Once again, I thank you so much. I need to order a few hen saddles today, and had no idea where to start. You likely saved me all kinds of failures, disappointments, and waste of money. I had my first loss of a hen to a predator 3 months ago. Now another one has gone broody. That leaves my testosterone driven roo, Frank, down to 4 girls until I can find two more ready hens to purchase. I am having feather wear for the first time. Bless you!
I’ll have to remake my saddles for my girls. I have the pattern for the one with the sew on wings and I don’t like it. The wings always get tucked underneath. And buttons are a genious idea for the elastic! I’ve had a hard time getting mine on with just elastic. Thank you for this video!!
They might not work, but they sure are cute. I thought about a backyard wedding for my kid, and wouldn't it be adorable for all the hens to be wearing matching dresses? ❤
sew true! ha...snaps be good, looking forward to trying one day...I'm starting to wish there were breeding season rooster boots...or acrylic rooster pedicures
Are there any "lighter" material saddles. I'm in SE Tennessee & it's already in the 100's here. I separate the gurls & fellas in 2 separate hoop coops with a medic/bad roo room in the middle yet I worry about my fellas flying over or digging under my 50' x 35' "playpen" attached to their coop. It's just too dang hot for those. There has gotta be more lightweight covering for hit spring & early summer!?
Great question, Doris, and one I'll need to look into. Even in the dry heat of Idaho, I don't like my girls wearing hen saddles when it gets too hot. I put saddles on super early in the spring and then take them off when it gets roasting here by the end of June (unless someone's back is too bare and at risk of injury) - they do lose more feathers over the summer from mating, but the lesser of two evils, in my opinion. I'm really not sure how people in the hot and humid south deal with hen saddles, but I'll do some searching. Bri
@@thefeatherbrain thank you. Can you also do a video on club foot & Bumble foot. So many people round here let their babies live in poo & filth YUK! I have been trying to educate aquaintances that their critters are GOD's creatures and we are to luv, care & protect them cause unlike a 2 & 3 yr old child ...they can't talk!!! You need to CHECK CHECK & DOUBLE CHECK them for illness, bugs, predators proofing & feed them more than just grain People, let them free range but stay with them if they are new to roaming outside their coop. Above all ... keep roosters!!! It is part of their protection & social conditioning. How you would you like it if someone took away your husband or boyfriend! You'd be miserable. Just saying. Plus with the massive culling of chickens ... you need eggs & chicks! If Tractor Supply runs out your screwed! Rent those boys out! Like they do cows & horses & mules. SUSTAINABILITY PEOPLE THANK YOU BRI🐓🥚🤠
@@anonymouse7079 I came here also to ask the same because I'm in Fresno, CA and my young roosters are active now, in 100+ degree heat. There are 3 hens that are already laying and 17 that are still maidens. The roos don't seem to bother the maidens. I penned in 7 roos and leave only 2 with the ladies. One of the already laying is an austrolorp but she's tiny -for an austrolorp (I used to have 3 of them and the other 2 were 2 or almost 3 times this tiny one but one died from my neighbor's dog attack, another just died of heat stroke in July when she laid egg). This tiny austrolorp is the favorite of the young Black Copper Marans that's 3x her size and weight. I don't have space or enclosure anymore to separate her from the rooster. She has a bald head now from being mounted and I just noticed last night that her side, under the left wing is also bald, although not raw. I am not sure what to do because she's already hot under her own black feathers.
I have a couple of hens that have most of their feathers gone from mating! What can I do? The skin is showing. One of them is having head twitches now. 😢
Chicknchic saddle was what I put on my ever-shrinking austrolorp hen. I got the large size, which should technically cover her from shoulder to base of tail but somehow, it didn't and she is tiny! Her wings/shoulders and tail base are bald. Not only that her sides too under the wings are naked. That skin is dried out. Poor little Sneezy! I don't know what to do. I put her in protected 'cage' where she could still scratch and socialize but she didn't like that and tried to escape at every chance.
That's a good question. When it gets really hot here in the summer (in the 90s and above), I don't put saddles on them unless they're starting to look really bad. But my hens also REALLY struggle in the heat (I don't have heat-hardy breeds since I live in a mixed climate). So it's a bit of a balancing act where I choose between the lesser of 2 evils. Is the heat more of a risk or is the bare back more of a risk? That's how I'd look at it.
As for heat n no breezes... I live in a bowl below several mountains and boy does it get hot here with no breezes. What I do is before I go to work in the morning I hosed down the tarp on the outside of both of their coops. When I get home from work and before I let my girls and boys out of their separate coops, I hose down the grounds that they'll be running on when they free range. I also use the big round rubber bowls from my feed and grain store and fill them with an inch of cold water this way my girls and boys can dip their feet in them which they've learned to do and it cools off their body temperature. I cut up all my fruit and freeze it when I get home from work they go crazy over frozen fruit my one rooster George, and his brother LaRoy, are mad crazy over Frozen mango. My neighbor calls them, "THE MANGO MOBSTERS" LOL. Not all my children like the same fruit or the same vegetable it's a learning experience but that's what I do in the morning they get fruit fresh or they get produce whether it be in a bowl and a veggie holder or hanging off a lag nut. Giving them something to eat and something to amuse them for the day is a great way to keep them from fighting and from being bored. Toys, toys, toys! My little baby's all love pop up toys they love music toys and the xylophone. While I'm at work my neighbors down the road say they hear my boys and girls playing with their toys. They say it sounds like a musical Orchestra and I know my chickens love toys it brings out their personalities.
