Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Scram85]

My roosters favorite girl in her apron.
http://weallsew.com/how-to-make-a-chicken-apron-or-hen-saddle/

My question is how did you get that on and how often are you changing it?

 

[pennyJo1960]

Quote: You would probably handle the bird more than some of us

 

[Leigti]

My road island red, white Plymouth Rock, and barred rock all started laying eggs this week!

 

[pennyJo1960]

My road island red, white Plymouth Rock, and barred rock all started laying eggs this week!

well congratulations!

 

[SeattleSelkie]

My question is how did you get that on and how often are you changing it?

She only had to wear it for about a month, during the height of spring ardor. She is an easily handled bird, so while it did take her some time to get used to wearing it she adapted pretty quickly.
If you look at the pattern, it has little elastic straps that go over the wings to hold it on. None of my other hens needed one, but this little girl was going bald quickly and my friend who is a seamstress made it after seeing that.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Quote: See the one I read that liked most was making it out of fleece as it does
not ravel using self stick velcro tho would be short lived as with time the self
stick wears off I still sew it on.
My roo has not become that big of a problem to need them

 

[Duck Drover]

She only had to wear it for about a month, during the height of spring ardor. She is an easily handled bird, so while it did take her some time to get used to wearing it she adapted pretty quickly.
If you look at the pattern, it has little elastic straps that go over the wings to hold it on. None of my other hens needed one, but this little girl was going bald quickly and my friend who is a seamstress made it after seeing that.

I have not resorted to saddles yet because I don't know how they would hold up to dust baths and preening. I am hoping after this molt the hens will get their feathers back and the roosters will settle down a bit. It is the young ones who seem to be the hardest on the hens. I wanted to cut back on hens but then I would have to cut a rooster too and with these two being grandfathered I need to keep them both for as long as they can do the job. If I reduce my hens I can't add any new ones either so for now we are keeping more than I ever planned to keep. If I end up with bare backs again I may need to resort to using saddles but I would rather not do that to the birds if they can keep enough feathers on them that I don't worry about their feather loss.

I have broody hens who have also bared their breasts to sit on eggs but I don't need them sitting because I am not in a position to take care of chicks until at least 3 weeks after my surgery on Tuesday. They do have feathers coming back but I don't like my fluffy girls to be showing skin anywhere. We use ivermectin and there have been no trace of bugs on them but the feather loss makes them look pathetic so I don't like it. My roosters have both lost their tail feathers while molting so even they look pathetic right now. It is plenty warm enough for the feather loss but I really do hate when they molt except that they come out of it looking all shiny and new again.

My daughter is still on her choir trip to Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania so my husband has not been collecting eggs and I think she was leaving eggs for the hens to sit on thinking they would raise the chicks. Our coops are not set up for chicks to get in and out because they have steps instead of ramps and the tiny chicks don't do well mixed in with the flock so I need maternity wards if we are going to let hens be mothers instead of incubating eggs and brooding chicks inside. My daughter will be back the day of my surgery but then she will be going on a horsepack trip so the eggs will pile up again and that will cause the hens to sit on them.

I am really looking forward to healing after surgery even though I am not thrilled about needing the surgeries. It is nearly a year since the injury so I am hoping that everything is repairable and that the tissue damage from using the ankle brace will also heal completely. Once I can walk again it will take alot of exercise to build back the muscle mass I lost in my calf so that will hopefully help me lose weight at the same time. I am just looking forward to being able to walk again because using my knee for so long has given me a painful lump that also needs to heal now and my other knee has been sore from the extra load due to the crushed cartiledge from a roll over accident years ago. I am also having hip pain and back pain that makes me feel old, lol. There is so much I want to be doing right now but I should be back on my feet before my birthday so that will be reason to celebrate another year of living.

 

[Leigti]

well congratulations!

thank you. I was pretty excited. Their eggs are small. When my SLW's first laid eggs they were huge double yolk or's.

 

[pennyJo1960]

often the double yokers are from pullets

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I would but I have been having issues. The computer isn't set up in the new house yet. No difference now, we ended up hitting them with hornet killer.