Hen Saddles

When I first got chickens I came across something called a hen saddle. It was on a website, being sold next to a chicken diaper. I immediately thought "Wow... there are weird people in the world! Who on earth would put a saddle on their chicken?!" Now that I have had chickens for a couple of years I am a firm believer in the hen saddle. Roosters can be rough on the poor girls! To mate, the roosters grab the feathers on the hen's neck, and hop on their back. They try to balance, but it isn't easy, apparently. When there is more than one rooster, things get even worse. They all mate with the hens and much as possible, especially the roos that are lower in the pecking order, who hop on any chance they get. The rooster's claws rip the feathers out on the hen's back, leaving gashes after a while. The best thing to do, of course, is to only have one rooster for every 10 hens. This helps tremendously. Sometimes that isn't possible. For instance, I have two breeds that I mate, but don't want 10 hens of each at the moment (maybe later... chicken math, you know) so I have a rooster for each. I also have two "babies" who need to go to freezer camp, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

The important thing, is that chicken saddles are very cheap and easy to make! You can, of course, buy some from some wonderful websites, but I am too frugal (i.e.broke) to spend money on something that I can make myself.

First, gather your supplies. You need two kinds of fabric. I prefer a thicker, stiffer, fabric for the outer layer so that the boys' claws don't scratch through. Also, a thinner, more breathable fabric for the bottom layer so that it doesn't hold moisture against the hen and lets air circulate. Sometimes the fabrics don't match as well as I'd like, but the hens don't seem to mind. :) It takes less than a foot of each, so scraps are wonderful to use. To make the straps that go around the wings you can use elastic, found at a craft or fabric store, but I usually use hair bands, that I cut at the seam. I always have some laying around. Just make sure that they are long enough and not too thick. I usually make larger saddles because I have buff orphingtons, which are quite large and fluffy, but they can easily be made any size. I may need some for the turkey hens soon!

Supplies:
- Thick, stiff fabric
- Thin, breathable fabric
- Elastic, hair bands
- Sewing machine, or needle and thread
- scissors
- measuring tape
- pencil/ chalk
- pins
- Chicken model :)



1. Measure the hen. First, the base of the neck, between the shoulder blades, to the base of the tail. Second, between the wings at the shoulder blades. Third, across the back (from the top of one leg to the top of the other). Add 1/2 inch to each measurement for seams.

2. Draw the pattern onto a piece of paper, using the measurements. I usually make half a pattern and fold the material over to ensure that both sides are even.

3. Pin the fabrics together, right sides together, wrong sides out with pattern attached.

4. Fold in half lengthwise, cut out pattern. (My paper pattern is not shown attached)

5. Sew a 1/4 inch seam around the outside of the chicken saddle, leaving a 2 inch opening on the bottom to flip it. Snip the corners off of each side where the elastic will fit in.

6. Turn right side out.

7. Stick the ends of the elastic into the holes that were cut.

8. Tuck the loose ends under, iron flat if necessary. Sew around the outer edge, closing the hole up,   anchoring the elastic, and causing the saddle to be flatter and hold its shape better. Make sure to sew over the elastic several times to anchor it in really well.

9. Be proud :) You just made a hen saddle!

To put the hen saddle on the hen:

1. Hope that your hen is forgiving, and won't put up too much of a fight. They soon get used to it, and some don't mind it from the very beginning.

2. Simply place the saddle on the hen's back, hook the top of the wing with the elastic and pull the wing through. Be gentle and try not to go against the feathers. Do the other side the same way.

This saddle is too short for this hen, but she was a willing model as
she is broody at the moment. :) She is the next in line for a saddle,
poor girl! 

3. Make sure it fits properly. If it is too tight it will cut the circulation off in the wings. If it is too lose it will either fall off, or slide back and forth when the rooster mounts, causing the elastic to rub raw spots, and just not doing much good.

4. Check regularly. I don't like using them for long periods. Usually just when I have a problem rooster that I need to deal with, or until the feathers grow back on a hen's back that has had some very unromantic suitors calling on her much too regularly.

They are so very easy, and are an important part of a chicken first aid kit. Nice to have handy, because they are usually needed when you don't have time to drag out the sewing machine and stitch one up. So, as it turns out, putting saddles on your chickens doesn't necessarily mean you are insane! Simply a prepared animal owner, and probably a chicken lover <3  Hope you find them as helpful as I have!

Life's Lessons

Normally, I don't pass things like this along. This is a story that I'm sure a lot of you have come across online. It has been being circulated a lot lately, but it makes me tear up every time I read it. I think it is a good life lesson and hope that you enjoy reading it as well. I strive to remember these life lessons every day, and I know my life is better because of it.

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, th
e donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less from people but more from yourself.

