Looking for advice on proper use of hen saddles/aprons

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

I have some questions for folks who use hen saddles

1- How do you determine when you need to use them? I have seen pics of hens that are completely bald. My girls are nowhere near that point, but I do have 1 hen who is beginning to show wear on her back feathers. Should I put a saddle on her now so she doesn’t eventually go bald?

2- is the feather damage caused by roosters harmful to the hen? Or does it just impact appearance?

3- once you determine the need for a saddle, do you keep it on 24/7? Does it need to just stay on indefinitely? Is there any benefit to just putting in on for few days at a time? i just don’t love the idea of leaving it on for a prolonged time.

4- is there a hen “helmet” that can protect the back of their head?

Pictured is my hen whose feathers show the most wear. It’s hard to see in this photo but the back of her head is completely bald.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

1- How do you determine when you need to use them? I have seen pics of hens that are completely bald. My girls are nowhere near that point, but I do have 1 hen who is beginning to show wear on her back feathers. Should I put a saddle on her now so she doesn’t eventually go bald?

I put them on my roos favorites right away, I have a couple ladies he seldom breeds, but noticed 1 he started breeding more frequently so I put a saddle on her last night

2- is the feather damage caused by roosters harmful to the hen? Or does it just impact appearance?

Both- it does make them look ratty, but once the feather barrier wears down he can do real damage to their skin, punctures, lacerations, etc

3- once you determine the need for a saddle, do you keep it on 24/7? Does it need to just stay on indefinitely? Is there any benefit to just putting in on for few days at a time? i just don’t love the idea of leaving it on for a prolonged time

It stays on. Once they molt you could remove it for awhile, but they will go right back to looking ratty. You could separate your roo from the ladies to give them a break, but that's not my preference.

4- is there a hen “helmet” that can protect the back of their head?

Not that I have seen

How many hens? How many roos (and what age)

 

[LaFleche]

Have you considered trimming your rooster's nails and spurs?
This will decrease the damage to the plumage and prevent injuries.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

How many hens? How many roos (and what age)

Thanks for your response!

I have 1 roo (7 months old) with 10 laying hens (ages 7 months to 4 years) + 8 younger pullets that he doesn’t mess with yet (except occasionally in the morning when he seems to be a horny hormonal mess, lol).

The blue hen with the feather damage was the previous Roo’s favorite, too. The baldness came mostly from him. Her back feathers seemed to grow back some in the months after we rehomed that rooster (he was a sloppy lover and scratched up several of my hens) but the head feathers never made a sign of coming back. Then my current roo because sexually mature, and now the back is showing wear again. She is one of my top layers, but I have 4 hens that lay almost daily. Funny thing is, I rarely witness him mate this hen. I see him mate some of the other girls much more frequently. It makes me wonder if she could just have more extra sensitive feathers or something. She’s either a Rhode Island Blue or a Blue Rock. She’s also only a year old, so I expect she’ll have a good hard molt this winter. Maybe her head feathers will grow back then.

The blue hen likes being the favorite. She gets along well with him and doesn’t fight him. I have a Wyandotte who tries to fight him off every time he mates her, and it’s always a struggle, but her feathers are fine. So are the feathers on my lavender Orpington who he also favors.

Here are some clearer pics of her feather damage and baldness,

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Have you considered trimming your rooster's nails and spurs?
This will decrease the damage to the plumage and prevent injuries.

He’s only 7 months and hasn’t grown spurs yet, but I could try trimming his nails. I wonder if they would be more jagged after cutting though. I could probably cut them just fine, but I doubt he’d tolerate my dremmeling them smooth. Lol.

 

[LaFleche]

You could use a file.

This is what I use to smoothe them after trimming:

https://www.dm.de/balea-hornhautentferner-feile-p4058172198144.html?wt_mc=shopping.google.pla.PflegeParfum&hc_tid=10219970C4751PPC&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtamlBhD3ARIsAARoaExk-lEOjA_GUg0XLNtc0O9luNUFfFi2777k2jhfMcoG9hnVhKhIAzQaArnDEALw_wcB

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Thanks for your response!

I have 1 roo (7 months old) with 10 laying hens (ages 7 months to 4 years) + 8 younger pullets that he doesn’t mess with yet (except occasionally in the morning when he seems to be a horny hormonal mess, lol).

The blue hen with the feather damage was the previous Roo’s favorite, too. The baldness came mostly from him. Her back feathers seemed to grow back some in the months after we rehomed that rooster (he was a sloppy lover and scratched up several of my hens) but the head feathers never made a sign of coming back. Then my current roo because sexually mature, and now the back is showing wear again. She is one of my top layers, but I have 4 hens that lay almost daily. Funny thing is, I rarely witness him mate this hen. I see him mate some of the other girls much more frequently. It makes me wonder if she could just have more extra sensitive feathers or something. She’s either a Rhode Island Blue or a Blue Rock. She’s also only a year old, so I expect she’ll have a good hard molt this winter. Maybe her head feathers will grow back then.

The blue hen likes being the favorite. She gets along well with him and doesn’t fight him. I have a Wyandotte who tries to fight him off every time he mates her, and it’s always a struggle, but her feathers are fine. So are the feathers on my lavender Orpington who he also favors.

Here are some clearer pics of her feather damage and baldness,

The feathers will grow back after she molts. It's really up to you what you want to do, with having more pullets that he'll be able to breed you may not need saddles. I had a hen a few months back that my roo didn't breed much (not to my knowledge anyway) and her feathers didn't look terrible (she did not have a saddle on) she ended up with a 3" gash under her wing. She healed up fine, but I never want to go through that again. I trim my roos nails at night while he's on the roost, goes pretty smooth, but it doesn't prevent damage in my experience, just minimizes it. Just my two cents

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

You could use a file.

This is what I use to smoothe them after trimming:

View attachment 3571420

https://www.dm.de/balea-hornhautentferner-feile-p4058172198144.html?wt_mc=shopping.google.pla.PflegeParfum&hc_tid=10219970C4751PPC&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtamlBhD3ARIsAARoaExk-lEOjA_GUg0XLNtc0O9luNUFfFi2777k2jhfMcoG9hnVhKhIAzQaArnDEALw_wcB

Good idea. I’ll get one of those.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

The feathers will grow back after she molts. It's really up to you what you want to do, with having more pullets that he'll be able to breed you may not need saddles. I had a hen a few months back that my roo didn't breed much (not to my knowledge anyway) and her feathers didn't look terrible (she did not have a saddle on) she ended up with a 3" gash under her wing. She healed up fine, but I never want to go through that again. I trim my roos nails at night while he's on the roost, goes pretty smooth, but it doesn't prevent damage in my experience, just minimizes it. Just my two cents

Do you smooth the nails after cutting?

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Do you smooth the nails after cutting?

No, I use dog nail clippers, I'd need to restrain him to file them, and I'm just not going to do all that. They'll smooth out with digging and scratching, imo