Hen saddles

[Heidi_Fincher]

Is it okay to use a hen saddle during fall/winter months? Live in Washington state and have daily temps in the 30-40’s and down to 30’s at night currently.
I have a few hens that are missing tail feathers from a habitual pecker, and bought some light fabric material ones off Etsy that have the long flap to cover their tail feathers. The problem is they keep falling to the side, exposing the tail feather area. I have a few traditional saddles that are thicker, and could maybe sew the flap on one of those, but will that prevent them from keeping warm?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is it okay to use a hen saddle during fall/winter months? Live in Washington state and have daily temps in the 30-40’s and down to 30’s at night currently.
I have a few hens that are missing tail feathers from a habitual pecker, and bought some light fabric material ones off Etsy that have the long flap to cover their tail feathers. The problem is they keep falling to the side, exposing the tail feather area. I have a few traditional saddles that are thicker, and could maybe sew the flap on one of those, but will that prevent them from keeping warm?

Welcome To BYC

I've used saddles in the winter before and didn't have any problems.

You do want to make sure the fit fairly well and aren't falling to the side. If you can adjust or modify the fit, that would be a good idea.

Be sure to inspect fit every few days and monitor skin under the saddles to ensure they aren't rubbing or creating a sore. I never encountered hens having problems, but did check each hen a couple of times a week, they even wore the saddles during fall molt and their new feathers came back in beautifully.

edited to correct spelling

 

[dawg53]

Ditto what @Wyorp Rock stated. I currently have saddles on a few hens that went through molt and there wasnt any problems.
As far as the habitual picker, put chicken pinless Peepers on her. They'll take care of the picking and pecking.

 

[Heidi_Fincher]

Ditto what @Wyorp Rock stated. I currently have saddles on a few hens that went through molt and there wasnt any problems.
As far as the habitual picker, put chicken pinless Peepers on her. They'll take care of the picking and pecking.
View attachment 4004206

I tried those and as soon as I took them off, she started pecking again!

 

[dawg53]

I tried those and as soon as I took them off, she started pecking again!

You shouldve left them on her. I have a stubborn hen that's been wearing peepers for almost a year.

 

[Heidi_Fincher]

You shouldve left them on her. I have a stubborn hen that's been wearing peepers for almost a year.

I didn’t realize you could leave them on that long!
The problem I have, is because a few of them are missing tail feathers, all of them are pecking the areas.
The feathers are taking forever to grow back!

 

[dawg53]

You can put peepers on all of them if you wish. Look on Ebay and type in "Pinless Peepers."

It sounds like there might be other issues causing feather picking, such as; too many chickens are confined in a small pen, feed issues such as not enough protein in their feed/diet, and boredom.
If the pen is too small, it's time for expansion.
To alleviate boredom, you can slice a head of cabbage or lettuce in half and hang it just above the chickens head. They will try to peck the cabbage or lettuce and eat it all day long.
You can purchase a sack of Gamebird feed which contains a higher percentage of protein in the feed. Give it to your birds to eat for one month. Then wean them off the gamebird feed back to regular layer feed.
Finally, I recommend that you purchase Probios dispersible powder and sprinkle it on top of their feed as a top dressing to eat. The jar contains a small spoon in order to sprinkle it on their feed. It is loaded with good bacteria for gut health and strengthens the immune system. It can be found in a feed store usually in the cattle section.