Photos?these feathers are shaved off all along the drumsticks near the vent! Anybody know of a saddle that covers that area without making a hen too hot?? We're heading into a summer that routinely gets above 115° F. I've had success with the Down Under saddles before, but it doesn't have enough coverage for this guy and I need to make sure the ladies don't get covered in stickers or too hot or stuck in a fence or anything.
Thanks for any tips!!
Finally got them! I've never seen my hens pluck their feathers other than for setting, and these look sliced off to me.
Every single hen has the same pattern of sheared off feathers along the thigh rather than the drumstick on either side of her vent but not up to the vent, still some feathers along the sides, but the rooster doesn't and they all live together.
And here's how this hen is already rigged and has been for some time...Finally got them! My hens don't really pluck their feathers, and these definitely look sliced off.)
I'm really just wondering if anyone knows of a good saddle that covers down there since apparently this is how he mates! Thanks
Feathers are being rubbed off, plucked. There's minor feathers coming back in, but I suspect that those are plucked before they can fully regrow.Finally got them! I've never seen my hens pluck their feathers other than for setting, and these look sliced off to me.
I'm really just wondering if anyone knows of a good saddle that covers down there since apparently this is how he mates! Thanks
You know, I'm pretty confident it's from the rooster because there's one hen he doesn't mate with as much and her feathers are only halfway "trimmed" along the thigh, not fully sliced off yet. The ones he mates with more are balded back there. And if there were an infestation causing a plucking issue wouldn't every bird be affected? They literally sleep side by side each other, so it's unlikely that Little Red, the least mated, would have halfway damage while the ones who are mated more would have more complete feather damage. And one of them had a little slice on her leg, a new one cut. He's definitely causing the feathers being shaved off back there and some skin slicing, so I'm going to try to find saddles with more coverage!
Oh I see, well, if that's the case, then separating out the rooster may be a solution. At least for a while so the hens can recover.You know, I'm pretty confident it's from the rooster because there's one hen he doesn't mate with as much and her feathers are only halfway "trimmed" along the thigh, not fully sliced off yet. The ones he mates with more are balded back there. And if there were an infestation causing a plucking issue wouldn't every bird be affected? They literally sleep side by side each other, so it's unlikely that Little Red, the least mated, would have halfway damage while the ones who are mated more would have more complete feather damage. And one of them had a little slice on her leg, a new one cut. He's definitely causing the feathers being shaved off back there and some skin slicing, so I'm going to try to find saddles with more coverage!
Thanks for all the input, guys!
