Nice looking, but do they fasten under the wings???

Kitty

Thanks for posting this Maggie! I'm going to make several. I had used a baby bib with a velcro fastener at the neck and then I sewed a piece of elastic to keep it on the hen's body. It worked for one but a couple of days ago I tried it on another and the poor thing walked sideways and backwards so I took it off.

These look great!

Love it! just imagine the possibilities?????? one could get really carried away designing those :)

-Sheila

Looks more comfortable than the ones made of duct tape!

Kitty

Thanks for the link! I had to make one of these for Seven, a Buff Laced Polish hen who suddenly grew a horribly huge growth right above her preen gland (it was the size of a golf ball and literally appeared overnight). It annoyed her so much she pecked at it to the point of severe bleeding. Pictures of it are below so you can see it in action.

The vet basically said, 'Take her home and make her comfortable and happy until she goes', which is what we did (the growth eventually took all her energy). The cape/saddle worked beautifully to keep her from pecking herself open again, the trick is to use fabric heavy to lay down and be hard to flip up (like denim or corduroy) but not so heavy as to keep small birds from walking around or the chicken from getting overheated. Unfortunately for her the only piece of fabric I had on hand was a piece of pink corduroy...the resulting 'cape' made her look like Super Chicken. :) This particular cape was extra long to cover her wound, normal saddles would be shorter and allow the tail to be carried normally (Sevens' tail was already forced downward by the growth). She passed away within the week but was at least energetic and happy until she went, carrying on like a normal bird.

Here she is, annoyed and modeling the Super Chicken outfit...
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...and showing the she is smart enough to wiggle out of it by unsnapping the snaps! I replaced them with heavy-duty snaps after this.
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Ha, HA! Folish humans, I laugh at your pathetic attempts to make me look silly!

We miss her. :(

Velvet ~:>

AWW Velvet, what a sweet story! What a beautiful girl she was, hats off to you for helping her through her final days.

God Bless,
Sheila

Kitty - Yes the straps go under and around the wings and then attach as shown.

Velvet - Nice to "see" you back here. We've been missing you and I keep referring people to your site for information, especially about broody hens and chicks. Thank you so much for making the site available... It is a great resource. Sorry you lost Seven... but she was lucky to have such wonderful care to keep her comfortable and happy right up to the end.

Thanks maggie...yeah, I was down for a long time. First, 3 months with pneumonia, then a three month bleeding episode; both of which were unrelated to each other and nearly killed me. Weird times. :( Hopefully I've paid my dues for a bit, sickness-wise.

I'm going to revamp the site soon, it's full up and it's getting so much traffic it goes down once in a while, so I've got to free up some space.

Velvet ~:>

Velvet, I had no idea you were so sick. :( I really hope you are feeling back to normal now and that the illnesses are all behind you.

Really love this thread, great idea for saddles for the hens.

ML