Molting or rough roo?

[Fallen Leaf Farm]

A couple of my 11 month old BO have lost a lot of feathers on their backs. Is it too early for them to be molting? Is the roo playing rough? If it's the roo, what do I do?

 

[gritsar]

Pictures of the damage would help, but if the loss of feathers is confined mainly to the lower back I'd suspect the roo. Check out hen saddles.

http://www.hensaver.com/

 

[Fallen Leaf Farm]

Hope this works....this is the worst one, down to bare skin in some places

 

[Pinky]

That looks like rooster damage.

 

[Fallen Leaf Farm]

Thanks! 'Ol Nugget just keeps adding the negative check marks by his name!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Rooster damage.

Molting looks like this:

 

[Fallen Leaf Farm]

So is there anyway to stop Nugget from hurting his girls other than the chicken saddles? Over the winter the group has been a little more confined (8 birds in a 8x12' horse stall in the barn, but turned loose inside the barn during the day), so would that contribute to Nugget's behavior? If I use the saddles, do the girls wear them 24/7? Thanks for taking the time to teach the newbie!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Other than seperating him, saddles are the only solution I know of. You could try trimming his nails and spurs, but some roos just don't fit together well with some hens.
They'd wear them 24/7, at least for a while. My saddle-wearing girls (two of them now) really don't mind their saddles.

 

[donrae]

I've found when a roo takes an overinterest in a specific hen, there's really no stopping him. I've heard the saddles work but I haven't tried them, when I had a roo the hen was actually hiding from, we just butchered him. No chicken stalkers allowed!