quite right. Please post photos. Hens, saddles, roosters, housing/space.

 

[Jodi_in_Colorado]

How old are the roosters and if they are still attacking hens - go out there and remove the roosters!

I've never had a rooster attack his hens when they were wearing saddles. Something is not quite right. Please post photos. Hens, saddles, roosters, housing/space.

Yes, I think it's time to remove these roosters. They are just too aggressive. The space isn't an issue as we have about 1/4 acre for our 11 roosters fenced just for the chickens. The Hen saddles were the Down Under Outdoors saddles. I didn't take pics with them on since I removed them pretty quickly when I saw the outcome. At first I just thought they were aggressively mounting them, but it seemed like they were actually pecking aggressively at their heads when mounting and then wouldn't get off. It was very bizarre. I have never seen that behavior with them. Not sure if it was related to the saddle color? They were way more aggressive with the hens wearing red compared to the blue ones.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

we have about 1/4 acre for our 11 roosters

Typo?

At first I just thought they were aggressively mounting them, but it seemed like they were actually pecking aggressively at their heads when mounting and then wouldn't get off. It was very bizarre. I have never seen that behavior with them. Not sure if it was related to the saddle color? They were way more aggressive with the hens wearing red compared to the blue ones.

Well, I've never used red saddles, so that may be part of the issue, but the behavior is not desirable (at least for me it wouldn't be).

How old are these roosters and hens? You have 2 competing for 9 hens, so competition can cause things to escalate as well. I understand, some do keep more than one rooster successfully with their hens, a lot is based on temperament and the keepers tolerance I believe. Roosters can be somewhat aggressive during mating, but it sounds like you have some competition going on there.

Separate out one or both - up to you and see if things calm down. Of course with both separate - the hens will be fairly calm LOL I would pen each rooster separately to his own space if you remove both - if you pen only one - make it so the other one can not come and harass the penned one.

 

[neo71665]

Red is a trigger color for chickens. Something in their little head clicks to peck everything red.

 

[theoldchick]

Time to remove the roosters from the hens. I've never had a rooster attack a hen wearing one but I usually had rather bland colored hen saddles.

 

[Jodi_in_Colorado]

Typo?

Well, I've never used red saddles, so that may be part of the issue, but the behavior is not desirable (at least for me it wouldn't be).

How old are these roosters and hens? You have 2 competing for 9 hens, so competition can cause things to escalate as well. I understand, some do keep more than one rooster successfully with their hens, a lot is based on temperament and the keepers tolerance I believe. Roosters can be somewhat aggressive during mating, but it sounds like you have some competition going on there.

Separate out one or both - up to you and see if things calm down. Of course with both separate - the hens will be fairly calm LOL I would pen each rooster separately to his own space if you remove both - if you pen only one - make it so the other one can not come and harass the penned one.

Sorry! Yes 2 roosters and 9 hens. The hens range from 1 year to 3 years old. The Roosters are 1.5 years old and 1 year old. They are all back to normal today with the saddles gone. But it's still time to separate at least one of them.

 

[Gatorgirl67]

Hi all,

My hens are getting totally worn out, so before culling a rooster (we have 2 roosters and 9 hens) we wanted to try saddles. We got one recommended here and it totally backfired. The roosters immediately started attacking the hens we put the saddles on. The were mounting and ganging up on them and pecking their heads. We let it go on for about 10 minutes then I took them off. They are still out there attacking our hens. Has anyone had this happen with saddles?

Thanks for any input!

Yes, my rooster attacked the hen wearing the hen saddle. It seemed he perceived the saddle as a foreign agent or predator. He almost killed the hen so I had to remove it. Was really hoping the saddle would work. Rooster and hen back to normal without saddle.

 

[K0k0shka]

Chickens don't like change or things that look out of place or different. They often pick at other chickens with crests, feathered feet, etc. - things that stand out as different. So I'm not surprised to hear that the roosters went crazy after the saddles were put on. Especially red saddles! Who in their right mind would make red saddles? Red is such a trigger color for chickens. I also don't understand all the bright colored saddles with flowers and patterns on them. People who make those think about themselves first, not the chickens. The point of saddles isn't to look cute and get instagram hits, or to entertain the owner. It's to protect the bird. The ideal saddle matches the feather colors of the hen wearing it, so it doesn't stand out and invite aggression from the flock. Yeah, that looks boring, but looks shouldn't even figure in the decision making when sewing or buying saddles.

If you still want to try this, get saddles that match the hens' feather color, or at least something that's neutral and natural-looking that won't stand out too much (brown, gray, black, etc.)