So I got a down under saddle which seems very well made and its a dark green color to blend in with the grass. It has pvc wing covers etc. BUT the minute I put it on my hen the rooster started attacking her and would not stop. I think he thought it was another rooster on top of her. I had to take it off of her..I'm not sure what to do next. she was terrified..
I suggest only putting the saddle on her when you are there to supervise. And make sure to stay in between your hen and rooster. Eventually, he will learn she's the same bird with no rooster on her and then you can leave the saddle on full time. If you need to, you can keep him in a cage initially when you put the saddle on her. This will prevent him from hurting her, while still letting him get used to seeing her with the saddle. I recommend sprinkling food or treats near his cage so the hen will spend time near him and he can start to understand she's the same hen he knows and loves, she's just got something different (and inanimate) on her.
@@thefeatherbrain Only use roosters to procreate, Even though I've heard roosters help in egg production, what is your take on this, it would also make for a interesting video
@@MosaicHomestead I think that's a perfectly acceptable option and may be the best option for a lot of people, depending on goals. Interesting anecdote here - I once bought 4 young hens from people in the city who didn't want them anymore. Because the hens were so stressed out from the move and the new environment, they immediately stopped laying. It was around November when I got them and the weather had just turned viciously cold, so I didn't expect them to lay again until at least January when the days started getting longer. Then I introduced a rooster to them a month later, December, and within two days, all 4 of them were laying like champs! (Incidentally, the rooster's name was Champ.)
Once again, I thank you so much. I need to order a few hen saddles today, and had no idea where to start. You likely saved me all kinds of failures, disappointments, and waste of money. I had my first loss of a hen to a predator 3 months ago. Now another one has gone broody. That leaves my testosterone driven roo, Frank, down to 4 girls until I can find two more ready hens to purchase. I am having feather wear for the first time. Bless you!
I’ll have to remake my saddles for my girls. I have the pattern for the one with the sew on wings and I don’t like it. The wings always get tucked underneath. And buttons are a genious idea for the elastic! I’ve had a hard time getting mine on with just elastic. Thank you for this video!!
They might not work, but they sure are cute. I thought about a backyard wedding for my kid, and wouldn't it be adorable for all the hens to be wearing matching dresses? ❤
Ha! Please email me photos if you do that! :)
@@thefeatherbrain I will! Haha.
Very helpful! Thank you!
How long do you keep these on? Do you take them off to wash or anything like that
what I need is a rooster in my stew pot...no, my rooster is my bud, but I like to keep him in check with stew pot jokes.
Does it work?
Alllllll the time 😂
When my layers go on strike, I let them overhear how much I love chicken soup. No lie, every time I've done it, every hen laid the next day.😅
sew true! ha...snaps be good, looking forward to trying one day...I'm starting to wish there were breeding season rooster boots...or acrylic rooster pedicures
Are there any "lighter" material saddles. I'm in SE Tennessee & it's already in the 100's here. I separate the gurls & fellas in 2 separate hoop coops with a medic/bad roo room in the middle yet I worry about my fellas flying over or digging under my 50' x 35' "playpen" attached to their coop. It's just too dang hot for those. There has gotta be more lightweight covering for hit spring & early summer!?
Great question, Doris, and one I'll need to look into.
Even in the dry heat of Idaho, I don't like my girls wearing hen saddles when it gets too hot. I put saddles on super early in the spring and then take them off when it gets roasting here by the end of June (unless someone's back is too bare and at risk of injury) - they do lose more feathers over the summer from mating, but the lesser of two evils, in my opinion.
I'm really not sure how people in the hot and humid south deal with hen saddles, but I'll do some searching.
Bri
Similar question from me xD Anyone found anything yet?
@@thefeatherbrain thank you. Can you also do a video on club foot & Bumble foot. So many people round here let their babies live in poo & filth YUK! I have been trying to educate aquaintances that their critters are GOD's creatures and we are to luv, care & protect them cause unlike a 2 & 3 yr old child ...they can't talk!!! You need to CHECK CHECK & DOUBLE CHECK them for illness, bugs, predators proofing & feed them more than just grain People, let them free range but stay with them if they are new to roaming outside their coop.
Above all ... keep roosters!!!
It is part of their protection & social conditioning.
How you would you like it if someone took away your husband or boyfriend! You'd be miserable.
Just saying.
Plus with the massive culling of chickens ... you need eggs & chicks! If Tractor Supply runs out your screwed!
Rent those boys out!
Like they do cows & horses & mules.
