DIY Chicken Saddles - Part 1

I have a couple naked ladies at my house. Well, more than a couple really, more like 6.

It seems that when Mr. Roofus the rooster likes to "do his business" (aka the horizontal chicken dance) with the ladies, that sometimes he gets a little over zealous and pulls out some feathers.

MEN!

So what happens is, a few of his favorite girls will get bare backs. (you can kind of see above). This is not good because Mr. Roofus' talons are pretty sharp. When he comes back for round 17, he could potentially harm the hen by puncturing her skin as she has no protection. This can lead to serious and sometimes life threatening damage. Plus, I've noticed that the girls that have exposed backs are getting sunburned pretty badly. They tend to hid out under the jeep or under the apple tree most of the day. That can't be really all that much fun for them.

Really the only solution is to create a chicken saddle for them. This allows them time to regrow their feathers, without having to be removed from the flock. It also protects their back from rooster talons and other hens picking at the new pin feathers that will grow in.

I've been doing a lot of research to find the perfect saddle. Thing is, I can sew. I can sew very well. In fact, I can design my own patterns and be in the chicken saddle business by 6 p.m. tonight.

I just don't want to!

So there's the rub. I don't want to do all those things. Eurethra! I mean, Eureka! I found someone on the internet that made a simple saddle out of fleece. I found a cheap fleece blanket at ikea. $2.00 for a large lap throw that was very thin. I didn't want it to be big thick polar fleece as they have to wear it in the summer. Plus, it needed to be a nice light color to reflect heat. Super simple, easy peasy, no sewing, just a pair of scissors.

Oh hey, I have scissors (I had to look for 10 minutes but I did have some).

I gave it my first best shot, just going off some internet measurements:

9" long, 7" wide and 2 holes for wings.

The result?

One pissed off and humiliated chicken.

It's too loose, so I will need to adjust my pattern, plus I think I need to make a hole for the tail feathers to go through since the wind seems to blow it around a lot.

I imagine the conversation in the yard goes something like this:

Humiliated Hen: What is it!? Get it off get it off!!
Best friends: bwhahahahaha
HH: No really, get it off of me!
BFF: *breath* bwhahahah
HH: Get it off!! *distracted* Oh look, a bug.