What is causing this back feather damage?

[MarlaMac]

Update: the saddle arrived yesterday and we put it on her, not rather gracefully last night. Today will be her first day wearing it. Thanks for the advice.

While the rooster's spurs are not terribly long or sharp compared to some pictures I've seen on here, would trimming and blunting his spurs help save feathers or injury to the hens? Or is that futile, would he likely still cause the damage?

Yay. I hope she tolerates it well. If you trim/blunt your rooster will loose some of this "protective" power. If it were me, I would wait and she how the saddle helps. If you are not going to take the saddle off nightly, please make sure you do periodic checks to make sure it is fitted properly and is not causing irritation to her wings.

 

[DuckDuckSook]

I have this situation with my rooster and 6 hens in our older flock. We bought chicken saddles for his favorite chickens and they have helped tremendously. We have this brand from Amazon:

 

[MarlaMac]

I have this situation with my rooster and 6 hens in our older flock. We bought chicken saddles for his favorite chickens and they have helped tremendously. We have this brand from Amazon:
View attachment 3408913

I saw a report on this brand by someone who put the red one on two of his hens and the rooster attacked and killed both of them before he could intervene. Which ever brand you use, just be sure to watch how things go in the first moments to make sure everyone is okay with the change.

 

[DuckDuckSook]

I saw a report on this brand by someone who put the red one on two of his hens and the rooster attacked and killed both of them before he could intervene. Which ever brand you use, just be sure to watch how things go in the first moments to make sure everyone is okay with the change.

Thanks for sharing the info.
My girls have had these on now for 3 weeks with no problems. I originally bought the ones with the elastic bands and cute little bows, but they had them off in less than 2 hours. I have no idea how they got them off, but they did.
With these new canvas ones with snaps, they are really doing so much better. They don't seem nearly as stressed around the rooster because it probably doesn't hurt now when he jumps on them. I plan on leaving them on them for a bit until I can have my chickens out free ranging more in the spring.

 

[Melancholy Bear]

She wore the saddle for less than a week. Today she somehow got out of it with it still snapped. I bought the one from The Chicken Chick, which had the elastic straps and snaps. It will be tiresome if I have to put it on very often.

 

[MarlaMac]

She wore the saddle for less than a week. Today she somehow got out of it with it still snapped. I bought the one from The Chicken Chick, which had the elastic straps and snaps. It will be tiresome if I have to put it on very often.

Any saddle can get caught on something. She should not have to wear it forever. Giving her time in the saddle, regardless of how tiresome it is, will allow her back to heal and her feathers to regrow.

I usually get 3-4 days out of my gal who is currently wearing a saddle. We just put it back on her in the morning when we let them out of the run. It only takes a few seconds once you get the hang of it.