# Hens with no feathers on their back/ rooster



## morningsidefarmva (Nov 21, 2014)

Hi, 
Just wondering what people do when it comes to a rooster who is alway on top of certain hens more than others, I have about 4 that are completely bald on their backs. I ordered a hen saddles but whoever made it only had material on it and it Was so light of material it did not seem to protect her. Winter will be here in a few months and wondering how to get feathers back on their backs beside putting them in a large cage so they can’t get out and I don’t want to do that if possible. Any suggestion would be helpful.


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## Deborah Formosa (Jul 30, 2020)

Good morning, I have seen canvas ( colorfully made) that look kind of like a saddle you can put on your hens for that exact reason. To prevent feather loss, scratches ect.. You just have to spend a little time on line looking for extra heavy hen saddles or if u or someone you know has a sowing machine , u can go buy thick material and use the thin hen saddle as a template pattern. I have been researching feather loss I am having a problem with my flock however the pictures on line do not look like my problem. From all the articles I have read the advise they give to help regrow feathers quickly is to give your chucken' s high protein diet they suggested scrambled eggs, feed with high protein ECT also putting food grade dinatious earth in areas your chicken's like to sit on the ground clean coup and put dinatious earth in their house and clean bedding to keep any parasites off of the bald spots. I have fed my chickens scrambled eggs and mixed food grade dinatious earth mixed in with the scrambled eggs to rid them of any worms. I also have them cooked rice , chick peas and kidney beans along with their feed ( cooked) for extra protein and they loved it.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Remove him. That kind of over breeding can lead to all sorts of physical injury. Including a broken leg.

He needs a time out to learn to be more of a gentleman. I'm guessing this roo is young? Won't hurt him a bit to be removed for a while.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

Just what Robin said, take him away from the girls for a good while.

As for the girls, yes, extra protein is the key to feather growth. It's not an overnight miracle but it definitely cuts down on the time it takes to regrow. Deborah mentioned several very good options for high protein treats (TREATS, not a new diet). Also, black oil sunflower seeds are awesome, very high in protein. (those are the ones that are small and solid black, not the striped ones that we eat) Scrambled eggs (like Deborah said) are great too, make sure to include the yolk.

I am a believer in diatomaceous earth (Deborah mentioned using it) and I use it religiously, but the thing you need to remember about it is that it should not be the only component of a dust bath, it creates too much dust when they kick it up which, like anything dusty (flour, dry dirt, etc) can cause respiratory problems. You need to mix it with sand or something else similar to help reduce the amount of airborne dust. 1:4 ratio is good.
The other thing to remember is that it does not work when wet. It does not take care of internal parasites like many people think because it gets wet in the mouth, throat, digestive tract and becomes inert. Mixing it into their food is wasting it.

If you want to use diatomaceous earth you can rub it into the naked part of their back but to be honest, there is no point in that unless the baldness is because of lice or mites, which yours is not.


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## majorchicken (May 30, 2013)

Just to commiserate, I have two roos with one hen (bad chicken mama) and at first they were terrible. When he back wend bald I moved her away from them so she could grow her feathers back. She spent every night and every cold day indoor. When we put her back out we gave her a saddle. The boys were much more polite (maturity?) and she was more happy. They mount her less and the dominant roo protects her from the other one. If she doesn’t voluntarily squat, he goes between them until the other too calms down.

We do have the canvas type saddle lines with a softer material against her back. And we check under the saddle to make sure it’s not rubbing her skin or breaking feathers.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Good point Sylie about the ratio for the diatomaceous earth. There is some granulated available but I can never find it in Ohio.


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## Sylie (May 4, 2018)

I've never physically seen it granulated either and I think it would be too coarse for our uses anyway.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

If it gets damp or wet it would still degrade to mud.


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

I just thought I'd share a pic of my hen wearing a saddle; we just got one so we'd have it as needed, and this was the trial run. She did great! She adjusted the feathers around her wings where the straps sit, which I'd say is totally normal, and looked at herself kinda funny, then hopped down with the rest and started walking around. We didn't leave it on her for very long bc it was a fairly hot day, just 5-10 mins to see how she'd do. Anyway, here is our Moo wearing her pretty chicken saddle from Etsy. Idk if I can share a link? I believe I went with the WellDressedChick. Anyway! Here she is. (I'm verbiose, sorry y'all!)


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

A silver spangled Hamburg! I enjoyed my little flock. I've still got one left, she's about nine years old now.

In all the years I raised chickens I never needed a saddle. So the one you have might sit collecting dust.


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

I hope it does sit and collect dust! Lol! As you can see, our roo, Quack, is quite a bit larger than his ladies. He's gotten better tho, he doesn't (usually) pin them down and climb on without their cooperation these days so that is much better!

Our girls are supposed to be SL Wyandotte's, but they did come from TS, so there's no telling. They are pretty girls though.  Thank you!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

What kind of comb is Wyandotte supposed to have. That looks like a pea comb.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Rose Comb. Thanks for posting the fashionable pics!


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

Yep, they've got rose combs. They're still babies, they're only.... 22 weeks now. I'm sure that'll get a bit more prominent yet! 









And yes, she got pecked then. She's all better now.


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