Welcome back to the World of Internet Access!

My brother captured on the game cam while visiting. 

So, I have been offline for a while. It is funny how life takes unexpected turns. I am a firm believer that all things happen for a reason and that everything always works out in the end, as long as you have faith. The grant that I had been counting on for my research assistant-ship at school fell through, and I will have no chance at another one for at least a year. That means no income coming in and no tuition waver, so lots of money going out. After much discussion, agonizing over what to do, and changing my mind 15 times a day, I decided to take some time off of school. Money got tight, really fast, so the first thing we did was disconnect the internet. I have found work and will be starting soon, but many of the plans I made a couple months ago have been put on hold. Rather, they are just happening a bit more slowly. I have been working the last few days to clear the land where the shed will be built. The animals have been keeping me busy. My brother and his family have moved down here for a while. I don't think he wants to stay a really long time, but I am enjoying having him here! He has been enjoying the homestead. I love finding pictures of him interacting with the animals when I check my game cam. He comes over often to visit, and always ends up helping me with chores.

Baby Quasi, one of my foster littles, visiting the turkeys.

So, an update on things on Sunflower Hill...

 Randy (my poor chicken-eating foster puppy with the malformed neck) was adopted! He found a wonderful home where he is now called Trevor, and is spoiled daily by a little girl. We have since fostered two more puppies, Quasi and Vine, both of whom had kennel cough but after some love, and hard-core antibiotics, they both went on the transport up north and found great homes.

The hoop coop after the dog attack. Feathers everywhere!

We had another dog attack a few days before Thanksgiving. A neighbor's pet (didn't know that at the time) hopped its fence and found its way into our yard. Luckily it happened during the day when both Brad and I were home, otherwise it would have turned out much worse. The dog hopped on the hoop coop, pushing the pipes over enough to hop on top and collapsed it. He climbed in through the top and had the turkeys cornered. Our trusty guard dogs let us know and we ran out and dealt with it in time to save most of the turkeys. Two had escaped but came back. All of the turkeys were injured, some worse than others, and one was dead by the time we got there. We had to put some down. We are left with 8 turkeys. We have 6 Bourbon reds, 4 males and 2 females, and 2 Blue slates, 1 male and 1 female. We did have one of the toms that we had to put down for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful, but I cooked it longer than I needed to. The turkeys are now free ranging when ever I am home. The hoop coop has seen better days. It is falling apart every time I move it, so I try to just let them out so it needs to be moved less often. Hopefully soon they will be free ranging all of the time, like the chickens. As soon as we can teach them not to chase cars... My brother helped me throw together a roost to get weight off of the side of the coop, put a new tarp on, and I have braced it. Another turkey coop needs to be in the near future, but it works for now.

The chickens are doing well, and are still laying like crazy. I don't know what to do with all of the eggs! I kept giving them away, and nobody ever returns the egg cartons, so now I have nothing to give eggs away in, and so they are going to waste... I HATE that! The baby chickens are getting big! The two roosters have matured and are now fighting with each other and being really... REALLY hard on the girls. I have made chicken saddles for several of them, but need to make more. The roos are going to freezer camp really soon. Brad bought me the most wonderful hunting knife and scissors for Christmas! His dad (my enabler) is working on finding the parts for a chicken plucker. Both of these things mean that my life will be MUCH easier in the future! He is also looking into an incubator. Have I mentioned that he doesn't have chickens? LOL I don't know which of us enjoys my having chickens.... and turkeys... and growing a garden... and building stuff more, me or him! Brad doesn't find it nearly as amusing and we do... at least he pretends not to. :)

My winter garden is doing well, update on that coming soon.

Even though money has been tighter than I ever remember it being, times have been tough and we are doing without many things, and the stress level has been pretty high around here at times, I am so incredibly thankful for being as blessed as we are. I have such a wonderful family. I missed going out of town to spend the holidays with my parents and grandparents, but how lucky it is that the one year we couldn't go see them they came down in late October to see me? Every time things got really tough and we weren't sure how we were going to make it, something happened, sometimes explainable things, like checks going through when there was no money in the bank account, and things always worked out. It goes to show you that if you keep trying even when things seem bleak, always give of yourself to others that are in need, even when you don't have much yourself, and have faith that God knows best and will get you where you need to be, even when it seems like things are all going wrong, life will always be beautiful. Things get tough, but stress doesn't solve anything. Looking at all the things in life that I am thankful for always makes it a much happier place. Sometimes I need to be reminded of all of these things. I am thankful for that reminder and thankful that we have had such an exciting and beautiful year. Looking forward to another one!

We at Sunflower Hill Homestead hope that your holidays have been blessed and that you have a wonderful start to the brand new year!