silkie saddle?

[Hillsvale]

So my little tiny silkie is being brutilized by my roo's... I have two silkie roo's and two faqyoumi's and they all go mad over her mostly becuase she is the only other hen of age that the columbian hasn't claimed as his own. We are in the process of determining which roo's are going but in the mean time my little silkie actually has the skin torn off her sides... she seems to be dealing well with the wounds and I have moved her to the baby meatie and turkey hut but I need a solution. Her wounds are several inches long running right above and forward where her thigh would be if she had any meat on her bones (because she is so much smaller than the rest).

Would a saddle work... everything I have seen only covers the hen's back. Link??

 

[pgpoultry]

I'm in Wales, but there are chicken saddles (canvas or leather) with wing covers which I purchased from eBay . These are an absolute boon to my girls who were getting very sore backs just down to the weight and size of the boys. My hens wear them without any sign of being bothered by the saddle at all.
Separate your hen until you manage to get a saddle. Not only do they come in a variety of materials you can even buy them in lots of different colours.

Sandie

 

[featherbaby]

Rehome her to someone who can give her a good home. Even if you get a saddle, the roos will still harass her and the saddle won't protect her head and eyes.

 

[Hillsvale]

my little silkie is hanging with the 4 week old meat birds and 2 month old heritage turkeys... she's organizing everyone and back to her tiny bossy self (she weights around a pound!)

, as soon as she goes back with the laying birds she goes and hides... so until I get the roo population figured out and a saddle for the girl she can run the meatie coop!

Did you have a link for these saddles?... I hope I can see something which I can follow that will go from neck to tip of her bottom and wrap down her sides/flanks... I don't want to cover her wings because she likes to roost... I'm sure my Simon won't mind giving up one of his leather coats !

 

[Hillsvale]

Quote:
They are not hurting her head and eyes they are tearing her sides.... I am looking for a solution not someone to tell me she needs a good home, she has a good home!

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Sounds like the meatie pen is the right place for her right now. After you get the extra boys gone, you'll just have to see how she does with the bigger birds. Some silkies do great...others not so much.

I have 2 silkies hens that free range with the big girls that includes one light brahma rooster. He never bothers the silkie hens at all and they are quite happy. Generally one roo per 5-6 hens is about the right proportion to keep the girls from being overbred.

If your large roos continue to try to breed the small hens, I don't think even a saddle will help...but you will have to decide that. Is there a way to separate your silkies from your large fowl?

 

[Hillsvale]

Quote:
The columbian roo isn't interested in her... thank god! He has claimed his two columbian hens for now and is chasing away the fayoimi roo's. The Fayoumi roo's have two hens who won't look at them yet (they are about 18 weeks old), we plan on keeping the nicer roo and breeding them. So the fayoumi's are turning their attention to the only other hen "of age".. my silkie. We will very very soon have 5 other hens of age....

This silkie was fine up until 2 weeks ago so I hope things calm down for her... in the mean time she can boss the meaties and the tiny turkeys around.

 

[NellaBean]

Hey there, you can get saddles here, including one with wing protectors

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=379589

I have some from there, both regular sized and bantam. I have two silkies out in the big flock but SO MANY birds that they are not bothered much. Hens being bothered by roos is just a fact of life....however do whatever you can to minimize it. I went ahead and put all the "obnoxious" boys into a rooster pen for now.


I had two very docile girls who were absolutely getting ambushed by the boys (1 bantam cochin, 1 very large standard cochin) and I put them into the "baby pen" for a while. That gave them some time to recover and once I pulled the obnoxious boys out of the yard, I put them back out there.

Any way of locking up the obnoxious boys for now? I would do that and get a saddle on her. If she doesn't mind being with the meaties, that works too

 

[featherbaby]

Quote:
They are not hurting her head and eyes they are tearing her sides.... I am looking for a solution not someone to tell me she needs a good home, she has a good home!

I meant no offense. Sorry if it sounded wrong.

 

[Hillsvale]

Quote:
I will PM her... not sure what sort of issue we would have cross border but can check!

When we got home last night the little silkie was organizing the 6 5 week old heritage turkeys and scolding the 3 week old meaties that had atrocious table manners... it was pretty funny. I just don't want her in there so long that she needs reintroduction into the layer flock!