SUSTAINABILITY PEOPLE
THANK YOU BRI🐓🥚🤠
@@anonymouse7079 I came here also to ask the same because I'm in Fresno, CA and my young roosters are active now, in 100+ degree heat. There are 3 hens that are already laying and 17 that are still maidens. The roos don't seem to bother the maidens. I penned in 7 roos and leave only 2 with the ladies. One of the already laying is an austrolorp but she's tiny -for an austrolorp (I used to have 3 of them and the other 2 were 2 or almost 3 times this tiny one but one died from my neighbor's dog attack, another just died of heat stroke in July when she laid egg). This tiny austrolorp is the favorite of the young Black Copper Marans that's 3x her size and weight.
I don't have space or enclosure anymore to separate her from the rooster. She has a bald head now from being mounted and I just noticed last night that her side, under the left wing is also bald, although not raw. I am not sure what to do because she's already hot under her own black feathers.
Maybe light weight linen, its good for humans in hot weather. Not sure if it translates to hens though.
Thanks for the video. But right now I'm looking to keep my girls dry. We live in the PNW and we get a lot of rain.
I have a couple of hens that have most of their feathers gone from mating! What can I do? The skin is showing. One of them is having head twitches now. 😢
Chicknchic saddle was what I put on my ever-shrinking austrolorp hen. I got the large size, which should technically cover her from shoulder to base of tail but somehow, it didn't and she is tiny! Her wings/shoulders and tail base are bald. Not only that her sides too under the wings are naked.
That skin is dried out. Poor little Sneezy! I don't know what to do. I put her in protected 'cage' where she could still scratch and socialize but she didn't like that and tried to escape at every chance.
I live in the deep south. I've wondered if our humid heat here combined with a saddle would be okay?
That's a good question. When it gets really hot here in the summer (in the 90s and above), I don't put saddles on them unless they're starting to look really bad. But my hens also REALLY struggle in the heat (I don't have heat-hardy breeds since I live in a mixed climate). So it's a bit of a balancing act where I choose between the lesser of 2 evils. Is the heat more of a risk or is the bare back more of a risk? That's how I'd look at it.
As for heat n no breezes... I live in a bowl below several mountains and boy does it get hot here with no breezes. What I do is before I go to work in the morning I hosed down the tarp on the outside of both of their coops. When I get home from work and before I let my girls and boys out of their separate coops, I hose down the grounds that they'll be running on when they free range. I also use the big round rubber bowls from my feed and grain store and fill them with an inch of cold water this way my girls and boys can dip their feet in them which they've learned to do and it cools off their body temperature. I cut up all my fruit and freeze it when I get home from work they go crazy over frozen fruit my one rooster George, and his brother LaRoy, are mad crazy over Frozen mango. My neighbor calls them, "THE MANGO MOBSTERS" LOL. Not all my children like the same fruit or the same vegetable it's a learning experience but that's what I do in the morning they get fruit fresh or they get produce whether it be in a bowl and a veggie holder or hanging off a lag nut. Giving them something to eat and something to amuse them for the day is a great way to keep them from fighting and from being bored.
Toys, toys, toys!
My little baby's all love pop up toys they love music toys and the xylophone. While I'm at work my neighbors down the road say they hear my boys and girls playing with their toys. They say it sounds like a musical Orchestra and I know my chickens love toys it brings out their personalities.
Great info! New subscriber here and new to the chicken biz/hobby! 😂
Thanks, Monique! Welcome to the channel! 😀
So I got a down under saddle which seems very well made and its a dark green color to blend in with the grass. It has pvc wing covers etc. BUT the minute I put it on my hen the rooster started attacking her and would not stop. I think he thought it was another rooster on top of her. I had to take it off of her..I'm not sure what to do next. she was terrified..
I suggest only putting the saddle on her when you are there to supervise. And make sure to stay in between your hen and rooster. Eventually, he will learn she's the same bird with no rooster on her and then you can leave the saddle on full time.
If you need to, you can keep him in a cage initially when you put the saddle on her. This will prevent him from hurting her, while still letting him get used to seeing her with the saddle. I recommend sprinkling food or treats near his cage so the hen will spend time near him and he can start to understand she's the same hen he knows and loves, she's just got something different (and inanimate) on her.
0:29 can you send me the link to buy please
This one is my absolute favorite - prf.hn/l/6bNz0DA
These are also good - amzn.to/3xFNQBV
Link to buy cami one with double snaps????
it's in the description of the video
The ones I have slip sideways
My hen will not leave hers on. She turns her head around and pulls it off.
7:10am
I had no idea this existed lol...I find this a bit silly
Yeah, saddles are a bit ridiculous, but I'd have dead hens without them.
@@thefeatherbrain Only use roosters to procreate, Even though I've heard roosters help in egg production, what is your take on this, it would also make for a interesting video
@@MosaicHomestead I think that's a perfectly acceptable option and may be the best option for a lot of people, depending on goals.
Interesting anecdote here - I once bought 4 young hens from people in the city who didn't want them anymore. Because the hens were so stressed out from the move and the new environment, they immediately stopped laying. It was around November when I got them and the weather had just turned viciously cold, so I didn't expect them to lay again until at least January when the days started getting longer. Then I introduced a rooster to them a month later, December, and within two days, all 4 of them were laying like champs! (Incidentally, the rooster's name was Champ.)