I have not done anything special to avoid sores because none have actually happened for me! I am using only 1" wide and keep it soft side to the skin. I also do not place my collars as low as it sounds like you do, there is no friction between the skin and collar because it can't move at all. I'm also making it a point to regularly remove and check the things since I'm trying to learn as much about this as possible to share with other chicken keepers, which may help. I would look at why the sore happened, and try to go from there. Is it friction, moisture held to the skin, both? My immediate thought was diaper rash cream.
Yeah, one thing that worries me about collars on feathered necks, is I have heard tell of ingrown feathers. Plain feather wear doesn't bother me at all, but quills, blood feather breaks, ingrown feathers.. that is all painful, painful, painful and it needs to be driven home that collars aren't meant to be set it and forget it. People gotta be prepared to deal with molting time and giving the bird no-collar breaks, as well as having to re-apply the collar. It is something I don't see talked about enough in context! Of course, naked necks eliminate that issue and are also super super easy to monitor... maybe they will suddenly look less ugly to people who want a roo
when I mentioned torturing I was not talking about your roos and collars. every day at 3 pm I go out to try to make my chickens calm down as my neighbor goes to sleep and already warned me she wants silence. as this is officially time for the afternoon nap she can call police and I must torture my chickens and my dogs if I don't want to get into trouble. and my hens started to lay around this time
Understandable! I worry about my neighbors too. Everyone in the neighborhood seems to love my birds EXCEPT the only neighbor that actually butts up against our yard. She hated us before the birds even showed up... we're apparently weirdos that need God LMAO. She knows better than to complain, though. Her dogs are probably the loudest thing on the block when they set up a ruckus.
This reminds me: People who walk/jog by the house often come to the fence to watch the chickens. I had one well intentioned but uppity individual come to my door to confront me about the naked necks. She thought I had plucked their heads or that they must be ill, bless her soul, and was very upset with me about letting my birds get in to such a state. I'm basically a shy anxious hermit, so opening the door to an angry, sweaty stranger telling me something was wrong with my chickens and I should be ashamed was not much fun.
Seconding sand as awesome! As long as you aren't in a super wet place/your run isn't where water stands. Sand is butts when it is wet and can't get properly dried.
My boys both decided to moonwalk like they could back out of the collar, ramming their butts in to the run walls (Werewolf broke one of his pretty feathers, boo) but they didn't do the "slowly sinks to ground given over to death" reaction! When I first diapered my oldest house chicken, though, it sounds just like what you're describing:
