Hen with bare "shoulders" from mateing

[Puddin Fluff]

I did a search but didn't get good results on this.

I have a hen (who is very docile and a favorite of the roo) who has bare skin on her "shoulders" (top of the wing where it joins the body). We had an offending roo who was very rough on her and he is now gone. She already has a saddle on but it doesn't cover her "shoulders". Is there something I can put on her to cover the bare skin? I haven't seen blood but it looks raw as our remaining roo also likes her.

Any suggestions? Thank you.

 

[Beardie Girls]

I started to see this in a couple of my hens after they had worn saddles for just a few weeks. Ironically, it seems that although their backs are protected, the way the saddles fit leaves the their wings even more vulnerable. I saw a picture online of a saddle that had little flaps attached to just cover that vulnerable area on the wings. I make my own saddles and just made a new one with these wing flaps last week. So far it seems to be working ok. Meanwhile, I'm working on a more long-term solution, which is adding more hens! I've read that a rooster should have at least 10 hens each to reduce this kind of damage.

 

[seminolewind]

If you can't wait for a saddle, use some duct tape. It does fall off after a few days or a week, but it stays pretty good. Just tape over those areas.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Thanks to both of you for the response. We have 1 roo to 12 hens so the number isn't the problem. She is just a "favorite". I think I might try to add the flaps to the saddle she has on with duct tape! How about that for thinking outside the box! We'll see how it works.

Thanks.

 

[DavKarm]

I have 25 hens and ONE rooster - and two of my girls have naked shoulders. They are his favorites - so I know that keeping more hens per rooster doesn't always solve this problem.

Good luck -

 

[Ribbit]

I'm not sure but are you much of a knitter? You could try to make an 'extension' to cover her baldness c:

 

[Puddin Fluff]

I'm not sure but are you much of a knitter? You could try to make an 'extension' to cover her baldness c:

Definatly NOT a knitter! I think I will do better with the Duct tape but thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Beardie Girls]

Is there any danger to leaving duct tape stuck on bare skin? My aunt used to cut tiny pieces of duct tape to stick them on skin tags on her skin and it would KILL them. So it worries me a bit to do that on my girls that have truly bald areas - but I've heard this advice more than once.

 

[seminolewind]

I have used Duct tape on all my chickens' bald spots with no problem. I still use it. It usually falls off after a while, could be a long while, but at least they have new growth coming in.

 

[dawg53]

I have used Duct tape on all my chickens' bald spots with no problem. I still use it. It usually falls off after a while, could be a long while, but at least they have new growth coming in.

Never tried that, I'll keep it in mind...cheaper than buying saddles/aprons. I've used duct tape instead of vet wrap for bumblefoot, works great and they cant pull it off and is pretty much waterproof for a few days.