My poor hens will need hen saddles!

[junecleavage]

I did not use saddles, but there would be times where some girls were missing some feathers. Missing feathers were the extent of it though. It is hard to get rid of chickens that you have raised just because they are roosters.

 

[Papalote Roos]

I have no experience with hen saddles! Help! Do they keep them on all the time? Just during the day? Can they still fly with them on? I have 4 hens and 4 roos. The poors girls will be worked over very soon if I don't take care of this. They are all 12 weeks old now and the mating play has begun. Any helpful suggestions would be wonderful.

you have 3 roosters too many.

 

[IrishAcreFarm]

I've decided reluctantly that I'll rehome two roosters to start. If I replace them with two hens and change my ratio (6 hens:2 roos) I'm hoping that will improve things for everyone. And hen saddles will still be a part of their wardrobe!

I think this sounds like a good plan

 

[ChickenMack]

I love my chickens too. I also love roosters but I have to agree with the previous posters because I too have tried to keep multiple roosters with my hens. Here's what is going to happen, your two roosters will fight over who will be the dominate roo and once that is established, the lower roo will have the urge to mate a hen and will do it while the dom. roo is not watching and then the hen will complain and the dom roo will chase the other roo away. Now, the dom. roo will always be on alert for his hens being messed with and will run at the slightest noise to find what is going on and attack if need be. If it's you or a child messing with his hens, he won't care and will attack you or the child. My daughter bears a scar on her arm from my reluctance to get rid of a second roo and my big red roo attacked her while she was in the yard near his hens. So now, I only keep one rooster at a time.

A saddle is not necessary- they are used mainly by breeders who show their birds and don't want feather damage or if your rooster is tearing the skin when he mates her, so unless you plan to show your birds, don't bother with a saddle. A little feather damage lets you know what is going on in the coop.