Chicken Sweaters/Coats

[KKarwowski]

Has anyone here had experience with putting a sweater on your chicken to keep them warm from molting or to cover up feather loss from an aggressive hen while the feathers grow back in? I am considering doing this as the more aggressive chickens see the bare skin and peck at the ones trying to grow them in.

 

[cowboyclayt]

Never done it...maybe separate the chickens. Not sure how easy that would be to do.

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

I have put on a homemade one before.

 

[theoldchick]

People do make hen sweaters:

You can also make or buy hen saddles:

There are different styles that provide more coverage.

 

[adrikeen]

I've used preemi clothing...specifically the undershirts (it was a bad winter one year for my Frizzles...I don't knit/crochet and I couldn't wait for someone to make one). Just cut the arms to fit the wings.

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

Here is the one I made...

 

[micstrachan]

The trouble with sweaters is they can inhibit the chicken's ability to regulate her own temperature, as she fluffs and tightens her feathers to do so. If her feathers are all "held down" by a garment, she can't adjust them.
I DO have experience using a saddle however. It worked great to keep the bully from pecking. At one point of wearing it extensively, though, I thought it might be cutting into her shoulder and removed it.
Can you keep the molters separated from the more aggressive chickens? They would need to be able to see each other so they don't get knocked even further down the pecking order.